A Million Miles Apart

A/N: Well, we're here... The chapter I've been dying to get to…

I'm not ready- and I highly doubt you are either; so much so that I'm not gonna say much more than this, and just let you read and experience this without much warning.

Enter at your own risk.

(WARNING: ADULT LANGUAGE)

Chapter 63, When The Blood Hits The Fan

I had been to a few parties before, back on D'hoonib; most of them had been in shady bars with bad lighting, loud music and the oppressive stench of alcohol and cigarette smoke. It was at those parties I had gotten my first taste of alcohol, as well as a few testing puffs of other people's cigs- can't say I was a big fan of that, but it had been better than staying home at the mansion all day. Dad had, of course, known about it and had called me a slut from time to time, but I can safely say I never slept with any of the guys I had met at those parties- I had barely even let them touch me, but it didn't stop the talk.

This party was already light-years ahead of those parties. The building was small, built mostly out of wood and steel with metal beams from floor to ceiling and crossing the ceiling with multi-colored bulbs on strings wrapped around them. The music was loud, but not loud enough to shatter your eardrums, and they had everything from soda to beer, fruit punch and even cocktails. It was fairly simple, but still fun.

Donnie and Mona eyed the room a little warily, Donnie fingering absentmindedly on that ugly amulet around his neck and Mona playing with the pink ribbon around her wrist. They clearly felt out of their element here and if I knew them at all, she would gravitate towards a corner and stay there and he would stay away from the fun while also pretending to have fun. We can't very well let that happen, now, can we? So I looked over at Starlee and we nodded at each other. Starlee had clicked with Mona better than I had, so she would know better how help her cut loose and have a little fun. But I knew Donnie better than her, so I lunged forward, grabbed Donnie by the wrist and dragged him onto the dance floor.

"C'mon, let's dance!" Donnie seemed a bit too shocked and uncomfortable to protest much, but when his mind caught up to what I was doing, he lightly tugged away and weakly protested.

"Uh, n-no, I can't… I-I mean, I don't dance." I rolled my eyes and let go of his arm once we were in the middle of the dance floor, looking straight into his eyes before he could even think of running away.

"Neither do I. But we can still have fun, right?" I took a second to listen to the music to pick up the beat before I started to swing in time with it. When Donnie still refused to move, his eyes flickering around the room as if trying to find a good spot to hide, I danced up to him and bumped him with my hip, sending him stumbling a few steps in surprise. "Come on, Donnie! Have some fun!"

Regaining his footing, he bit his lower lip and returned to his not-gonna-move stance, his hand still clutching the amulet tightly. "No, no, I- I mean, I really don't…"

Then I got an idea on how to make this work. I lightly clenched my fist and pretended to swing a punch at his face, and he dropped the amulet and dodged it instinctively before he eyed me questioningly. I didn't give him much time to reflect or ask questions before I kicked up my leg, making sure it wasn't close enough to accidentally hit him. He twirled around to avoid it, seemingly on autopilot but still looking very confused by what I was doing. When I threw another light punch at his chest, he grabbed my wrist, not very tight but enough to make sure I couldn't pull back. He stared at me analytically, clearly confused out of his mind with his head slightly tilted to the side and his big brown eyes wide. The expression made him look kinda adorable.

"Jhanna, what are you-?" I didn't let him finish that sentence; I just yanked my arm back, grabbed onto his and pulled him into a loose arm-lock. I looked him straight in the eyes and smiled.

"It's just like sparring, Donnie." I winked at him with a coy smile. "Just go with it."

He continued to stare at me for a few seconds, then smiled cockily and- in a movement so quick I almost didn't catch it- tore himself free from my grip on his arms, grabbed my arm and did some kind of throw. It made me twirl a little and fall backwards, only he didn't let go of me and I leaned back on his arm. I looked up at him- a little shocked by the action- and he just smirked down at me with a raised brow. "Are you sure you can keep up, Princess?" Ooh, challenge accepted. I smirked back at him, grabbed ahold of his shoulder, pulled myself up and lightly kicked away from his grip on me, raising my arms in a starting position.

"Let's find out, Shellhead." He huffed a small laugh and got into his own position. We walked up and circled each other for about a minute, each waiting for the other to make the first move. The sly look on his face as he teasingly waited for me to make a move told me he would wait and wait and never go first, so instead of willfully doing the same and ruining our chance for fun, I decided to just go for it- I raised my leg in a roundhouse kick. Donnie was quick to react; he crouched slightly and raised his arm to his neck to block my foot and raised his knee to kick my leg. I leaned back and did a backhandspring to avoid it, landing a few feet away from him and then had to jump to avoid Donnie's foot as he tried to sweep me off my feet.

