Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.

Warnings: Overall story contains disturbing imagery such as blood, gore and the like, and disturbing situations.

Summary: The world as they knew it has gone to ruins. The shadows, once their greatest allies, now harbour threats so great it's safer to risk walking in daylight, and Mikey and April will do anything to keep what remains of their family safe; even if it means abandoning home and everything they knew. This story is AU and a collaboration between sampsonknight and Zelgadis55.

Comments, thoughts and concrit are always welcome.


Sekai no Owari

Ch 5

Despite the brightly lit, almost noonday sky, Mikey and April stood near the edge of the lake in Central Park staring into the water.

When they'd left the main entrance to their home over an hour before, Mikey had led them to a manhole leading up. Unfortunately, they hadn't been able to take that exit, or the nearest couple after it, due to too much activity nearby, both in the sewers and without. When they finally found a viable exit, they'd still had to fight their way through and finally, once on the surface, they'd had to fight their way through again.

Mikey had given April his second nunchaku to use, showing her quickly how to release the kusarigama blade so she'd at least have a pointed weapon to use against the creatures of horror fantasy made real. She'd struggled with the weapon, even in that form, and Mikey made a mental note to ask Leo to expand her training so she could at least improvise if and when she needed to in future.

As they'd moved carefully through the park, April found and claimed a metal star picket, handing Mikey back his weapon in favour of that. He'd helped her remove it from the ground where it was partially buried and then they'd made their way to the water's edge where they now stood.

Moving through the park had also been a harrowing experience; there were far too many places for zombies to hide in the shadows, making the once-bustling nature strip a place most of the living had learnt to avoid like the plague, not that there were that many of the living left in the city these days.

A few buildings still held out across the city, the more heavily fortified ones, the pricier apartments with strong security, offices and a few government facilities, along with the odd, rare holdout, and these were part of the reason they'd stayed in the city when everything turned to hell. That and Donatello needed his equipment if he was to ever find a cure to fight this nightmarish plague.

At first, everyone had agreed with staying but in more recent times the arguments for leaving had been on the rise, oftentimes almost reaching violence. The only thing stopping said violence occurring had been April's presence, with not even Raph willing to show that ugly side of him directly in front of their only remaining friend and adopted sister.

"You can hold your breath a few minutes, right April?" Mikey asked worriedly, glancing back in case anything was creeping up on them.

"Hold my breath?" April canted her head at Mikey questioningly as she eyed the cool water. "Funny, Mikey, I know I need a bath…"

"True," he interjected quickly, earning a withering glare even as she continued speaking as if he'd never interrupted.

"...but this isn't a time for jokes. So really, where is this emergency entrance? I'm really worried about our family and…" she glanced behind her, a shiver crawling up her spine. They had no idea who or what could be watching or hunting them. Having two relatively fresh walking corpses so near home that morning was bad enough without thinking about what else was up here too, living or dead.

One would have thought that civilisation would be a blessing, but that was no longer the case. The people who were still alive had become so desperate that more than once she had witnessed cold-blooded murder with the murderer not even batting an eyelash nor caring about their cruel deeds. People now only thought of themselves and perhaps their own, if they were lucky enough to still have anyone they cared for. There were even numerous times where she'd seen people playing with fire, holding onto or trying to control zombies and she figured either they were loved ones that people couldn't bear to abandon or finish off or they were merely using the creatures as a means of power in order to keep control over those around them. Yes, it sounded sick and paranoid, she knew, but the proof was there. The world was all but dead and the undead weren't even the real monsters out there…

"... besides, you know we really shouldn't linger in the open too long," she added, paraphrasing Leonardo which only made her worry far worse.

"I wasn't actually joking, Ape," Mikey nodded quickly; he was just as worried about them as she was. "And yeah, it's true, you really need a bath. Shell, we both do after you went out of your way to wipe zombie guts all over me, gross by the way, but that's uh... that's the way in," he explained, motioning to the body of water.

Flashing another horrified look at the water then to him, she gulped, "You're not kidding... Wait! Is that the only way in?"

"Yeah," Mikey nodded again, not wanting to meet her gaze. "You know the helipad hidden under the water?"

