A Million Miles Apart
A/N: Wow, I am on a roll this week! I guess this'll make up for next week, in case if I can't update when I'm on vacation over Christmas. I guess it's because I have so little things to do now, since the semester is over now. I finished my final test this week and the few smaller things too. Hopefully I'll be able to update as often as possible during Christmas Break.
On a quick note, I wanna give a great big thank you to those of you who have sent me their condolences because of the people I've lost. I cannot thank you enough, it means so much to me and it really gives me more strength and a drive to keep writing. Thank you all so much!
Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!
Chapter 21, A Chance To Catch My Breath
After Starlee had spoken, everyone in the room looked up from their wounds and at Starlee and Jhanna, who were staring at each other. I looked at Jhanna nervously; would she actually do it? Nah, she couldn't. She'd said once that she wanted to leave D'hoonib, so she probably wouldn't let her little sister drag her back.
"What?! No way, Starlee! I just managed to finally get away from Zanramon and our father! I've spent sixteen years of my life listening to his orders and his yelling, and I am not going back!" Starlee jumped a little at her older sister's loud voice, but she seemed to be used to that, 'cause she certainly didn't loose her footing.
"Jhanna… I know that you were right, and that he doesn't care about us as much as he should- but he's our father! And you know he'll be furious if we don't come home! He'll send Moriah after us! Why try to avoid the unavoidable?" Jhanna rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest.
"Oh yeah? Well, even if he does send her after us- which I really doubt- let him do it! I don't care about what he has to say or what he'll do in order to us get back! I have other things to worry about; bigger things!" I frowned and gazed over at Traximus and Mona Lisa, and I could see in their eyes that they thought this was just as awkward as I did. The Professor didn't show much emotion, but I had a feeling he felt a little bit awkward as well. I moved away from Starlee and Jhanna and walked up to the others instead. The girls didn't seem to notice, though. Starlee placed her hands on her hips and glared up at her sister.
"Oh, really? What could possibly be so important that you'd leave your family- your home- for a couple of strangers?" Jhanna growled and was about to answer, but I felt the need to intervene. If I didn't, chances were that a big fight was imminent- and that wasn't what we needed right now. Especially considering that we were still way too close to the Triceraton ships.
"Uh, girls? I hate to interrupt, but we're still really close to the Triceratons. Could we maybe have this discussion once we're a few miles away from those dino-freaks? I really don't want to go back to that place; I have to save my planet! Anyone here remember that they're gonna go after the Black Hole Generator the first chance they get?" I hated to make this situation about me, but I was desperate, and I had just managed to get us a bit of a head start by blowing up those ships, and I didn't want to waste it on petty arguments. Jhanna turned to me and her expression softened before she turned back to Starlee again. The smaller girl now looked at me as if she had forgotten about the rest of us.
"Wha... What do you mean, save your planet? And the Black Hole Generator? What is going on here?" Jhanna placed her hand on her sister's shoulder and gestured to the others and me.
"That's our mission. The Triceratons have figured out that the Kraang are hiding on Donatello's planet, and they'll destroy it with the Black Hole Generator. We have to stop them before they can do that. That's why I can't go home- why I don't want to go home! I wanna help stop the Triceratons!" Starlee raised an eyebrow and looked slightly confused.
"Since when do you care about the welfare of others? Didn't you always say that it's every alien for themselves out there?" Jhanna shrugged and flicked her bangs out of her face.
"Since now. I am not going to D'hoonib when the Triceratons are going to destroy a planet of innocent people! I'm sorry, Starlee, but I'm staying here, and we're going to stop those dino-freaks! We're going to help Donnie get back home again." Starlee turned to me and her purple eyes showed nothing but compassion; but before she could say anything, Mona Lisa interrupted the conversation.
"Hey, whoa, hold on for a second! I never agreed to that! I only wanted to escape prison, not get involved in another fight! Especially not with the Triceratons! I've seen enough of those guys to last me a lifetime! All I want is to go home." We all turned to her, and I had to admit, I had kinda forgotten about her. She had been so quiet and done so little that she had kinda faded into the background. Jhanna turned to her and glared at the little Salamandarian.
