A Million Miles Apart
A/N: Hi, I'm back! So it's been awhile since I posted something, but I had some trouble with what to write next. I started writing one thing, then decided to save it for next chapter, and I hope you'll understand when you read that chapter. I've also had some writer's block, or not so much writer's block as, knowing what I want to write but just not being able to actually write it. Don't you just hate when that happens?
Also, I've had some trouble with finding work. I thought I found something at a café, but they decided they didn't want me so I have to keep looking. But I finally found some time and energy to write and now, here it is!
I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!
Chapter 59, Pluto Khan
I can't say I've been to many bars in my life. Well, okay, I've never set foot in a bar in my whole life, not even in a fight against bad guys. So I guess I should say I didn't know what I was expecting when we walked into the bar the Professor had described for us, but I was prepared for the worst: loud, unbearable music, men and women drinking themselves half-blind and yelling to each other to be heard over the noise. But that wasn't at all what I saw or heard when we walked through the door.
Compared to everything I had seen on this journey through space, this was arguably one of the- for lack of a better word- simplest places I had seen. It was almost entirely built out of wood and the furniture consisted of wooden tables and benches and a large chandelier with burning candles lit up the room. In a way it reminded me of a nineteenth-century bar, except for all the strange-looking creatures that were sitting at the tables. Thankfully there were only a handful of people in here and no one appeared to be plastered yet. I guess it was too early for that, even for this party planet's residents.
I have no idea if there were any age restrictions for alcohol around here or if there were any rules for going into bars when you're still a kid, but if there were, no one cared enough to question why a bunch of teens walked into the bar and just kept minding their own business as if we weren't there. One would think that people would at least look at Starlee and tell her she couldn't be here.
Jhanna threw her head to flick her bangs out of her face and looked across the room, only mildly annoyed. "Okay, we're here- where's Pluto Khan and how do we know who he is?" Mona shrugged helplessly and fingered a little on her pink ribbon, which she had tied around her neck like a scarf.
"I don't know. The Professor didn't exactly give us any clear descriptions or anything. Could be anyone in here, really." I bit my lip and eyed the room from one end to the other, trying to deduce who Pluto Khan could be, when I felt Starlee tug on my arm and- as subtle as possible- point to one of tables furthest into the locale.
"There- I think that's him." A lone man was sitting with a tall mug of some kind of amber liquid in it in front of him and his nose in some kind of tech tablet. He had brown leathery skin, four arms with pointed fingers, and while his expression was neutral and concentrated on the tablet in front of him, something about the wrinkles on his face and around his eyes said that he was a man that smiled a lot.
I looked over at Starlee. "Why do you think that's him?"
She shrugged with pursed lips. "I don't know- I just have a feeling... I mean, if he came here to see us and give us information about the locations of the most dangerous weapon this side of the galaxy, he wouldn't sit with others, right? Besides, there's just something about him. Something… I don't know, mysterious about him." I looked over at Jhanna and Mona.
Mona shrugged and folded her arms over her chest. "Doesn't hurt to try, I guess. Worst case scenario, he'll just say that we're wrong and we have to try someone else." Jhanna nodded.
"Yeah, and it's not like we have too many options here. Let's go for it." I sighed and nodded. It wasn't exactly something I was comfortable with, just walking up to a complete stranger and asking who they were. There was a reason why it had taken me so long to feel comfortable around April. I mean, aside from the obvious. I was not the most sociable turtle in the family. But it's not like we had much of a choice right now, and Jhanna and Starlee were more comfortable talking to strangers than me, so I could always count on them to carry the conversation if I found myself unable to.
I sighed and nodded. "Okay, let's go." I took the lead and we walked further into the bar, trying not to draw any attention to ourselves. Not that we had to. No one gave us more than a passing glance and just kept to themselves and their friends or their drinks. But I still felt way out of my element inside a bar with the smell of strange alcohol and foods, which made me wrinkle my nose and try to hold my breath so I wouldn't smell it.