Our little dance/sparring session went on for a little while and as we kept going, I started to hear him laugh and I had to smile proudly to myself. He was loosening up and having fun.

I was too. Despite how it may have looked to others, our little dance was so fun and being this close to Donnie was both thrilling and… well, to be honest, kind of nauseating… But in a good way! Whenever we touched, butterflies started dancing throughout my whole body and my head got a little foggy. I felt my hair fall out of its ponytail but I didn't care; it was just exhilarating to be this close to Donnie and nothing else mattered.

And his laugh was the best part of it all. After so many months of seeing him pushed to his emotional limits in every sense, it was so great to see him have such a good time. His eyes were shining with joy and wonder and I just couldn't look away. I was spellbound and my body seemed to be moving on autopilot at this point. It was so wonderful; I never wanted the moment to end.

But after a while we eventually had to stop to breathe, Donnie's arms still around me my my hands on his arms, both of us breathing heavily; I felt a little sweaty. In the corner of my eye I saw Mona and Starlee at the outskirt of the room. Mona was leaned against the counter of the bar with a drink in her hand and Starlee was dancing by her, still on her roller-skates and her hair flying wildly. It was really hard not to smile at her and I felt something inside of me warming. She was happy, truly happy, for probably the first time in her short life. It made my heart clench with joy.

I felt Donnie's hand on my shoulder and looked up at him. He met my gaze with a cheery smile, knowingly glancing at my sister. "It really is something, seeing your younger siblings so happy, isn't it?" I sighed and nodded.

"Yeah…"

We stood there for a while until Donnie licked his lips and looked towards the bar. "I'm gonna go get a drink- you want one?" I nodded and suddenly realized how thirsty I was.

"I want a fruit punch, the same kind I gave you before." He nodded and as he headed towards the bar, I stood there and watched him for longer than I was willing to admit. I just couldn't help myself; he was hard not to look at.

Donnie may not be that handsome in the traditional sense, but it was getting harder and harder to deny the impact he had on me and my heart. With his huge brown eyes, his gentle touches and his sweet smile, it was hard to look at him nowadays without feeling my heart flutter, my stomach twist itself or my cheeks flush with embarrassingly obvious heat.

Good thing he hadn't seemed to notice yet. I looked at my wrist and the cheap, plastic bracelet on it. I knew he hadn't meant anything by it, I knew he probably would have asked Starlee or Mona if they would have wanted it and thrown it away if no one had taken it, but it still made me feel warm and joyful inside.

I went over to Mona and Starlee, who was taking a small break from dancing and had a cup of soda in her hand. Her cheeks were flushed purple and her hair was a tousled mess, but somehow she managed to make her dishevelment look like a fashion statement. Mona looked a little more relaxed, but she didn't look like she was up for any dancing at the moment. To be honest, I didn't see Mona as someone who would like to dance that much. I mean, the girl barely smiled at all, let alone laughed or danced or did anything that might be considered fun- at least not from what I had seen.

Donnie came up to us with two bottles in his hands and gave one of them to me. I noticed he had bought the same drink as the one I had wanted for himself which made me raise an eyebrow, amused. "So much for your thing against alcohol, huh?" He shrugged as he leaned back against the bar beside Mona.

"It's pretty good once you get used to the taste." He raised the bottle to his lips and took a sip, grimacing a little but not spitting it out or struggling to swallow, which I could only see as a good thing. Starlee took a big sip of her soda and her smile is so wide it could've split her face in two.

"Man, this has been so amazing! I've never seen so many people have so much fun in one place before! This planet is awesome!"

Mona nodded and put her drink aside; her cheeks had a little color on them and her smile was probably the biggest one I'd seen on her yet. "Yeah, I have to admit that today's been really fun. I hate to admit it, you were right." She turned to look at me and her smile softened a little, still genuine. "This is exactly what we all needed: a break to have a little fun and not think about anything else."

I didn't really know how respond to that. Mona and I had been at each other's throats pretty much since we met and even after Zerij when we'd been forced to work together and trust each other, we still had trouble seeing eye to eye. But here she was clearly trying to be nice without any hints of sarcasm or cynicism, which was new. So I just smiled back and shrugged.

