Donatello was completely stunned. There was another girl in April's room and she hadn't warned them not to come over tonight. This was a disaster. He doubted April had told this girl about them. Especially since she looked like she was about to faint, which wouldn't be so bad. At least if she fainted she wouldn't make a noise and he could let April know what happened without the others finding out. Or worse, Aprils' aunt fining out. If she found out they would surely move away and take April with them, he couldn't bear the thought of that. He really did like her, he would never admit it out loud, aside from that first comment he had made when they first laid eyes on her, but that was because he had been so shocked by her he didn't even know what he was saying.
The girl was still just staring at him, he wasn't sure what to do. So he uttered an obscenity under his breath, but apparently, she had heard and the silence ended when she started freaking out. He could tell her heart rate had increased and her adrenaline was pumping by the look in her eyes, they were darting around looking for something, but for what? Then he saw her lunge for the standing lamp in the corner. Before he could react she had it firmly in her hands and had ripped it out of the wall.
"April!" She yelled at the closed door. "Ms. O'Neil!" her voice rose in pitch as the panic started to set in.
"Oh no, no don't do that!" he pleaded, taking a step toward her.
The girl swung the lamp with more force than he was expecting, but being a ninja he blocked it easily and disarmed her with a gentle shove to her shoulder and a tug on the lamp. She fell down with a squeak, but sprang up again immediately, apparently prepared to defend herself if need be. Donnie heard footsteps running up the stairs behind the closed door and decided to bolt for the window before he was discovered again. As he reached the window, something struck the back of his head and he practically fell onto the fire escape, with a glance back he saw the girl looking both terrified and determined as she started grabbing more items to hurl at him.
He closed the window hurriedly and sprinted back up to the roof. He scrambled over the ledge breathing heavily and collapsed onto the ground.
"What happened? We heard yelling?" Leonardo asked immediately.
"It's bad guys, it's very bad!" Donnie said panicking slightly.
"What? Did you try and kiss April or something else incredibly dumb?" joked Raph.
"God I wish that were the case. April wasn't in her room."
"So what's the big deal? It's not like anyone was in there's right?" there was a pause, in which Donatello looked at his three brothers very sheepishly. "Right?" Demanded Raph.
"Damn it Donnie!" snapped Leo, he walked away fuming silently just in case someone heard. It was unlikely all that ruckus went noticed by too many people. This was New York, most people would ignore yelling, but there was always a couple of people who would make sure it was nothing too serious. "We have to make sure this person won't talk. Was April there at all?" Leo stomped back over to his ridiculously smart but socially moronic little brother.
"No, but she will be. The girl was calling her name so I would assume they're friends." Donatello reached behind his head and felt a small bump forming where whatever had been thrown at him had hit him. "She's certainly got a good arm on her though, and good aim." he noted mostly to himself.
"What are you talking about?" Interrupted Raph.
"She attacked me with a lamp, then threw something at my head." He said, "It didn't hurt particularly just caught me off guard."
"It's a good job your head is so hard!" Chirped in Mikey, he and Raph high-threed and chuckled to themselves, oblivious to the seriousness of the situation.
"This is awful, what if she rats us out? We won't be able to live freely in the city anymore!" Leo was pacing trying to figure it out.
"Why don't we just wait up here for the time being and try and talk to April? I'm sure she can straighten everything out with this girl!" Mickey was playing a game on his T-phone and was only half paying attention.
"Why do you only have good ideas when you're not even trying, or even a real part of the conversation?" asked Raph.
"What?"
"Never mind."
Leonardo had stopped pacing and looked at his brothers, they didn't really have a choice, maintaining their secrecy was priority number one. They couldn't have people finding out about them or they would be in serious trouble. They had to make sure this girl understood what was going on and kept their secret, he didn't want to think what would happen if she refused.
"Ok, here's the plan. Donnie, try and get a hold of April as soon as possible. Raph and Mikey, go and make sure none of the neighbors are asking questions, if they are let us know so we can move if need be. I'll make sure no one tries to come up to the roof." Leo turned around to literally see no one standing there, his hot-headed and goofball brothers understood that containment was the key and had sprang into action as soon as he had told them to move. Damage control was in progress, all they could do was hope April picked her friends wisely.
Down in the apartment, April burst through her door at a full sprint. "What! What is it?"
Her friend, Holly, was shaking like a leaf pointing at the window. Her breathing was harsh and she couldn't quite seem to form full sentences yet. She just kept repeating "Big," and "Holy Crap!"
The turtle boys wouldn't be stupid enough to come into her room if they had seen someone else would they? She grasped her friend by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes, "What did you see?"
"Big...Green...Thing!" Holly tried. She had no idea what she had seen, just that it was not human, and it was really tall.
"What on earth is going on up here?" Aprils' aunt had finally made it up the stairs to the spare bedroom. She was a dumpy woman, who wore lots of tweed jackets and ugly skirts, but she was sweet, and was always concerned for other people.
"I think she saw a big rat on the fire escape." April automatically responded; she had been preparing for this situation, just in case.