As we came up to the table I felt Jhanna lightly shove me forward and when I turned to look at her over my shoulder, she nodded her head at the alien in front of us. She mouthed 'go on' at me and furrowed her brows a little. I glared at her, rolled my eyes and turned back to the man, taking a breath.
I cleared my throat as politely as I could, making him look up in slight surprise from his tablet. He eyed us curiously, his mouth forming a small, slightly amused smile. "Ah, Savidal, young ones." He raised one hand, held up two fingers and moved his hand in a circular motion. "Can I help you with something?"
I immediately felt unsure of what to say or do next, as I had no idea what he had just said or meant with that gesture. If I said and did the wrong thing I could screw up without even realizing it. Thankfully Jhanna seemed to catch on very quickly that I was confused (and thank heavens for that) and leaned in to whisper in my ear from behind me. "Intergalactic greeting. It's used throughout almost the entire galaxy. Just smile and repeat it." I let out a small sigh of relief, tried to shake off any obvious signs of being nervous and repeated the gesture with my hand, if not a little stiffly, and while hoping to all that was holy that me having only three fingers didn't completely screw up the gesture.
"Uh, Savidal, Sir. We're sorry to disturb, but I have to ask: are you Pluto Khan?" He put his tablet down and his smile became strained ever so slightly.
"That depends. Who's asking?" I felt myself relax at his smile and tried to smile myself.
"Oh, yes, of course! My name is Donatello and these are my friends, Jhanna, Mona Lisa and Starlee. We're friends of the Professor Honeycutt. He said you were good friends and that we were to meet you here." His smile broadened significantly and he appeared a lot more friendly all of the sudden.
"Ah, yes, Honeycutt's little friends! I have been expecting you. Please, sit down and we'll talk." I exchanged smiles with the girls and we sat down around the table. Pluto Khan rested two of his arms on the table and intertwined his fingers, while using one of his other hands to pick up his tablet and play around with it and bringing his mug to his lips with the fourth one. I gripped my hands, straightened my back a bit and tried to look like I knew what I was doing and what I was talking about.
"So I assume the Professor told you about us." Pluto took a quick sip of his drink, put it back down on the table and then turned his attention back to us.
"He didn't really have to. Word has started to spread that a group of kids has taken it upon themselves to find and destroy the Black Hole Generator and take down the Triceraton Empire. And let me tell you, I get my stuff from pretty reliable sources." Jhanna had her arms folded over her chest and rested one foot over her knee, one eyebrow raised and her usual judgmental frown on her face.
"Then you already know what we're trying to accomplish by doing this. And why we're here." Pluto eyed her with dry amusement before turning back to his tablet.
"You wish to save the planet Tellus, also known as Earth, in solar system 3091b in the outer rings of the galaxy, from being destroyed by the Black Hole Generator. By doing this you fling yourself into a war where you wish to defeat the Triceratons, but your true goal is to save the planet and not overthrow these tyrants. You currently have the first piece, that you found on Zerij, and now need to find the remaining pieces and collect them."
I nodded, impressed and disturbed by how he knew all this. But, then again, The Professor had probably told him, so what do I know? "That is correct."
Starlee brushed some hair out of her eyes. "And we still have to figure out where the remaining pieces are located. The Professor told us that you might know where the two other pieces are."
Pluto grinned slyly and placed one of his hands on his tablet and then made an upward gesture with it. Suddenly the display moved from the tablet and up into the air, like a hologram, and it showed a map over what I could only assume was the Milky Way, with two red dots blinking in two different places, pretty far apart. He then placed one hand on the display and moved another hand at the edge of it, enlarging it.
"Here we have the whole galaxy, with thousands of stars and planets in this part alone. Narrowing down the location of the Black Hole Generator pieces was tricky, but not impossible. And with the right sources, you can find pretty much any information you want."
He pressed one of the dots and the display suddenly showed pictures and data of what I could only describe as a nebula. But the pictures from inside the nebula seemed to indicate it was some kind of underwater world. It was quite beautiful.