"What? But you were right there, helping us fight the Triceratons so we could get out of that place! Are you just going to ditch us now?!" Mona Lisa glared back and folded her arms over her chest.
"Yeah, I fought back- so I could get out of prison! I never agreed to help a totally unknown planet of people I don't know!" Traximus and the Professor turned to her, looking pretty ticked off.
"So you don't care about the fact that the people of Earth are in serious danger- are going to die if we don't do something? Doesn't that faze you at all?" Traximus was pretty intimidating now that he was angry, but Mona Lisa stood her ground and rolled her eyes.
"I don't know the people of Earth! Why should I care about people that I've never met, will probably never meet, and that will never mean anything to me? It doesn't affect me at all if the people of Earth die, so I don't see why I should help you." The Professor raised his finger and was about to say something, but I couldn't take listening to any more of this.
"Guys, stop!" Everyone stared at me. "She's right. She doesn't have any reason to help me save my people. She has her own life and her own home, which I bet she wants to get back to, on her own planet. I'm not going to force anyone to help me if they don't want to. Anyone who wishes to do what they want, go home or do something other than this is free to go." I looked down at the clean white floor and could see my reflection in the polished metal. And I could see I had tears running down my cheeks. Then I saw Starlee come up to me and place her hand on my shell.
"Donatello, I admit that this isn't what I had planned to do when I arrived here. But, I realize that you want to save your home. And I sympathize with you. And since you've managed to get my sister, a Triceraton outcast and Professor Honeycutt on your side, I guess I can't really argue against the idea of saving Earth. So, I'm willing to help in any way I can." I tilted my head to gaze up at her with a grateful smile. She smiled back and then turned back to Mona Lisa.
"And I'm sure we can stop by your planet and drop you off if you really want to go home." Mona Lisa nodded slowly and grinned. She then looked at me and looked a bit more remorseful.
"I'm really sorry, but if you had been locked up for so long, and then finally managed to escape, I don't think you'd be so quick to join a fight against those that locked you up in prison. Especially when it concerns people you don't know at all." I shrugged and tried to act like it wasn't a big deal, even though it hurt that she didn't want to help us.
"It's okay, I understand. If the Triceratons weren't on their way to destroy my world, I'd probably want to go home as quickly as possible, too." Mona smiled, glad that I understood, and then looked back at Starlee, who had brought out a big white case that I suppose was her first aid kit. A pretty big first aid kit. She pushed it towards us and then opened it.
"Here, so you can patch yourselves up where you need to. If you walk through the door on the left, you'll find the showers if you wanna clean yourselves up, and," she looked at Jhanna's tattered clothes, "if you wanna change into something else, there are plenty of space-suits through that door on the right, in the shower room. I'm going to see if the computers can find the pieces of that Black Hole Generator. It'll be easier to find them if we know where we're going, right?" I quickly ran towards the shower rooms, followed by Jhanna. We both really need to shower, and I couldn't wait to get the dirt and blood off of my body.
Hot water had never felt so good before. I stood there, in a clean shower with a bar of soap in my hand, steaming hot water washing over my whole body. It felt amazing. I could stay in there for hours. And seeing how there were three other showers in this place, I didn't think anyone would mind if I did. It also felt great to see all the dirt, blood and sweat disappear down the drain. Exactly where it went, I had no idea, but for the moment I didn't care. It felt so nice to not think for a change and just enjoy the moment. But I did make sure to clean my injured arm and get rid of all the blood and dirt that might have infected it. The last thing I wanted was to get an infection (if I didn't already have one- the fever was still unexplained) that might lead to severe injury in a fight. The cut was irritated and red, but the clean water seemed to be doing it some good.
"Hey, are you gonna stay in there forever? Come on, we have things to do! The others will probably want some warm water, too, you know!" Jhanna called from outside the drapery. I put the soap away and stuck my head out.