"Eh, everyone needs a break at some point. Might as well take it when we have the chance of having some fun, right?" Starlee looked over at us, smiling widely and eyes sparkling.

"Well, my favorite thing today was all those rides at the fair! And the games, it was so much fun! I wish they had those things on D'hoonib too." I rolled my eyes and ruffled her hair.

"Even if they did, it's not like you would have been allowed to go to them anyway." Starlee stuck out her tongue at me, but with no malice directed at me. "And I really liked the games too. Don't think I forgot that I'm stronger than you!" I turned to Donnie and punched his shoulder teasingly. He just rolled his eyes with patient smile on his face.

"Yeah, I guess that just proves instead that I have stronger muscle between my ears than you, since I beat you at the logic game." If it had been anyone else poking fun at my lack of education, I might get angry, but since I hadn't told Donnie that my education was limited, I didn't really mind so much. So I just grimaced at his teasing with a hint of a smile.

Starlee and Mona smiled at our bickering and Mona took a sip of her drink. "I liked everything we did, but for me it was just nice to finally see a sun again. All this time cooped up in the ship surrounded by stars and nothing else really does things to your body and spirit." Hm, maybe that's why she'd been so grumpy sometimes on the ship. I had heard something from Starlee that reptiles' bodies can't produce their own body heat and needed to bask in sunlight to get warm, so maybe she had just been cranky because she felt cold.

Donnie nodded and took a larger drink of his punch. "Yeah, we had a few problems with heat when I was a kid. My brothers and I are a mix of human and turtle physiology, but we still had a few problems keeping warm, especially during the winter." He smiled kindly at her. "If you want, maybe I could try to make a heat lamp for you so you can get a little warmer..."

Mona's face brightened at him and her smile widened. "That'd be great, Donnie! Are you sure it won't be any trouble?" He nodded and took another sip.

"Not at all. I mean, I've made several heat lamps for my brothers and myself. It'll be a breeze, trust me." He leaned back against the counter again and sighed heavily with a soft smile and his eyes focused on something faraway.

"Today turned out so much better than I had ever expected it to be. I never imagined that I would be able to walk the streets in the sunlight anywhere, let alone eat in restaurants, go to fairs or dance at parties." He looked over at us with so much gratitude in his eyes that it almost hurt to look at. "Thanks, guys. I'm pretty sure this has been the best day of my life and it's all thanks to you. So thank you."

Once again I found myself at a loss at what to say, so I shrugged with a smile. Starlee smiled at him and wrapped an arm around his neck. "Hey, we're friends, aren't we? It's what friends do."

Mona nodded and smiled her kindest smile. "That's right. You've already done so much to help us- you've gone out of your way to be kind to us and do whatever you can to help. It's the least we can do."

At first Donnie seemed to be at loss, but as their words sank in, his eyes started to water a little and his smile was so earnest, so grateful and happy that I felt my own eyes fill with tears as well. He was so awfully sweet. I had never seen him so happy and the fact that I had helped him feel this way felt really, really good.

I smiled and opened my mouth to say something probably embarrassingly sappy when I heard something from above me- it sounded like a soft shuffle and a clink of metal against metal. I frowned, confused and suspicious, and looked up, but I saw nothing.

"What is it?"

I looked back at the others who were now watching me. Frowning deeper, I turned my gaze up to the ceiling again, still wary but still not seeing anything. "I just- I could've sworn I heard something…" I mutter before I turned back to them to go back to the conversation again, but I still wasn't sure that it was my imagination.

Then everything happened in slow motion: first, another shuffle was heard, along with a soft curse and something metallic falling. Then, I looked up and saw a blurred figure of blue and green dashing to hide behind one of the vertical ceiling beams. Then I heard a loud shout of 'look out!' reverberating throughout the bar- and next thing I knew, a fine spattering of droplets of something putrid and cold were splashed all over my front. Instinctively my arms flew up to cover my face from anything else that might fall on me, and I could only hear Donnie's shriek over everyone else's shocked gasps and scared outcries.

"Oh my God, it's blood!"

Keeping track of a group of kids in a city this large was a lot tougher than it sounded- and it sounded fairly impossible to begin with; trying also to not draw attention to myself at the same time was definitely not helping. But the worst part was that stupid Triceraton and his damned communication device- he used it all the time to get updates and bark orders at me.