"The second piece is located here, in the Cosmic Ocean of Varuna. Its exact location is unknown, but it's in there somewhere, that much I know. I also know that it's being guarded by two of the most dangerous monsters in the galaxy. The first one is the giant carnivorous plant Chamalla, able to fire paralyzing shots of venom at beings and then eat them whole. And if the venom doesn't kill you, it puts you in a coma, possibly for life. The second monster is a giant serpent-like monster named Cthugga, and the only way to get past it is to show you are worthy of the piece. I used to have a good friendship with Hiidrala, the queen of this beautiful world, and she has confirmed all this. Find her and tell her that Pluto Khan sent you and she will tell you what you need to know."
In the corner of my eye I saw Starlee fish out her own tablet and write down the information, most likely so nothing would be forgotten, which I had to give her props for- it was more than I had thought of. Then again, I hardly forget anything important, but that was still good thinking on her part.
Pluto swiped back to the map and pressed on the other red dot, situated at the far end of the galaxy, almost as far away from Earth as possible. As if this whole trip was taunting me. The last piece was located at the end of the galaxy, meaning even if we got it we still had to travel all the way back the way we came to get to Earth.
"The third and final piece is hidden here, on the planet Arion. Or, as most will call it these days, the Doomsday Planet."
Mona rolled her eyes and rested her chin on her clenched fist. "Well that doesn't sound ominous at all."
Pluto continued on as if she hadn't said anything. "A long time ago this planet was destroyed in a war with its inhabitants, which led to an explosion that wiped out almost all life on the planet and mutated the rest. The atmosphere consists of nothing but toxic fumes and will most likely kill you in seconds. The mutated beings that still live on that planet- soulless monsters that neither eat nor drink- feed on fear, hatred and greed and will kill anyone they lay eyes on. That is their only instinct. The piece is located inside of the planet's many factories, hidden on a planet no one dares to even mention anymore, that is all I know of where it is."
He looked up from his photos and info and eyed us all. "This mission you've taken upon yourselves is going to be dangerous, not to mention that you'll literally be fighting against all odds to succeed. These places are dangerous and full of all kinds of dangers for you to face, and that's overlooking the Triceratons and the Federation.
A solemn silence fell around the table after he finished and we all looked at each other. My mind was racing at a million miles per hour. Cosmic underwater nebulae, plant and snake monsters, soulless mutants that feed on negative emotions, toxic gas and a planet that was literally called a Doomsday planet. That was a lot to take in all at once and I fully realized how dangerous this was going to be. I mean, excluding the Triceratons and the obvious enemy, there were going to be quite a few dangerous monsters, mutants and aliens for us to fight and survive. And I had to lead my friends through all of that and be there to decide what the best course of action would be. Something I knew Leo was way better at than me.
But I also knew that if we didn't do this, no one else would. Earth, as far as I knew, was so insignificant and so few aliens knew about it that chances are, they wouldn't care. Earth was still in its own little bubble, barely reaching outside its own atmosphere. If I gave up and threw in the towel because the risk of failing was too big, then Earth wouldn't stand a chance. No one else would step up to be its hero and try to stop the Triceratons. I could very well just leave the responsibility for this to someone else, no matter how willing they were to take it on. But the reason Earth was in danger was because of me, so I had to fix it.
This was not the time to let my insecurities get the better of me. I had to stay strong and pull through, no matter the cost.
Mona had placed her elbows on the table and showed no signs of fear or surprise or worry. She kept a pretty straight face, with a slightly raised eyebrow and half-closed eyes. "So, basically we're gonna be in incredible danger, even if we overlook the Triceratons, and the risk of dying is pretty high no matter what we do." I fought the urge to turn to her and give her my 'you're not helping' glare and just lowered my head so no one would see that I was a bit shaken and worried. But I still rested my head in my hands and sighed.
"Great. As if this wasn't going to be hard enough as it was, now I have worry about monsters, aliens and mutants on top of the Triceratons." I didn't mean for anyone to hear what I said, but Starlee, however, seemed to hear what I muttered and immediately looked up at Mona and Jhanna somewhat frantically.