"I thought that the water's always warm- the fuel, when it's converted to heat, goes to heat up the water and the entire ship, right? If that's the case, then why should I worry about running out of warm water?" Jhanna stood there in a bathrobe and was drying her hair with a towel. This was the first time I had seen her with her hair down, and I had to admit, she looked a little cuter.
"Well, yes, that's true, but if you waste the warm water then more heat will need to be used to heat up more water, as well as the ship, thus the fuel will run out much quicker, and we'll have to get more. Now, granted, there is a lot of fuel in this thing, but we don't exactly have a lot of money to get more with, so let's try not to waste anything we might need in the future." I rolled my eyes, stuck my head back into the shower and turned off the water before I exited the stall. Jhanna handed me a towel before she headed into the room where Starlee had said something about space suits. I could understand her- her clothes, on top of being so tattered and dirty that she could probably never wear them again, also belonged to the Federation. And she had been very clear about not wanting to go back to the Federation ever again.
I dried myself with the towel and was happy to see that the white cloth- while maybe a little dirty- was pretty clean after I had rubbed it all over my body. Good, that meant I had cleaned myself thoroughly. I looked around for my own gear, put my mask on and then noticed just how dirty the rest of the gear was- a little torn at the seams, as well. I could probably fix the small parts that were tattered or ripped, but they were still too dirty to wear. I would have to clean them later, but what was I supposed to wear until then? I couldn't walk around with nothing on me. Heck no, that would be way too awkward. Before we met April, my brothers and I had been totally comfortable with walking 'nude' around the lair. It wasn't until she had a good awkward laugh about it that we became self-conscious about it; since then it's been hard to leave my room without at least my mask on. But what could I do until my gear was wearable?
Just then, Jhanna walked through the door again. Her hair had now dried and been combed through, but other than that, she looked pretty different. Her black and brown clothing had been replaced with a dark blue skintight jumpsuit with matching gloves, a black belt around her waist with a holster on the side of her waist, black leather boots and a new sword in her hand- a sword with a retractable blade. In the holsters in her belt was a small gun. On her right arm was a small gauntlet with a few buttons on it, looking like some sort of communication device. She stretched a little bit, then jumped around and did a few fighting moves and finished off with a somersault before she seemed satisfied.
"Wow, these things are really easy to move around in! And pretty comfortable, too! You should try one too, Donnie!" She smiled at me and started to tie her hair into her two ponytails. I had to place my hand over my mouth to suppress a laugh. She couldn't be serious.
"Do you honestly think a suit like that is going to fit me? I'm a mutant turtle. With a shell. I'll never get into that without ripping it." She rolled her eyes, grabbing me by the arm and leading me into the room she had just vacated. What I saw made my jaw drop to the floor. The room was filled with space suits, helmets, gadgets of all kinds, weapons that clearly had an advanced technological origin and so much more. It was like a full-on geek explosion!
Jhanna grabbed one of the bigger suits, lifted one of the arms that had a similar kind of gauntlet to her own, and showed a small red button on it.
"Put this on and then press this button. Then you'll see what happens." I looked at her, took the suit and started to put it on. It was probably five sizes too big, but I was sure Jhanna knew what she was doing. After quite a bit of trouble and pulling on the long arms and legs, I had finally managed to put it on -as much as I could, anyway- and then pressed the button. Suddenly the suit seemed to shrink and form itself after my body shape. Once it was done I moved to one of the walls that was so polished that I could see my reflection in the metal, looking at myself. It was a similar suit to Jhanna's, only mine was dark purple and looked more like a one-piece, since the 'gloves' and the 'boots' were already stuck on the suit instead of put on individually like Jhanna had done with hers. But, other than that, it was almost exactly like Jhanna's. I turned to her. She had one hand on her hip and was resting her weight on said hip
"These suits have a little feature that can adjust them to fit pretty much any alien anatomy. Makes it so much easier to buy a suit when you don't have to care about the different sizes, right?" I nodded, but I couldn't look away from myself. I felt like one of those characters from Leo's stupid Space Heroes show. Only a lot cooler. I grabbed a belt, a staff made of some kind of metal, and little gun just like Jhanna had. I examined the staff and started to twirl it to get used to the new weapon and how it felt.