I sighed to myself and brushed my fingers through my bangs in frustration. To think... I had stooped so low as to stand for being yelled at by a Triceraton and follow his orders. Was there no justice in this world? I had only been following them for a little more than an hour when he had contacted me a total of five times, and I was steadily growing tired of him and his inane commands.

"Don't lose sight of them!"

"Hurry up, we don't have all day!"

"Once you find a good spot, make sure to have the bucket with you!"

Ah, yes- the bucket. I sighed. That was the nastiest, most difficult-to-fathom part of his plan. I'd figured I couldn't very well drag a bucket of blood around all day and still hope to stay under the radar, so I had left it on the ship.

Again I was hit by how truly screwed up this plan was- I mean, not that the guy hadn't been a real problem for me and the Federation, but this… this felt wrong on SO many levels.

Eventually, as the suns were beginning to set and dusk started to creep towards the city, I managed to track them to a party of some sort in a dark club with multi-colored lights blinking from inside the windows. It would be hard to find a way to get the drop on them in the middle of a crowded club like this without anyone seeing me, but I still snuck in to get a good view of the interior.

Music was blasting through the speakers, the volume cranked up to eleven, and all kinds of different alien creatures were dancing and drinking and shouting to each other to be heard over the noise. The multi-colored spotlights blinking over the whole room made it difficult for the eye to pick out any details of the room, but after awhile I managed to make out the large metallic beams crossing the ceiling where I could hide and wait for the moment to strike. Perfect.

I hurried outside again before I could be spotted by anyone and ducked into an alley to contact Zog. He answered almost immediately.

"Have you found them?" His voice was curt and harsh, which made me immediately sour, glaring at the device in my hand.

"No, I just saw this, like, totally awesome shoe sale and I just had to tell you!" I made my voice exaggeratedly excited and I could just feel the glare he probably gave his own device. He groaned and then, just as I predicted, the orders came.

"Well, go get the bucket and get on with this already! We don't have all day! If we want the plan to work, you have to get a move on and kill the brat!" I clenched my fist and had to hold myself back as much as possible so I wouldn't crush the device in my hand. I took a deep breath through the nose, closed my eyes and reined in my anger the best I could.

"Okay, I have had it up to here with all your demands! Remember, once this is done, I will not be the only one with blood on my hands! I get it, you've got a bone to pick with this guy- but even for me, this stunt is pretty damn sick."

Zog groaned heavily on the other end. "Just get a move on, Princess!" That was all he said before he hung up, leaving me alone in an alley with my thoughts. I sighed and made my way back to my ship to get the bloody bucket so I could get this all over with.

Once I entered the bar, I managed to sneak into a dark corner and then climbed up onto the metal beams that were all covered with those ridiculous light balls, crawling along them to find my sisters with the bucket in my tight grip.

"So, where are you, you freak?" I muttered, trying to spot the reptile brat that my sisters seemed so fond of for some reason. There were a lot of reptiles in this building, almost enough to make me gag, so it took me some time to spot him on the dance floor with Jhanna dancing around him, trying to get him to join her. I placed the bucket in front of me on the beam and laid down on my stomach so I could see better. I just watched them, waiting for an opportune moment when they were under me, but they just sort of stayed in one place, arguing lightly about the merits of dancing. Why would she do that? Anyone with half a brain wouldn't be near someone like him, let alone dance with him.

He didn't seem too eager to dance- he just stood there frozen in the middle of the dance floor with a hand tightly clutching a large round object hanging around his neck, eyes darting around the place. Jhanna moved up to him and bumped her hip against his, flipping her hair playfully.

"Come on, Donnie! Have some fun!"

"No, no, I- I mean, I really don't…" He shook his head, still clutching the object around his neck, clearly not open to the idea.

"Listen to him, Jhanna," I muttered to myself, leaning forward ever so slightly to get a closer look. "Don't dance with that freak; even he knows it's a bad idea."

But Jhanna didn't stop. She instead swung a loose punch at him, which he easily blocked, only to almost get kicked in the face. I tilted my head confusedly and stared at my little sister- she was clearly not fighting him, since she wasn't putting enough effort into it for it to be a real fight, and her hits and kicks were too loose to actually hurt him even if she did land a hit.

He didn't seem much wiser, either. When he managed to grab Jhanna's arm to stop her from doing anything, his looked just as confused as I felt. "Jhanna, what are you-?"

But Jhanna didn't let him finish and just grabbed him in an arm-lock to keep him from moving away from her, smirking.