"We can't just give up, we still have to try! Yes, it's going to be dangerous and we might die, but if we don't do anything, the Triceratons will definitely win and Earth is doomed. Even if we fail, we still have to try or there's no chance Earth will survive, right?" I looked up at her and had to smile at the energy in her voice and the determined expression on her face. There were times where I had to remind myself that she was still a kid, barely hitting puberty yet. And right now, her childlike bravery and determination shone through her sound arguments and intelligence.
And either Jhanna caught onto what she was trying to do or she was the most loyal and determined person I have met to date, 'cause she smiled and placed an arm around her sister, shaking her lightly and hugging her to her side.
"Of course we're gonna try. We've already come this far and we have the first piece. We're not gonna quit now that we're one third done already, just because it's gonna be a little tough. We already knew that going into this and we're gonna keep fighting." She glanced over at me with a soft smile. "No matter what."
Mona nodded and smiled at me. "We're your friends Donnie, we're with you till the end. You've come to our rescue plenty of times already, we trust you to lead us and make the best decisions for your planet and us. We've got your back." Starlee nodded and smiled so widely, the dimples in her cheeks appeared.
"Yeah, who cares if it's gonna be tough? We made a promise to help you and we will. You can trust us to stay by your side."
Jhanna gently removed her arm from around Starlee so she could face me easier, reached out her other hand and placed it on my shoulder. "I can tell you're scared, Donnie, we all are. But I have faith in you as my friend and as my leader. I've seen you take on Triceratons without any hesitation and you fought off a giant cave monster to save us, despite that you had an injured leg! You're as tough as they come. Plus, you're clearly smart enough to handle yourself on your own. You don't have to be afraid of me abandoning you with this. Just lead the way, and I'll follow, till the bitter end."
Mona and Starlee nodded and Starlee reached out her arm and placed her hand on the table. "We all will. And we'll defeat the Triceratons." Mona nodded and placed her hand over Starlee's. "Together." Jhanna grinned at them and placed her hand over Mona's and looked at me with expectant eyes.
I stared at them all with wide eyes and for the longest time I couldn't think of anything good to say. It felt silly, but even after all we had been through together up until this point, it still felt so incredibly touching to know that these girls were willing to stick with me no matter what. I felt tears form in my eyes but I quickly blinked them away before anyone could see them, smiled and placed my hand on Jhanna's.
"Right. Together."
Pluto smiled at us and shook his head. "You four are something different. So loyal and determined. Such a rare sight these days in times of war, fear and hatred. But before you all run off and throw yourself into another fight, can I offer you some free advice?" I got the feeling he meant to all of us, but he looked specifically at me while he asked his question. Which felt a little weird, but I nodded either way and drew my hand away from the girls.
"Uh, yes, of course. We need all the help we can get." Pluto leaned in closer to me and looked me straight in the eyes.
"Alright, you will go up against Triceratons, Federation and all kinds of dangerous beings. These guys will not go easy on any of you because you're kids- they will not hesitate to kill you if they see you as a threat, or even a mild nuisance. So my best advice is to be ready to be just as ruthless as them, and do whatever you have to in order to win. Even things you might consider… hm, what is the correct Earth term… below the belt?"
I furrowed my brows and looked over at Jhanna, who shrugged at me, and tilted my head slightly. "What exactly are you saying?"
"You wanna win this war?" I nodded. Of course I did, my whole planet rode on this mission's success. "Okay, kid, I can see that you're a good kid with a big heart. I can see it in your eyes, you value kindness and compassion, don't you?" He gave me a soft smile. I have no idea how he could see that, but I recognized a compliment and straightened my back and smiled slightly.
"And that's all fine and good, but it's not gonna cut it in a war." My smile fell and my shoulders slumped slightly. "See, these guys aren't gonna play fair, so if you insist on playing fair, you're going to wind up dead. You have to be ready to play on their level. Unorthodox, maybe, but if it's what it takes to succeed and save billions of lives, the end might justify the means, right?"