"Wow, I feel like a real space ranger! Oh, if only the guys could see me right now! I mean, so far I've managed to survive being transported through space, survived D'hoonib and the Triceraton Prison, beat the oldest daughter of the leader of D'hoonib and a Triceraton singlehandedly, made friends with aliens, am on my way to save my planet, and now this! Hah, who's a weak dork now, am I right?" I smirked at Jhanna and tried to look cool, then felt one end of the staff hit the side of my head. I involuntarily let out an 'oomph!' and stumbled a little. Since the staff was made out of metal and not wood, like my other staff, it hurt much more.
"Ugh- ow." I rubbed my temple and groaned in frustration and embarrassment. The staff was a bit heavier than my old one, so I guess I had to train with it a bit so I could get used to it. Jhanna snickered at me and hid her mouth behind her gloved hand. I guess she had tried to suppress it… and failed. I glared at her and placed the staff in the holster in my back. After she had calmed down a little, Jhanna walked up to me and looked me in the eyes, folding her arms over her chest in a familiar gesture.
"Who said anything about you being weak? Or a dork, for that matter? …Whatever that is." I looked at her, feeling rather surprised. I had never really thought of revealing much about my family or how they probably saw me to Jhanna. Not even April had managed to get me to say much about how I felt about it. But I guess I had to say something, seeing how I kinda got myself into this situation by mentioning it. I rubbed the back of my neck and looked away from her.
"Well, I dunno… Back on Earth, I guess, between me and my family, I've always been seen as the weaker fighter. I'm not as strong, gifted or dedicated in my Ninjutsu studies as my brothers are, and I'm no ninja master like my father. I guess I've always been seen as the weakest. At least physically." Jhanna bit her lower lip and looked away from me for a second, smiling when our eye contact resumed.
"Well, if that's the case, then I'd hate to see how strong your brothers are, seeing how you've managed to take care of yourself pretty well these past few days- especially since you managed to hold your ground against Traximus the other day. You clearly have talent, determination and a great deal of strength. If that's qualified as weak where you come from, then I don't think I wanna know how your brothers would've handled the situation." I looked up at her in surprise. Was that a compliment? I beamed at her and felt myself blushing a little.
"Thanks, Jhanna. Oh, and thanks for mentioning Traximus. You just reminded me that there's something I need to talk to him about." I left the room and ran out into the control room. Traximus was sitting down on a small staircase and wrapping some bandages around his knee when I ran up to him and sat down beside him.
"Hey, Traximus, can I ask you something?" He looked up at me and smiled. I wasn't sure how old this guy was, but something about the look in his eyes made me see a wise old man and not just a strong and experienced warrior. Similar to Splinter, in a way.
"Didn't you just ask me a question?" And he still had the kind of humor that Splinter did, if you can call it humor and not just a way of playing with my brothers and me. I rolled my eyes at him and started to help him with his bandages.
"Well, I was just wondering something. Now, I've heard from some people that I can handle myself in a fight, and I know that I have handled myself pretty well since I was transported from my own planet. But I also know that I've had a bit of luck so far and I know that the only reason I could defeat you yesterday was because of your injury. And I don't want to depend on my luck to save me all the time; you know what I'm saying? So, well I, I..." He smiled and nodded at me, encouraging me to keep going. I took a deep breath, looked down at the floor and just said it.
"I was hoping you could train me." I said it almost too quickly, and I wouldn't blame him if he didn't hear what I said. But he smiled, grabbed my chin and lifted my face up so he could look me in the eyes.
"You're being very humble and wise to ask me this. Most who have handled the things you have thought of themselves as better than they may be, and that would lead them to their doom. But, I must ask: do you realize that if I were to train you, I would push you very hard to improve you and your skills? There are many dangers out there, and it's hard to be ready for every one of them. Are you sure you would be up for it?" I thought it over. I could run away and say that I didn't want to, since I knew it would be a lot harder than training with Master Splinter. But, if I did, then I would be a coward, too scared to sweat, cry and even bleed in order to improve myself. And I didn't want to be seen as a coward. So I nodded just as I finished tying the bandage.