Turning white, she took a hurried step back, "You're crazy! Mikey, that is so deep! There's no way I can hold my breath that long or dive that deep! Oh god! I never was good at diving in swimming classes at school and I couldn't handle the deep end of the pool when it came to diving and..." April started rambling in her fear, remembering how she'd almost drowned when a classmate pushed her in once before jumping in on top of her.

Though he wasn't the one who designed or even suggested it in the first place, Mikey averted his gaze guiltily, "It was never meant for anyone else," he explained defensively. "Donnie built the access chamber ages ago after we claimed the copter and long before you moved in. It was originally meant to be a maintenance hatch and later when Donnie designed the lair's lockdown mode, he made it double for an emergency entrance and exit. We're turtles, so it makes sense to hide an emergency door underwater."

Mikey then sighed softly and tried to meet her gaze, "Look, April, don't worry, okay? I'll help you get down there. Your only job will be to hold your breath on the way."

Staring at the ground, April could still remember the pain, how her lungs started to burn, how it hurt so much and the pressure that came from attempting such a deep dive. She'd learnt to swim competently enough after that incident when she was younger but she'd never been comfortable since, especially in the deep. She shuddered, feeling like someone sucked all the air out of her as she took a few more steps away, "Maybe I should just wait up here, then? I mean, if you can take the lockdown offline then I can enter by one of the other entrances," she suggested desperately.

Mikey shot her a terrified look. "I can't leave you out here alone! It's way too dangerous and besides, my bros would kill me! Anything could come after you and you'd be completely alone and exposed!"

"And me probably drowning to get to your secret hatch isn't dangerous?" April countered heatedly. "At least I can do something to defend myself up here and have more control than I would... down there..." she floundered, trying to explain, all the while feeling shameful over just how much this scared her. She'd much rather go up against a horde of zombies if there was a choice between that and possibly drowning.

Mikey felt pained as the depth of her terror suddenly hit him. "Hey, I won't let you drown, okay? All you have to do is hold onto me and hold your breath. I'll do the rest. And it's not really that deep, only about ten feet and I'm the fastest of my bros, both on land and in the water so I'll get us down there really fast, okay?"

"Then what? What happens if the entrance doesn't open, or does, is there more water? What is the other side like?"

Mikey glanced away for a moment before meeting her gaze. "The other side opens into a chamber that floods but as soon as the hatch closes again, the water is automatically pumped out. Look, you can tread water above me until I get the hatch unlocked and then I'll come and bring you down into it. Trust me, it'll be fine; Donnie built it and he maintains it regularly, Ape," he reassured, reaching out to rest a comforting hand on hers.

Warily, April moved closer to him, eyes still on the ground and not saying a word. She trusted Donnie's work and would never say otherwise but there was still the off chance of something going wrong - something went wrong in their missions often enough for that to be a realistic concern - and with how hard Mikey was trying to convince her, she felt cornered, wishing there was another way around it.

"April," Mikey whispered, trying not to sound as desperate as he truly felt and failing, "There really isn't any other choice. My... my bros aren't answering and the lair's locked down. They're all I have left and I can't... I can't lose them too," he whimpered softly. "Look, we need to know what's wrong and we need to get inside to somewhere safe. You even said it yourself when you quoted Leo a few minutes ago, we shouldn't linger in the open too long and this really is the only other way inside without using explosives when the lair's locked down."

"I... am on board with the explosives idea. In fact, I think I remember Donnie storing some not far from the lair for a rainy day and hey, look! It's a rainy day," she insisted with a cough, very seriously considering that a better option.

Mikey's jaw dropped as he stared at her in disbelief. "We can't blow a hole in the lair and you know it!" he squeaked. "Anything could get in and we wouldn't be able to keep them out!"

Turning away, April walked away from Mikey without a word.

"April, please. We need to stick together. I can't lose you either!" he pleaded, terrified he'd lose her the way they'd lost all their other friends, The Professor, Irma, Sydney... Woody... and most recently, Leatherhead... Mikey began to run after her, prepared to drag April back if need be.

Glancing back, April shook her head tiredly, "Just... give me a sec, okay?"

Mikey stopped dead in his tracks, staring after her with a hangdog expression.

Taking a breath, she felt bad but showing him was easier than explaining right now. She went to a nearby tree and making sure there wasn't anything either was in, around or under it, she examined the branches, finally happy with two that were healthy and strong, not to mention an ideal length.