I took in everything he said and tried to keep an open mind, but I couldn't help but feel turned off by what he was implying. I mean, I could see the logic in his words, but I couldn't help but shudder at what the future might force me to do. But if I didn't, it might cost my whole planet and all the innocent lives on it, so did that make it okay?
Pluto pulled away from me and swallowed another sip of his drink. "Though, if you want to save Earth then you might want to hurry a little or it might be too late by the time you get all three pieces." He said it very carelessly, as if it was no big deal, but if he thought it didn't catch my attention then he was sorely mistaken. I straightened up immediately and stared at him with wide-open eyes.
"What? What do you mean, 'too late'?" He looked up, genuinely surprised, and tilted his head to the side.
"You haven't heard? I would have thought an earthling of all beings might have heard?" I shook my head and my worry increased by the second. I hadn't had any contact with Earth since that day I fell through that portal back home, and that was months ago. The girls were also looking a bit concerned at this point and I absentmindedly felt Jhanna's hand on my shoulder again, but I didn't acknowledge it.
Pluto put his mug down and looked me in the eyes again. "The Kraang. Rumor said that they made their move a few weeks ago and their invasion has started. Fortunately their mutagen supply is so low after their attack on the city New York, so it's currently held up for some time, but it has started." My heart plummeted into my stomach and I think I stopped breathing for a minute. I heard Starlee gasp and Mona's eyes widened. Jhanna's grasp on my shoulder tightened slightly, but I didn't really notice it. My thoughts flew back to my family and my friends. What had happened to them? Were they still alive or had they gotten caught in the crossfire?
Pluto pushed on his tablet's display a few times and gave it to me. "Here, look for yourself." I snatched it away from him and looked over the display in a panic. What I saw made me gasp and almost drop the tablet in shock and terror. It was New York alright, but not at all like I remembered it. From what I could tell it looked like Time Square, but the massive screens were pretty much the only giveaway. The rest of the street was filled with giant, crystal-like structures (which in retrospect I recognized as the crystal inside the power cell that powered the Shellraiser) and strange human/Kraang hybrids were trying to escape Kraang-bots that were trying to capture them.
I felt something inside me die when I looked over my beautiful New York City and it all looked like something from a science fiction movie. From the corner of my eye I saw Jhanna look over my shoulder to see better and Starlee stood up from her seat and ran over to my other side so she could look over my other shoulder, while Mona stood up and leaned over Jhanna's shoulder to see. I didn't see their reactions, but I heard that they were also horrified by what they saw.
"New York… it's all… Kraangified." My voice was barely above a whisper and I don't think I could speak louder if I tried. Starlee rested her head on my shoulder and gently hugged my arm. I think that's what woke me out of my daze and I took a deep breath and tried to steady my voice.
"B-but it's okay. My brothers will fix it. We've saved Earth from the Kraang before, they can do it again, it'll be fine." Mona looked up at me.
"Are you sure? I mean, they had you with them the first time, right?" I looked over at her for a second, then back at the tablet and nodded.
"Yeah, of course they can. I know they can." But it felt like I was trying to convince myself, more than trying to convince Mona. Then I got an idea and looked up at Pluto, who had been respectfully quiet this whole time. "Hey, can this thing show individual people?" He nodded and took it back for a second.
"Of course. Just let me make a few adjustments…" He muttered a little, tapped the tablet a little and then gave it back to me. "Here, I've turned on the voice command. Just say who you want to see and it'll show you. Wherever you are."
I took the tablet with both hands again and looked down at the display. It still showed New York, but I trusted that it would work, so I just took a deep breath and went over in my head who to ask to see. Leo? Raph? Mikey? Master Splinter? I bit my lip and felt butterflies bounce around in my stomach and my palms were so sweaty it was a miracle the tablet didn't slip out of my hands. I hadn't seen a glimpse of my family in months. And now I had the chance to see them again. How were they doing? Had they moved on? Were they still grieving?
I took another deep breath and then just blurted out the first name that came to mind. "I would like to see Master Splinter, please." I added 'please', mostly on instinct, but whether it was needed or not, the display changed and showed a map, moving from New York City, upstate, until it stopped somewhere in Northampton, then zoomed in until we saw a big white house and then zoomed in even more until we saw the inside. And what I saw next, knocked all air straight of my lungs.