"Yes. Yes, I'm sure I would be up for it. I know it'll be really tough, but I want to become a great fighter and want to be able to take care of myself. So, yes." He nodded and placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Very well. We start first thing in the morning! Now, may I have a look at your arm?" Suddenly I remembered the gash on my arm that was probably still irritated and couldn't possibly have healed yet. Even though I had cleaned it as well as I could, it could still be infected- probably was, if the light fever was anything to go by. One thing was for sure: it still hurt like shell. So I opened up my suit, pulled my arm out of the sleeve and showed it to Traximus; and I was, well, not exactly happy to see what I did. It was still relatively clean from my shower, but it still looked pretty bad. It had started to bleed again; some pus had also started to form around the edges and around the gash, my skin looked slightly purple. All in all, not a pretty sight. I had been cleaning it as well as I could while showering, but I guess I had really looked it over, and I must have missed how terrible it really looked. Traximus examined it, pulled out a bottle of some kind, dropped some liquid onto a cotton pad and started clean it. It burned like hellfire, and I bit my tongue just to make sure I didn't scream in pain. After he was done cleaning the wound, Traximus took some more bandages out of the case and started to wrap it around my arm.
"It seems to have healed well enough that you won't need stitches anymore. That is good, but it still looks bad. I'm guessing the bandages in that prison weren't very clean. I'll wrap it up just in case it starts to bleed again- which it probably will. Hopefully it won't restrain your movement with that arm, now that you wear that suit." Once he was done and I put the suit on properly again, I pointed towards the shower room.
"Why don't you go and take a shower? Maybe change your clothes, at the very least. The ones you have right now look ready to fall apart." He smiled, ruffled the tails of my mask and then left for the showers, limping a little. But before he walked into the room, he turned to look over his shoulder and smiled at me.
"Thank you, Donatello, for showing up in that prison. I owe you my life since you have given me a reason to live it again." I grinned, blushed a little and murmured 'you're welcome' before he entered the shower room and closed the door behind him. After a few minutes Jhanna walked in and carried her old clothes as far away from herself -especially her face- as she could.
"I'm throwing these things out, Starlee! Is there any place I can do that?" Starlee looked up from her computers, where she and the Professor were trying to locate the pieces of the Black Hole Generator, and peered over her shoulder at her sister. She saw the heap of ruined rags in Jhanna's arms and pointed to the door on the right.
"There's an incinerator that way. You just walk straight ahead for a few minutes, then go through the door on the left. But be careful- the fire is really strong." She nodded and disappeared through the indicated doorway. I searched the room for Mona Lisa, but she was nowhere to be found. Eh, she was probably in the shower or something. She seemed to be pretty reserved, so maybe she wanted to be alone.
Suddenly I heard my stomach rumble and I realized I hadn't eaten anything since last night. I hoped this place had food that was actually edible. I approached Starlee and carefully tapped her on the shoulder.
"Um, excuse me? I don't mean to interrupt you again, but I was wondering if you had anything eat around here? I'm starting to get a little hungry." Starlee looked up again, pushed her goggles up and pointed to the door on the right again.
"In there. Just use the food replicator and get anything you want." Food replicator? What was that? I looked down at her with a raised eyebrow and tilted my head to the side.
"Huh? What's that?" She looked as if she had just assumed that I knew what that was. The Professor gestured to her that he would keep looking for the pieces and that she could show me what the food replicator was. She stood up and led me into another room that looked like a mix between a dining room and a living room, with a few couches, something that looked like a TV, and a door that led into another room, that, as far as I could see, was empty. In one corner was a big white contraption that looked kinda like a table you'd see in a cafè from the fifties- you know, those kinds of tables that have the benches and the table stuck together. Only on the table was something that looked like a mix between a dome and a microwave. She pressed a button and a small lamp-like thing came out of the top and small thingies that I really don't how to describe, maybe something similar to a plug of some kind. She pulled on one of them and gave it to me.