"It's just like sparring, Donnie. Just go with it." She winked at him and he seemed to finally catch on just as I did. He tore himself out of her grip, grabbed her arm and tried to throw her, making her twirl and fall backwards against his arm in some kind of dip. He smiled down at her with a raised eyebrow, amused by her shocked expression.

"Are you sure you can keep up, Princess?" Jhanna's shock melted into a confident grin. She grabbed his shoulder and kicked herself away from him, raising her arms in a position, ready for a fight. I groaned and face-palmed, shaking my head mournfully. She had taken the bait.

"Let's find out, Shellhead." She smirked at him and he huffed a small laugh and got into position before they both started to fight-dance around each other. I had no idea how to describe what I was seeing in front of me; it made me nauseous to see how Jhanna had fallen under this reptile's spell. Not only had Starlee been caught in it- she was young and impressionable, couldn't really blame her for being excited by something new- but Jhanna as well- and she was older than Star and clearly should know better than to trust a freak like him. Reptiles were cold, selfish and evil- the Triceratons had proved this a thousand years ago when they started conquering the galaxy and leaving a trail of blood and broken bodies in their wake. Jhanna could be pigheaded and stubborn at times, but she really should know better than to trust him.

Then, suddenly, Jhanna's laughter rang in my ears and when I looked at her again, I finally saw her face. Her eyes were wide and sparkling with joy and she was absolutely beaming, occasionally letting out a raucous laugh. Her hair fell out of her ponytail and the blue waves were flowing around her, as if a soft breeze was flowing through it. Her green eyes were shining in a way that I hadn't seen on her since we were very young- back when we were kids and still on speaking terms.

Back when… back when we were still friends. Back then, those eyes had been meant for me. She looked up to me, admired me and wanted to be just like me. But then things had changed and I had to learn how to be a leader and general of D'hoonib and we had drifted apart. And to see those eyes on Jhanna, directed at someone else, hurt. It cut deep down to my heart and I couldn't look away. Her laughter was like a bell, clear and sweet, happiness pouring out of every pore. To see her so at ease, so happy, her eyes so full of light… it did something to me.

Jhanna had run away from home, had joined a group of misfits with three reptiles involved, had disobeyed orders from a member of the federation (and her older sister) and had probably broken several laws in these few months alone, but she was clearly happy. And if all of it had made her this happy- even if it was with a reptile-, who was I to take that from her?

When they eventually stopped dancing and he went to the bar to get them drinks, Jhanna just stared after him with a soft, longing look in her eyes and a smile spreading over her face. She sighed dreamily and fingered a tacky bracelet on her wrist.

My eyes widened when it all suddenly clicked. Jhanna was… she… she loved that reptile! No, no, that couldn't be true... But it was, how could it be anything else? Her smiles, her laughter, how she had made him dance with her- it all made sense!

All those thoughts of doubt went away in an instant and were instantly replaced with horror and disgust. No, Jhanna was not going to run away from everything to be with a disgusting reptile of all things- that was just not going to happen! Not on my watch.

I narrowed my eyes, once again focused on the mission. I grabbed the bucket and crawled over to where Jhanna was now, standing with her other reptile friend- just thinking that made me want to gag- and Starlee, and they were eventually joined by the terrapin.

I placed the bucket slightly in front of me to the side and then looked down at them again, waiting for the perfect moment to pour its disgusting contents. They talked and laughed for a while, talking about what a good time today had been and how good it had been to get a day away from all the stress and drama that had been going on for weeks. Looking at Starlee and Jhanna's faces and how happy they were with these two... made me hesitate again. Then the terrapin started to speak.

"Today turned out so much better than I'd ever expected it to be. I never imagined that I would be able to walk the streets in sunlight, let alone eat in restaurants, go to fairs or dance at parties." He looked over at his friends and something about his facial expression made me draw back from the bucket, the doubt coiling in my gut quickly growing.

"Thanks, guys. I'm pretty sure this has been the best day of my life and it's all thanks to you. So thank you." His voice was so earnest and thankful that it couldn't possibly be fake- there was no way anyone could be that good of an actor.

Suddenly, it hit me what I was about to do: pour a bucket of animal blood all over a guy just to get the drop on him before I killed him. That was not just low, it was disgusting and sick and unnecessary and just plain wrong- as well as disturbing, concerning the mindset of the man who thought it up. I could this through other means, and it wasn't like the Triceraton would ever know, right? I could just dump the body somewhere no one would find it, and no one would ever know.

