Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles belongs to Nickelodeon.
Darkness. That was the first thing that greeted him upon opening his large, golden orbs. It was still nighttime, so of course it was dark, but it felt different. He couldn't hear the crickets chirring or feel the warm summer breeze. Instead of the high tree branches, the pigeon man found himself sitting on a thin sheet, the floor underneath feeling hard. He crawled forward, feathered hand touching the smooth, hard wall. Jerking it back, he gasped in horror. This wasn't the park, this was a glass cage! All at once, his mind came into focus, and the realization that he had been captured hit him like a bolt of lightning.
Pete stood abruptly, heart pounding as panic overtook him. He had to get out of here! The bird began groping the walls frantically, until his hands found what felt to be a large glass window. He knocked, pounded, and pushed against it, calling, "Hello? Hello! Can anyone hear me? Hello?"
Opposite the enclosure, a large, metal door opened, bright light pouring into the room. Pete shielded his eyes, then unshielded them, noticing the silhouette of a human female. The door slammed shut, enveloping the room in darkness once again. Light footfalls slowly approached the cage and stopped. The person pressed a button to the left of the window. There was a beep, before it slowly mechanically opened.
"Having fun in there, old friend?" an all too familiar voice asked.
"Chris!" Pete cried, overjoyed and teary eyed. Flinging his long, spindly arms through the opening, he hugged the girl tightly, pressing his cheek against hers. "Oh, Chris—I could kiss you!"
He was about to do just that, when Christina roughly pushed him back, resulting in the pigeon mutant stumbling to the floor and hitting his head on the opposite wall. Dazed, he lay there, staring at his friend with wide eyes. "Wh-what—what was that for?"
"Don't you ever touch me like that again!" Christina barked, making Pete flinch.
"But," he whimpered, slowly sitting up. "You love when I hug you."
"Not anymore."
"What? But, but, you—I mean, this…" he took a moment to gather his thoughts. "This isn't you. Unless…"
Quickly approaching her, Pete attempted to grab the girl's shoulders, but she jerked away before his hands made contact. "Chris, Chris, listen to me! You're under the control of a brain worm! You have to break free! Let me help you!"
"Brain what? I'm not being controlled by anything!" she retaliated.
"Yes, you are! The foot clan captured you and put a brain worm into your brain, then they made you kidnap me! Listen, if you let me go, I'll do my best to figure out a way to get that thing out of you," the bird reasoned.
"First off, who is this foot clan, and whoever they are, they didn't do this, I did!"
Pete staggered backward, utterly shocked and horrified. She—she did this? Christina, the one he could talk about anything to, the one he laughed with, flew with, the one being he loved with all his heart captured and held him prisoner? He shook his head furiously in denial, tears brimming in the back of his eyes.
"You see, when you became my friend, you unwittingly fell right into my trap. Your guard was down, so I used that as the perfect opportunity to detain you. We were never friends, bird brain, and we never will be! I mean, who'd even want to be friends with a useless, ugly abomination like you, anyway?" Christina elaborated.
Pete collapsed to the ground, burying his face in his hands, tears pouring down his face as he sobbed. Making a disgusted noise, his former friend turned and left the room.
The pigeon scooted into the farthest corner of the cage, pulled his knees up to his chest, and cried into his hands. Words could not express the unsurpassable amount of pain he felt. His best friend betrayed him. AT the same time, deep within the recesses of his broken heart, there was the tiniest sliver of hope. Cries dulling slightly, he held onto it for dear life. No matter what, she was still his friend. Maybe there was still a chance.
Christina entered minutes later, carrying a tray containing a bowl of food on a saucer, napkins, silverware, and a cup of ice water. Inhaling, Pete composed himself and got to his feet. He walked over to the window and watched her intently, despite being unable to see. She placed the tray before him on the windowsill and was about to leave when Pete's right hand grasped her shoulder, moving down her arm until finding her small hand. The girl tried hard to break free, but the birdman held it firmly in his larger one. His feathered face held genuine love and compassion.
"Christina, please, this isn't right, and you know it. So what if this was a trap? You're still my best friend, and nothing, I repeat, nothing will ever change that. Please, let me go, and we can forget this whole mess even happened, okay? I love you so much, friend."
For a moment, for one fleeting moment, his captor appeared to be considering Pete's words, chocolate orbs gazing upwards. Even though she detained him, he still thought of her as his best friend. She couldn't see it in his face, but she could hear the sheer amount of warmth and desperation in his high-pitched voice, but none of it mattered anymore.
Her gaze snapped back to Pete's, and in one swift motion, her hand was freed from his grasp. She spoke, her voice laced with malice, "Can't you take a hint, freak? We were never friends! Beg, plead, cry, and sob all you want, but that won't do you any good. Those days are long gone, creature. You're just a useless mutant as far as I'm concerned. From this moment forward, you will be my pet, and you will do what I tell you. Disobey, and you will be punished."
The girl depressed the button again, and the glass window to Pete's enclosure closed with a soft click. She left the room, leaving the pigeon alone. Choking up once more, he sulked to the back of the cage. Sinking to the floor, he allowed himself to completely break down, shoulders shaking with each gut-wrenching sob.
"Get up, mutant," Pete's former friend commanded harshly, yanking him by the arm. He was so engrossed in his thoughts, he didn't notice her enter. Emitting a startled caw, he scrambled to his feet.
"You haven't so much as touched your food. Care to explain?"
Pete's sniffles were his only reply. Huffing, Christina grasped a clump of the bird's feathers on his back. "As I said before, disobey me, and you will be punished."
"No…no…no…no, no, no, no!"
Pete woke with a start, panting. He was sweating, and his face was wet with tears. He put a hand over his feathered chest in an attempt to slow his pounding heart. After a few minutes, he was becoming conscious of his surroundings. Crickets chirped all around, and he was sitting high up in the trees.
'A dream,' he thought, letting out a long, relieved breath and slowly laying back down. 'It was all a horrible dream, but it felt so real.'
'Of course it was,' Pete's inner voice soothed. 'Would the real Christina do that? Absolutely not. She cares far too much about you to even dream of hurting you. She loves you, Pete.'
With that, the bird's large, yellow eyes slowly closed as he drifted off to sleep, a soft smile on his beak.