"Place this to your head, think of whatever food you wanna eat, and it'll appear right there." She pointed at the table's dome-microwave and then started to walk away. I turned around before she could leave and yelled.
"Wait! I can ask for anything I want? Anything at all? Like, I can ask for food from my planet if I'd like to?" She shrugged and smiled at me.
"Sure! As far as I know, there are no limits. Now, you'll have to excuse me. I have to go and help the Professor." I nodded, sat down on the bench and placed the plug on my forehead. Okay, so I could ask for anything I wanted? Let's try something simple. I thought of a pepperoni pizza, fresh and newly baked, and a tall glass of Coke, with a small salad on the side. I had to eat something more nutritious, too.
April had once brought a few sodas over to the lair, a few weeks after we had met her, and we all loved it- though, in true sibling fashion, we all liked different kinds. Leo loved Sprite, Raph really liked Dr. Pepper, and Mikey had fallen for Fanta. I think it's because it's orange and Mikey loves orange. Me, I had grown a liking to Coke. When we were out of coffee, a can of Coke worked just as well at keeping me awake.
A soft ding brought me out of my thoughts and a hatch opened, revealing a large plate of steaming hot pepperoni pizza and a tall glass of coke- even a straw was included! On the side was a small bowl of lettuce, plum tomatoes, cucumber and some paprika. I smelled the food and after eating little to nothing for these past few days, except for that goop in the prison, it smelled glorious. I took the plate, the glass and the salad and sat down on the couch to eat there instead. Okay; I could eat anything I wanted without doing anything harder than thinking about it, there was a shower with warm water all the time, nice and comfortable suits, and enough entertainment to keep me busy. I could definitely get used to this- at least until I could go home again.
I grabbed one of the pieces and took a big bite out of the pizza, and just like how I had enjoyed the warm water in the shower, the taste alone was sent from the heavens. So. Good. I finished it in seconds and picked up another slice just as Jhanna walked through another door, now with empty hands and a small smile on her face.
"Well, I've gotten rid of my Federation uniform! Finally, I've been wanting to destroy that thing for..." She trailed off when she saw what I had on my plate and halfway to my face. She walked up, pointed at the slice of pizza in my hand and frowned at it.
"What is that?" I eyed my plate, shrugged and tried to show the pizza a bit better, but she just jerked away from it as if it was toxic waste or something.
"It's pizza. It's a dish on Earth. It's dough that you roll and form into a circle, like this. You put some tomato sauce on it, some cheese, and then whatever ingredients you want. Pepperoni, chili, pineapple, ham- whatever! My brother usually puts everything he wants on the pizza, and sometimes it's a bit disturbing… But whatever, right?" Jhanna still glared untrustingly at the pizza, as though afraid it would suddenly jump up and attack her.
"Ugh, it looks nasty. Is that something people on your planet eat a lot?" I shrugged and offered a slice to her.
"I… guess... I mean, yeah, they do; it's very easy to get and not very expensive, either. My friends say that the humans on Earth usually order pizza because they don't have the time or energy to cook something for themselves. Plus, it's really, really good." Jhanna rolled her eyes and looked to the side for a second, mumbling to herself.
"Sounds pretty lazy." I rolled my eyes back at her and placed a hand on my side.
"Says the girl whose people have developed a machine that can recreate any food you want with nothing else but your thoughts. Come on, Jhanna, at least try it. You never know; you might like it." She jerked away from my hand as though burned and looked at the pizza suspiciously. She looked back at me, I smiled reassuringly, and she looked back at the slice and sighed.
"Ugh, fine. I guess it can't be worse than that goop they tried to feed us in prison." She hesitantly moved the pizza up to her mouth, braced herself and then took a bite and shut her eyes tightly, as if that would get rid of the taste. But after a few seconds she opened her eyes and smacked her lips. She then shrugged a little and gave the slice back.