"A rat, I ran up those stairs for a silly little rat?" Aprils' aunt huffed as she straightened her hair.
Holly's eyes snapped to April's, making sure the red-head understood what, exactly, was going on. "No, it was really big! Like, really big!" she protested eyes wide as April tried to telepathically explain.
"I'm sure dear, but it's still just a rat. You are in New York City after all." Aprils' aunt tutted as she retreated back out of the room.
Once the door was closed ,and April was sure her aunt was back down-stairs, she turned to Holly who looked thoroughly confused and scared. "Did you see a big green walking turtle?"
Holly just nodded, clearly befuddled and bewildered.
"Hold on a moment, and don't freak out anymore. I'll explain what I can in just a moment." April reached for her phone that was on the dresser, it had six messages all from Donatello sounding quite desperate.
"I'm really sorry April, but I think I scared your friend!"
"We really need to talk to you, is your friend ok? Is she calm yet?"
April we really need to know if everything's ok!"
"April?"
"APRIL!"
"Sorry, I panicked for a sec there!"
She shook her head and, replied to the texts with a quick message.
"She's ok, stunned but ok. I'll explain to her. See if she wants to actually meet you!"
She looked back at her friend and smiled softly. This was going to be really hard. Walking over to Holly, she grasped her by the arm and walked her over to the bed. They sat together, Holly still wide-eyed and April still not sure where to start.
Holly broke the silence first. "What the hell is going on? What was that thing? And why aren't you as freaked out as I am?"
"Well, if you saw what I think you saw then they're friendly, and you have to believe me on that!" April really wasn't sure where to start. How was she supposed to explain that she hangs out with four mutant turtle brothers and their master, a giant rat?
"Oh well, now I feel much better." Holly snapped back. "Wait a minute... You said "they're". There's more than one!" She started shaking again.
"Oh boy. Ok, so remember when my dad was kidnapped along with all the other scientists in the city?"
Holly nodded, not trusting her voice again just yet.
"Ok, well I was there when he was taken. They would have taken me too, but that thing you saw saved me when I fell out of the helicopter. If it weren't for them I wouldn't be here." April hoped that would at least convince her they were friendly.
"Right... You fell out of a chopper and a big green, thing, saved you. Just how hard did I hit my head in the shower again?"
April sighed, she knew it all sounded crazy and she would expect some doubt if she had to tell someone, but Holly was smart and knew she wouldn't make things like this up. She decided that they would have to do something drastic to convince Holly to keep her mouth shut.
"Would you be willing to meet them, all of them, and talk to them?" April had her phone out already, ready to send a message to Donatello if Holly would cooperate.
"How long exactly have you known about these things?" Holly asked with suspicion dripping off every word. She narrowed her eyes at her red-headed friend, mentally debating if she was the crazy one, or if April was stark raving mad.
"Uh, about six months."
"Six months!" yelled Holly. April hastily tackled her friend into the bed, hand clamped firmly over her mouth.
"Shh, keep it down! My aunt doesn't know about them. Only I really know about them, and I swear they're friendly."
"You're crazy! Completely mad!" Holly hissed, she was so confused still, she couldn't understand how there were great big green monsters running around, or how April seemed to know all about them, it made no sense. She took a calming breath "Ok. How did they get here? Where did they come from?"
April thought about the turtles and splinter and wondered how much she should really reveal. She didn't think that Holly could deal with finding out about the Foot clan and the Krang right now, that might push her right over the edge.
"Well, they used to be turtles, just regular turtles, but they mutated when they were exposed to a dangerous chemical substance and they have been living underground for the last 15 years or so."
"What mutated them? It would have had to have been something pretty special to alter the DNA of a regular animal so drastically?" Holly couldn't help herself, her love of science had overtaken her fear and now she was curious.
"I have no idea, but Donatello is extremely smart and I bet you could discuss theories with him." April cracked a small smile, she had her now. Holly was far too inquisitive to pass up talking science with another brainiac.
Holly still looked cautious though, she had thought the green monster was going to eat her or something, but now she was being told by her best friend that it was a mutated turtle who had saved her life. What was she thinking? Those things were monsters! Holly looked April over once more trying to see if there was anything that might give away that she was lying, or that she was hallucinating. But when nothing presented itself, she decided that this might actually be real.
"I don't know April. This sounds crazy!"
"I'll tell you what, come up to the roof with me and at least meet them. If you don't like it, I'll bring you back down here and we can go one with our night as planned." April offered.
Holly thought once more, weighing all the options over. She couldn't very well forget what she had seen, but she couldn't tell anyone either. Who would believe her? They would put her in the looney bin for sure. Plus who was she to judge someone because of their looks, no one looked twice at her when she moved New York. All the kids in her class thought she was weird and avoided her. April was her first friend and had remained her closest friend since that day. She sighed and finally admitted defeat.
"Alright, I give in. I would at least apologize for throwing that stapler at one of their head. Oh, how many of them are there exactly?" Holly asked nervously.
"Four, well five if you include Master Splinter"
"Who now?"
"Never mind, just put on some clothes and follow me up the fire escape!"