Taking a deep breath and figuring it was easier showing rather than explaining right now, April went to a nearby tree, making sure there wasn't anything in, around, or under it and examined the branches carefully. Finally, happy with finding one that was healthy and strong, not to mention an ideal length, she called back over her shoulder, "Mikey, I need your kusarigama."

Mikey canted his head curiously and trotted over to hand one over. "Thought you preferred that?" he asked, motioning at her adopted star picket.

"I do but it won't work for this," she replied guiltily. Releasing the blade, April then stretched onto her tiptoes and placed it firmly against the base of the branch, before starting to saw through it.

"Uh, why are you cutting that? You know it's the wrong type of blade for cutting wood, right?" Mikey asked, perplexed. "It has no teeth."

"And you have something better for me to work with?" April retorted drily, ignoring his complaints.

"Well, no, but you're going to blunt the bla..."

"We can always go back to plan A and blow the front entrance if you really want to," she offered, raising an eyebrow and seeing him cringe and fall silent. "As I said, just give me a sec here."

Once the branch was free from the tree, she began to work on stripping the smaller twigs and leaves from it, ignoring the feeling of Mikey's eyes burrowing into the back of her head the whole time. Finally, cleanly stripped, she made quick work of cutting the ends so it was a long solid stick, before cleaning Mikey's blade on a clean patch of her pants, not caring that the tree's sap stained the fabric.

Still, the turtle gawked at her as she passed him back his weapon and then the stick, before heading towards the lake, calling over her shoulder at him as she passed, "The monsters can't swim, nor can they drown. You should know by now never to trust water that isn't clearly showing its bottom in case you step on one."

"Oh yeah," Mikey coloured. He'd been so desperate to get home and find out why their family weren't answering, why the lockdown was still in effect hours after it should have been taken off, that he simply hadn't thought about what could be lurking beneath the deceptively still water.

"Yeah, so do you want to sweep side by side or one of us goes first, sweeping forward while the other sweeps the sides as we go until we are deep enough to just swim to the centre?" April asked, holding her star picket firmly in her hands.

"Side by side," Mikey stated adamantly. "In all the monster movies it's either the ones that go off on their own that get picked off or the ones last in line. At least side by side we can see each other so if one of us gets in trouble, the other can help."

Letting out a slight chuckle, April shook her head in amusement, "Of course you make your choice based on some movie reference or game. Fine, let's do it your way; it does make sense if you ignore the horror flicks influence."

Giving April a slight smile, he took a deep breath then stepped up to the water's edge, April in step beside him. He peered intently into the water, hoping all would be clear. At least while close to the edge he could see, but who knew what lurked beneath the foliage in the water. Whimpering softly, he reached out with the stick April provided, moving it around in a semi-circle as he felt for anything that didn't belong. When he felt it safe, he stepped out, shunting the horrible images of what could be aside.

Following by example April joined him, wondering what was worse, this or the dreaded diving part that was all too imminent. As she felt the cold water circling around her ankles she held her breath and unwittingly found herself pressing against Mikey, causing him to jump in fright before calming and relishing the warm contact.

Slowly, they continued creeping forth, continuing to thoroughly test the waters before taking the plunge.

Finally, with the water reaching their thighs, April let out a breath, swishing her picket around until something out of place touched it. Shivering, she paused, breathing raggedly and touching Mikey's arm, not wanting to make any sudden movements or sounds.

"Mikey..." she could only let out, her face white in horror.

Freezing at the terrified sound of his name, Mikey slowly, almost painfully, looked at April. "What?" he whispered back.

"Something... is..." April muttered under her breath, slowly pointing with her other hand towards her picket.

Though the fear of the unknown had begun to overtake his senses, Mikey carefully pushed April back, stepping protectively in front of her. Gingerly, he stretched out with his own stick to where he'd seen hers enter the water but felt nothing. It had moved! Terror threatened to take hold but he swallowed his fear and reminded himself that maybe he just wasn't poking in quite the right place. Tentatively, he stepped forward half a step and felt around again. Still nothing.

"Maybe it was just a fish?" he ventured hopefully, glancing back at April.

"Mikey, I know the difference between a fish and... an arm!" April growled a bit too loudly.