"Hmm. Not bad. Nothing great, but good, I guess." I shrugged and started to eat the rest of the pizza. She took a seat at the replicator; I guess she wanted to eat something familiar to her, and that's totally fine. Everybody's entitled to their own opinions. I picked up one of the tomatoes and threw it into my mouth, sipped some Coke and ate some more of my pizza. And I have to say; pizza had never tasted to good in my life. Not even that first time we tasted it when we were allowed to go topside for the first time.
Once I had finished my meal, I walked back out to the control room and saw Starlee and the Professor still working at the computers. I curiously scanned over all of the technology in the room, and I had to say that it was amazing. The white metal and the orange coloured lights was one thing, but the tech was simply incredible. I almost had to remind myself that I wasn't dead and this wasn't some sort of tech-geek Heaven.
I walked up to the computer, looked over Starlee's shoulder and tried to see what they were doing. It was still pretty new-looking, but, in a way, I could understand some of it. I think. From what I could tell, Starlee had- well, to put it simply- typed 'Black Hole Generator' into the computer's database, and now they were looking, alongside the search programs, for the pieces. Seemed simple enough, but there were billions upon billions of planets out there, so this could very well take some time.
"Oh, hello, Donatello! Did you want something?" I looked up and saw that the Professor was watching me curiously and Starlee had looked up from her typing and up at me with surprise and confusion. I backed away a little and smiled awkwardly.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spy or anything; I was just wondering how you were doing. If you found something, anything at all, that might help us." Starlee smiled, scooted over in her seat so I could see the screens more easily, and pointed at the orange lights.
"Well, we haven't found any of the pieces yet, but I managed to dig up some information about the invention. Apparently the Intergalactic Allegiance, which is a group of aliens from almost every intelligent planet in the galaxy -and some from others- that works to try and keep peace throughout the galaxy. It has been trying to deal with the Kraang as well as the Triceratons for a long time. And when they found out about the Black Heart (or Black Hole Generator, whatever you wanna call it), they confiscated it from the Kraang. But other than that, we haven't found much. Yet anyway. But I'm gonna keep looking for more." I nodded and sat down in the seat beside her.
"Would you like some help? I'm pretty new to this tech, but I'll gladly help in any way I can." She smiled and nodded. I suddenly realized something and looked her in the eye.
"I don't think I've properly introduced myself to you, so let me try. My name is Donatello, but I guess you've figured that out by now." Out of instinct, and manners, I reached out my hand for her to shake, but she looked pretty confused as she stared at it. Then, instead of taking it, she reached out her own hand towards me, copying my gesture with her hand extended uselessly in the air a few inches away from mine.
"Well, I'm Starlee! Nice to properly meet you." I grinned and shook my head slowly.
"Uh, heh. No, no, no, that's not exactly what I meant. On my planet, when you introduce yourself to somebody new, you shake hands- like this." I took her hand in mine and shook it. She studied our interlocked hands for a moment and nodded slowly.
"Ohh, okay, I get it. Does everybody greet others like that?" I shrugged and smiled.
"Well, not everybody. It varies from place to place, especially on Earth; for example, in the land my father comes from, when you want to show respect for somebody as you greet them, you bow to them." I bowed shortly and looked back up at her. "It kinda depends on where you live on my planet. We all have different cultures and different ways of seeing things. But let's get back to the Black Hole Generator, shall we?" Starlee nodded and turned back to the screen and started typing again. She explained to me what I had to do, and how to find more info- from reliable sources, of course- and patiently explained the language when I just got lost in all the different signs and symbols.
I don't know how long we sat there, but after awhile, I started to get the hang of it. There were still things I didn't understand every now and then, but I started to understand how things worked around here. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
A/N: WHY DO I HAVE WRITE SO LONG CHAPTERS? WHY?! *heavy sigh*. Okay, I'm fine now.
Alright, now some of you may say that Donnie adapts to space, the tech and everthing way too quickly, but considering how in the show the turtles, April and Casey adapt to all the new space technology practically in first episode of season 4 (and in seconds none the less), then I don't see any problems with it. If the show can do it, then so can I.
Now, I am pretty sure that I can't update before Sunday (where I live anyway) so you might have to wait a bit for the next chapter, but I think I'll be able to update up when I'm with my cousins.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!