I shuffled back on the beam and accidentally bumped into another beam behind me, scrambling to not fall off while remaining unseen. I heard Jhanna mutter that she thought she heard something and I knew I had to be quick. I moved to grab the bucket when I suddenly slipped on the wires with multicolored lights around the beam, falling forward- and instead of grabbing the bucket, I bumped into it.

For a split second everything froze. I saw the bucket wobble ominously until it toppled and fell over. I lunged forward to grab it, but… too late. I managed to keep the bucket from falling to the floor, but not before it could spill most of its cold, thick, crimson contents down on the floor. I quickly jumped back to hide myself, but I still heard the reactions.

Loud shrieks and screams of surprise, terror and disgust, and finally a voice, loud and ear-piercing, that made my own blood freeze in my veins.

"Oh my God, it's blood!"

Isn't it amazing how a situation or mood can change from 'the best night of your life' to 'the worst fucking moment of your life' at the drop of a hat? It all happened so fast that I didn't even know what to think when it first happened. I had just been standing there with my friends, talking and laughing, minding my own business when suddenly something wet splashed over me like the world's biggest water balloon had been dropped on my head.

The first thing that struck me as it splashed on me was how heavy it was- I almost toppled over from the weight alone. My only true coherent thought in the moment was, 'Oh my God, that's really cold!' as my whole body froze and my breath hitched. Whatever this was, it was thick and cold enough that I was in shock for several moments. I managed to slam my eyes shut in time, but my face was dripping with the stuff, I couldn't open my eyes, and when I finally got over the shock enough to raise my hands and wipe the offending substance off of them, more just dripped down onto them.

I heard gasps of surprise and disgust around me which piqued my curiosity and dread, so I finally clawed enough of the wet stuff out of my eyes to see what it was.

When I was finally able to open my eyes, I stared down at myself and froze at what I saw.

My arms, chest, legs- my whole fucking body was covered in something wet, thick and dark red. It was sticky and thick, I had to blink constantly to keep it out of my eyes and- because I was still in shock and couldn't close my mouth- some of it dripped onto my tongue and I involuntarily tasted it. Both the taste and appearance were unmistakable- I had gotten more than enough experience from patching up my brothers and friends back home.

I was somehow fever warm and ice cold at the same time. I couldn't move, I could barely even breathe and I couldn't look away from myself. But I still- somehow- found my voice and I distantly heard myself shriek, "Oh my God, it's blood!"

My eyes were stuck on my arms and hands, which were shaking violently. I couldn't feel my body- it was like I was trapped inside of my own head and couldn't control anything else. My breathing was shallow and quickly getting faster until eventually I felt like I couldn't breathe at all, like I was heaving and gasping for oxygen that just wasn't there. 'Oh my god, it's blood. I'm covered in blood. Someone threw fucking blood at me. Blood, blood, blood.' These words were running through my head, over and over until I heard Jhanna's voice cut through them, hard and shaking with blazing fury.

"What the hell?!" I looked up at her, and then over the whole room, and everyone was staring at us. And for I don't know how long, I simply couldn't look away. So many different kinds of creatures were staring at me, directly at me, and the oozing blood that covered almost every inch of my body. They looked almost as shocked and disgusted as I felt and seemed to be unable to look away from me as well. For what felt like an eternity, we were stuck in this mortifying, terrifying, disgusting moment.

And then, the laughing started. Someone, somewhere in the room, let out a soft- partly shocked and partly amused- snort, and then almost everyone started to join in. Roars of laughter, sneering smirks and taunts filled the room and they were all I could hear.

"Looking good, freak!"

"Eugh, that's sick!"

"Look at him! What a child! Can't handle a little prank, reptile?"

"Just what their kind deserves. Disgusting pieces of shit!"

"His face is fucking priceless!"

I heard every single word, but I couldn't seem process them. I recognized them as jeers and heard the mocking laughter, but I was still trying to fully process what had happened to me and where the blood had come from. Who could have done it? Why had they done it? Who was sick enough to get real blood and dump it on someone?

And then, suddenly, it clicked into place, like the final piece of a puzzle.

A joke. It had all happened because someone thought it would be funny. Someone- who knew who?- had gotten the idea to do something so disgusting and cruel because they thought it would be fucking funny. And the real kicker here? It worked. It fucking worked. Everyone around me was snickering and snorting and laughing to the point where they could barely stand up straight. 'Cause it was just a joke, right? Totally harmless, right? It's just a joke, what kind of stick-in-the-mud shit are you? It's just a joke. That's all it was- a joke.