Chagrined, Mikey opened his mouth to apologise when suddenly something with thick bony fingers clasped at his ankle, snaring his wrappings.

For just a moment, Mikey stiffened, before letting out a strangled cry of fright.

"Mikey?" April gasped, not sure what was going on.

"It's got me!"

Frantically, he tried to kick out but was unable to move his foot more than a few centimetres in any direction.

Suddenly, the grip on him became tighter and began pulling him in deeper as the sand under his free foot started to shift under him.

In a panic and unsure how to help, April began rushing towards him but Mikey shot a desperate look at her. "Stay back!' he pleaded, not wanting it to get her too. Their passage through the water and now his fighting to be free of whatever clutched him had stirred up the silt on the bottom, making the water a murky and terrible sight to behold.

"But Mikey, you can't take it on alone in this water," April stuttered, swirling her star picket back and forth in case any others have awakened from this disturbance.

Suddenly, the slippery ground beneath his feet shifted and Mikey fell backwards. His shell hitting the water sent up a huge splash and he quickly went under. Choking and spluttering in panic, he flailed, kicking out desperately with his free leg, trying to dislodge whatever held him so cruelly.

But it didn't let go. In fact, to make matters worse, he felt another slimy arm rub up against his leg as it reached unerringly towards him.

Raph's voice echoed mockingly in his head as his attacker taunted Mikey, "Look at this, you're such a damn moron for letting one of those fuckers take you down and leaving April all alone!"

"Calm down, Michelangelo. Everyone's counting on you," Leo's composed voice commanded out of nowhere, drowning out Raph's acerbic tones. "I know you can do this. Just focus and you can get yourself free."

"If you don't calm down then you can't save April and come for us," came Donnie's logical tones.

An unusual serenity descending upon him, Mikey stretched out towards his feet, snagging his nunchaku as he did. Given the resistance of the water slowing his movement, he automatically converted it into its bladed form and slashed as best he could, cutting his wrappings free from the nightmare that held him so mercilessly.

Then he elbowed the slimy appendage from his knee and like an Olympic swimmer executing a fast turn at the end of a pool, pushed off the bottom, launching himself at his vicious attacker.

Yelling at the top of his lungs, he burst briefly out of the water, droplets flying everywhere as he wrestled with his dark adversary.

April couldn't help but stare in shock, not sure if she believed what she saw as he went under once more, tumbling and twisting in the water as he fought desperately for his life.

The water and silt churned wildly as he splashed and fought, making it impossible to see and soon Mikey became aware of its struggles lessening and he took the opportunity stab hard with his blade at where he felt slimy hair. The frenetic movement finally halting, Mikey emerged gasping from the water and throwing the thing away from him as hard as he could.

"Take that!" he gasped victoriously as it splashed down into the murky water. "Serves you right for trying to take on the Battle Nexus Champion!"

Clapping sarcastically with her picket tucked under her arm, April sighed deeply, "Great job, Battle Nexus Champion. You have proven your skill and might once more as you killed Pinocchio. My hero!"

Expecting greater fanfare than that for saving them both, Mikey stared dumbly at her. "Huh? Pin...occhio?"

Trying not to laugh, April pointed to his big catch of the day.

Slowly and in disbelief, Mikey turned to look at his faintly bobbing attacker, only to see an old, thick and slimy forked branch with weed splayed from where his kusarigama blade still stuck out.

"Uh..." he began, then grinned sheepishly. "How about we don't tell our bros about this one?"

Nodding slowly, April reluctantly agreed, after all, she'd been the one to panic over it in the first place. "I think we really should hurry up before we lose what little sanity we have left. What next, we mistake our own limbs as one of them?"

Wincing, Mikey nodded and while waiting for April to make her way over to where he now stood plastron deep, reeled in his attacker and removed his weapon from it's 'head'. Then he continued to lead the way, beginning to swim out to about where he knew the hidden hatch was once they were deep enough.

"Wait up here and keep an eye out. I'll be back as soon as I have it open," he promised.

Letting go of the picket as it was now dragging her down as she trod water, April said, "Okay, but please be quick, I can't shake the feeling we are being watched still."