Instead of just seeing Master Splinter, like I had expected, I saw my entire family. Leo, Raph, Mikey, April and Casey and Master Splinter and they were all gathered inside a small, homey kitchen. That alone was a bit much all at once, but that wasn't it. The tablet didn't have any speakers or anything, so I couldn't hear what was said, but I could see on their mouths that they were laughing and having fun. Casey was leading April in a classic 'ball dance' but they were both smiling so widely and laughing so hard that it looked more like they were holding each other while stumbling around in the kitchen. Mikey was trying to do the same kind of dance with Raph, who surprisingly enough seemed to enjoy himself more than one would expect him to. Their dance was highly exaggerated and they were also laughing really hard. Leo and Splinter weren't dancing; they just stood close to the wall and watched with big smiles. Leo's leg was in a cast (which really worried me, what had happened in New York for him to get hurt?!) and he was leaning on a crutch, but right now it looked more like he needed it to stand upright and not fall over from laughing too hard. Splinter wasn't laughing so hard, but he had a fond smile on his face and had his hand around Leo's shoulder, clearly enjoying the view of the little dance party.
My whole body went numb and I struggled to breathe. They were happy. They were doing fine without me and were even having a dance party- despite how New York was under attack- and didn't seem bothered at all that I wasn't there with them. They were fine without me. No tears, no looks of sadness, no grief- just a dance party and laughing so hard they could barely stand. I felt tears form in my eyes and no matter how hard I tried to blink them away, more seemed to form anyway. I heard someone call my name in worry, but I couldn't tell who it was and I didn't care to look. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the display in front of me. My heart crumbled in my chest and I felt actual pain seeing that my family was just as happy and carefree as before I had disappeared. I had seen and heard plenty of dance parties like this out in the living room in the lair while I had been working in the lab. I had wanted to join them and ditch my lab work plenty of times, but every single time decided that I would just spoil the fun and let my brothers and friends have their fun and not disturb them, despite how much fun it looked like they were having.
But this, this was nothing compared to those times. I felt like a Triceraton had taken my heart in one of their big hands and squeezed it as hard as possible. My brothers were having plenty of fun without me and didn't seem the least bit sad or upset by the fact that I was gone. Master Splinter was laughing fondly at their goofiness and April didn't seem at all sad that I- her best friend- was gone and was happily dancing with Casey and eyeing him with happy, laughing eyes. It was more than my heart could bear. But then, just as I was about to give the tablet back, the worst thing happened. The final straw, the one thing I had been wishing I would never have to see.
April and Casey gazed into each other's eyes for almost a full minute and seemed to move closer to each other, with Casey having both hands on April's waist and April with her arms around Casey's neck. Then April- not Casey, APRIL- moved in closer to his face and placed a kiss on his lips, surprising Casey enough to almost draw his hands back from her waist before he relaxed enough to keep them there and started kissing her back.
I dropped the tablet and it probably would have hit the floor if Starlee hadn't caught it with lightning-fast reflexes, but I didn't see that. I could feel my heart crack and break into a million tiny pieces, like it was made of glass. I couldn't see or hear the world around me- all I could see was that kiss on repeat in my head. April had made her choice, and it hadn't been me. She had chosen Casey and was now kissing him with more feeling than she had ever kissed me in the past. That, on top of everything else I had seen… It was all too much. I mumbled 'excuse me for a moment' before I flew up from my seat, ran for the exit and sprinted out of the bar. I didn't care where I was headed; I just knew I had to get away from there. I just ran and ran, blind to everything and everyone around me, tears streaming down my cheeks and sobs tearing through my chest and throat. I bumped into several people and heard several annoyed and angry outcries around me, but I didn't care. I had to find someplace where I could be alone and cry over my broken heart- without anyone around to see me break.
A/N: Uh… Yeah, I'm just gonna let you leave your thoughts in the reviews if you have and… *hides under my bed* I'll be here until the next chapter is done.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!