I looked down at the blood on my hands again and fought against every instinct that wanted to scream. That's what all this was. Someone had gotten the idea to find real blood and pour it over me like Mikey throwing a water balloon at one of us back home. And now everyone was laughing at it, '''cause it's just a joke, brah! Don't take it so seriously, dude, it's just a joke!'

Except that it wasn't. This was not funny- hell, not even Raph or Mikey would find this funny, and they had some weird and bizarre senses of humor. This shit? This was just cruel and disgusting- there was absolutely nothing funny about this situation at all! The one and only comforting thing in this moment was that none of my friends were laughing at it either, although that was a rather cold comfort.

My thoughts became blurred before they faded away altogether, my emotions taking over more and more. Tears pressed against my eyelids, pushing desperately to get out- and I'm sure some did- and though I tried to breathe calmly, my lungs just worked faster and more shallowly until I was practically hyperventilating. The laughing got louder and louder, the jeers cut deeper and became more hurtful and my heart started to beat faster and louder until I almost felt it burst out of my chest and heard it as loudly as a bass drum.

"Aw, look- he gonna cry?"

"Look at that, so scared. It's so damn pathetic."

"What a weakling."

"Oh my god, it's just a little blood- get over it!"

And then the voices shifted in my ears, became more painfully familiar.

"Wait, do you still think you have a shot with her? Wow, that's so adorable! And sad. It's sadorable."

"They're aliens from another dimension, what did you expect? A big round ball with a light fuse that says BOMB?!"

"Donnie, haha! Amazing, I didn't even see his lips move. He's like a puppet that throws his voice to… himself. Wait…"

"What, just having fun. You know how much Mikey loves the Donnie puppet!"

The crowd's voices and the mocking voices in my head grew louder and louder and I clawed at the sides of my head, screaming at the top of my lungs to drown them out, clenching my eyes shut so I wouldn't see them pointing and laughing. I didn't care how it might make me look, standing in the middle of the room, clawing at my head and screaming bloody murder at the top of my lungs; I couldn't hold any of my emotions in anymore. Years of humiliation and hurt came bubbling up after months of holding it all back, trying to come tearing out of me.

I suddenly felt a harsh shove from somewhere to my left.

"Yeah, that's right, ya damn rep, cry! I would too if I was forced to be one!" Another shove came from my right, and then another from my left. More jeers were screamed into my ear, but the pounding in my ears and the sound of my own hammering heart overpowered their words. People kept shoving me until I hit the floor and I didn't try to stand.

I couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't get my body to obey my commands. My whole body was shaking, but not just from the shock anymore. No, it was rage. My blood started to boil as I grew more and more angry, my thoughts all but gone and my emotions all that I could register.

'Stop! Stop laughing at me!'

'Why are they laughing? Can't they see that I'm crying? Can't they see that I'm hurting? Why are they laughing at someone who's already been knocked down?'

All logic and rational thinking were out the window; all that was left was pure emotion. All the years of pain, anger, humiliation and hurt came bubbling up with a vengeance and I couldn't push it down, didn't want to push it down. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. My eyes were closed but I could still see my family, friends and every villain I had ever met laughing at me as I was down on the floor, unable to get up and with angry tears falling down my cheeks.

In the back of my brain I registered a frantic beeping sound, but I ignored it. I was lost in my emotions and all I could feel was years of rage and hurt and the heartbreak from earlier today and now with this cruel prank… it was the final. fucking. straw.

I finally managed to crawl back up on my knees and saw Jhanna coming towards me, shoving people out of her way and reaching towards me. Her mouth moved but I couldn't register what she was saying. All I knew is that I didn't want her to touch me- I was still full of anger and I didn't want anyone near me.

I just wanted to be left alone.

I reached out my hand in a 'stop!' motion towards Jhanna. 'No, don't TOUCH me!'

I didn't say or do anything, but something happened anyway. A loud, metallic creaking was heard and then, out of nowhere, one of the support beams from the ceiling broke free of its position and swung down in a smooth arc, hitting Jhanna squarely in the chest and face and flinging her backwards, crashing into a table.

The laughing stopped short and was replaced with new, more horrified gasps of shock and fear. Starlee cried out in panic and she and Mona ran to Jhanna's side, but I didn't even look to see if she was okay. In that moment, my raw emotion couldn't find it in itself to care. Not while I had been wronged so grievously.