Mikey tossed her a quick, confident grin. "While you wait, saturate your lungs," Mikey suggested. Then he took a deep breath and dove down, swimming towards where he knew the hatch was.

Silt had settled over the top of it as usual, but he found it easily enough thanks to the natural-appearing marker Donnie had placed beside it. Squinting into the dimness, Mikey felt carefully about, searching for the wheel and brushing it clear before turning it. For a moment, he panicked as the wheel refused to turn, but finally, it gave way with a sudden jolt and began to slide open. Mikey felt the pull of the water as it began to rush in to fill the empty chamber beneath. At first it wasn't too bad but as it opened more, it became worse and he had to fight to stay in the lake instead of being pulled below. Luckily, his tight grip on the wheel aided him and a couple of minutes later as the chamber was fully opened, the rush halted and he no longer had to fight against the current. With it now open enough for the two of them, Mikey pushed off the bottom and swam for the surface where he could see April's slowly kicking legs keeping her head above.

His head and upper torso bursting out of the water, Mikey took another deep breath and grinned at April, happy to take in fresh air again. Sure, he could still have held his breath for several more minutes but that sweet, sweet air was a huge relief.

"Is it open?" April turned towards him.

"Sure is!" he exclaimed far more cheerfully than he felt, the dread at what they'd find once inside beginning to fill him once more.

Nodding, April hesitated before swimming up to him, "This will be quick, right?" she asked again.

Mikey hesitated a moment, not wanting to lie to her. "It'll take a couple of minutes. We gotta get down there and then close the hatch again before we can pump the water out of the chamber. Shouldn't be any longer than two or three minutes max though."

"Three minutes!" April squeaked in alarm. "That is almost impossible! Most people can't even last three minutes! I can't do it!"

"Yes you can," Mikey said, looking into her eyes intently to show how much he believed in her, the way Leo had done for him numerous times in the past. "I'll be with you. You won't have to swim because I'll do all the work so you can conserve your energy and breath."

She cast a nervous look around, the feeling of being watched only becoming more intense as she swore she saw shuffling in the distance and wondered if something was coming. Keeping that to herself so as to not put more pressure on Mikey, she swam closer, "So I just need to hold your shell?" she asked. "What's the best way to do this so I don't make this more work for you, Mikey?"

"Start breathing and fill your lungs," he repeated. "While you do, I'm going to tie my belt through the belt loops of your jeans so if you do let go while holding onto my shell, I'll be able to grab you quickly. Is that okay?" he asked, hesitating before simply reaching out and grabbing her.

Seeing his hesitation she smiled; Mikey could be such a gentleman when he wasn't making bad jokes and she had to admit it was amusing at times. "Yes, it's okay. Believe it or not, I do trust you, Mikey, I'm just scared. This will my first time."

Mikey grinned cheekily at her and reminded her to start breathing as he took his belt lengths and fumbled at her pants to tie them together.

Getting annoyed at his clumsy fumbling, she grabbed his belt from his hands and twirled her finger to make him turn around so she could attach herself from behind, all the while breathing deeply in and out as she was told.

Tightening his belt so she was secure, she took a very deep breath, "I'm going to mount you now, Mikey…" April said softly, then paused, realising how wrong that came out. She bit her lip, wondering if it could be because she was terrified to see what was in the lair, and of course of this trip to the hatch to get in.

"Oh my!" Mikey teased with a laugh. Then, sobering up, he turned his head to look back at her seriously, "You ready, Ape?"

Grabbing firmly onto his shell, the texture of it making her feel safe as she pressed her body against him, she nodded, taking her longest and hopefully not last breath.

Seeing her close her mouth and pressed her lips tight, Mikey also took a deep lungful of air of his own and dove once more, swimming down to the faint light of the now open hatch. With the drag created from April's grip on his shell, he felt himself moving more slowly but tried all the harder to swim faster so as not to let her drown.

Soon after, they swam inside the chamber where Mikey looked carefully around in case anything else slipped in while he was gone before quickly turning the wheel to close the hatch. Moments later, he became aware of a small stream of bubbles escaping his friend and realised he needed to move faster.

April's head started to swim and her lungs felt as though they were on fire. Her surroundings started to darken and she tried desperately to reach out and warn Mikey, but to no avail. Her eyes closed of their own accord and her body simply stopped responding.

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