I surveyed the alien creatures around me, trying to see if anyone else would try to approach. Part of me insisted silently, 'Do it! I fucking DARE you!' Two security guards came to me, and I reached out my hand again.

'No, don't touch me! Leave me ALONE!' Several other beams creaked and fell, raining down on staff and patrons alike. Gasps were exchanged now for screams pure terror. The atmosphere was simply… electrifying. I sucked in a breath through my nose, trying to hungrily breathe in the intense terror.

I was suddenly aware of the music, still pumping obnoxiously from the speakers. I grit my teeth and glared at the machines hanging on the walls.

'Shut the fuck up! To hell with that noise!' The music screeched to a halt and the crowd started to look around the room, surprised by the sudden silence and whimpering in fear. I looked at them all, still burning with anger, and while a small voice in my mind begged me to just walk out of the building and go back to the ship, I didn't want to. I was absolutely fucking sick of running to hide and licking my wounds in solitude. This time I wanted to fight back, hurt the people who had hurt me.

I looked at the crowd around me, my breathing heavy, heart pounding and blood boiling, and the people seemed to pick up on some kind of danger. They started backing away and whispering between themselves as though I were some sort of wild animal. I didn't think much of it- I couldn't think much, anyway; I just wanted to act, to hurt these damn tormentors.

I looked towards the doors that led out into the street and a second later they closed with a loud BANG!, locking themselves from the outside. When the terrified crowd screamed and tried to force them open, I glanced up towards the ceiling, eyes locking onto two more massive beams and pulling on them with incredible force. Without me moving an inch, the beams came toppling down.

While most of the creatures saw that and jumped out of the way with terrified screams, some of them were caught under them and crushed. I didn't care that in all likelihood, they were very much deceased. In fact, using this power behind my eyes was amazing, thrilling, and captivating- I wanted more. With another tug of pure willpower, three of the last beams crashed to the ground, taking out another ten or so people. How many were killed, injured? I didn't care. As long as the number continued to grow.

I looked up at the ceiling and the electrical wires that were wrapped around the beams and with a single thought, they yanked themselves from their positions and started to sparke and dance around like manic snakes as bright sparks of fire went flying in different directions, some of them hitting people and others hitting the floor. To my delight, more screams were added to the din, and those already screaming did so even louder.

Slowly but surely, flames started to rise from the wooden floor and spread to the walls. The heat rose with every passing second as the flames grew taller and the furniture started to catch. More screams were heard and now almost everyone was running towards the doors, trying to force them. The screams got louder and people were fleeing in terror, smoke was clouding my vision, a fire alarm was screeching and water was spraying from the ceiling to try and kill the fire, but I couldn't bring myself to care about any of it all. I was still frozen to the floor and couldn't bring myself to move, but I suddenly felt someone grab my shoulder and shake me.

"Donnie, come on, we have to get out of here!" That was Mona, her voice a new level of desperate, but I didn't even spare her a glance- I shoved her off of me and started to walk towards the door, body broken from its stupor. Everyone who was still banging on the doors jumped aside when they saw me (I couldn't help but chuckle at their pitiful fear-ridden faces) and let me pass. I didn't pay them any heed, just kept walking, and as I got close enough, the doors unlocked and flew open, letting me walk out into the cool air, quickly followed by creatures of every species imaginable racing for safety.

The suns had set by now and the air was chilled. In contrast, smoke was billowing out of the windows of the club and the fire had now started to spread towards the exterior of the building. People were running around, screaming in panic and fear, alarms were blaring inside the building and flashing sirens of emergency vehicles came rushing towards us. I just kept walking down the street, calm as can be, and slowly made my way back towards the ship, apathetic to all the cacophony that was heard around me.

I was dead to world at the moment and just kept walking, my hand tightly clenched around the amulet on my neck.

A/N: So… that happened. I hope I didn't break anyone's heart while they read this. This chapter did take longer to write than I had hoped because I wanted this to be one of my best ones, since I've been hyping it so much and because it's a big catalyst of Donnie's arc for this story. Also, my Beta Reader has been on vacation and couldn't edit this until she got back home, since I didn't want to stress her during her time off.

Anyway, this was also hard to write because of the different P.O.V's and the structure of the chapter- but whatever, it's done! I hope I haven't lost any readers because of how long this took and because of this chapter.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!