Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles belong to Nickelodeon.
Pete perched on the rooftop opposite the quaint little shop, waiting for his friend to come out with her purchase. Above the double doors, in large, red letters against a bright green background, the sign read, "Mrs. Magee's Magic Potions." Squawking caught the mutant's ear, and he peered down, seeing Christina holding a plastic bag. Flapping his spindly, feathered arms, he descended toward her, slamming into a lamppost mid-flight. He remained there momentary, before sliding down and landing on his face.
Despite the concern for her friend's well-being, the human thought Pete's little incident to be humorous. She ran over, bag lightly bumping her leg, the sound of glass bottles clattering could be heard. Extending a slender hand, she asked, "You okay, buddy?"
"Yeah, I'm good, thanks," the pigeon accepted her hand and was pulled back to his three-toed feet. He noticed the bag dangling from Christina's left arm. "Oh, cool, you got some."
"Yeah, and they weren't cheap. Three bucks a bottle," Pete's companion pointed out.
"How many did you get?"
"Ten."
"That's…" the bird's face became surprised. "Whoa, that's a lot!"
"I know, right? Anyway, how are we going to get these to the park? Even though they're not made of a fragile glass, I'm still worried about them breaking," Christina pondered.
"We'll do what we always do!" the mutant turned around. "Hop on."
"Well—alright, we'll give it a shot," still feeling hesitant about the idea, Christina mounted her friend, positioning the bag so it hung from the crook of her arm and rested against her left side.
"Alright, to the park we go!" Pete squawked, rapidly flapping his arms and taking off.
"Easy on the landing, Pete!" the female cried, stiffening up.
"Okay, okay," Pete replied. He touched down on the ground unsteadily, but not enough to cause his passenger to fall.
Slowly climbing down, the girl walked to a park bench and gently deposited her purchase. Untying the white plastic bag, she turned to the birdman. "Okay, each potion has a label on it that tells you what it does and how to use it. Oh, and the effects are only temporary. Go on, you can go first."
"Oh, goody!" the pigeon squawked, bounding toward the bag and retrieving a random potion. The bottle was dark red, adorned with orange flames. "Breath of fire! I'm pretty sure I know what this one does!"
Pete uncapped it and downed the entire contents. He blew a breath of air. Nothing. He tried again, and still, nothing. The bird gave the human a questioning look.
"Oh!" Christina moaned, sighing disappointedly. "Cheap propaganda! I'm so sorry, Pete. I thought they would be neat for us to try out."
"Hey, it's alright, you didn't know," he, too, sighed, blowing out a few sparks. "Oh, well."
She gasped in shock. "Pete, do that again."
"Do what again?" the avian's voice held genuine confusion.
"Sigh, please."
Pete sighed, and once more, there were sparks. Excitement lit up the human's features. "It works! You can breathe fire!"
"Really? cool!" the birdman screeched joyously. He blew a few small spurts of bright orange flames, turning his head this way and that. Laughing, Pete took in a huge amount of air and exhaled forcefully, a powerful jet of fire erupting from his beak, accidently burning down a small tree. The pigeon appeared sheepish. "Oops…"
"Um…okay…my turn," Christina pulled out a blue potion and gulped it down after reading the label.
"Um, guess I need to learn to control my fire breath better, huh?" Pete said, giving another rueful laugh.
"Yeah, I guess," in less than a second, she was behind her friend.
"Chris, where did you go?" the humanoid bird asked, glancing around.
"I'm right behind you, friend."
Startled, Pete gasped and whirled around, but she wasn't there. "Hey! Where are you now?"
"Right behind you, buddy," Christina laughed.
Turning around again, the bird saw her standing before him, grinning broadly. "Oh, there you are. What's going on?"
"Super speed elixir!" she announced, holding up the blue now empty bottle. "Check it out!"
The human hastened from a tree a few yards away and back, moving as if she was a blur. Pete applauded wildly. "That was amazing! You got some speedy skills!"
"Thanks, yours are hot!" she chirped.
"Aw!" the bird blushed, flattered. An idea came to him. Since he could breathe fire, and she could run at lightning speed, why not have some fun? Pete grinned. "Try to dodge my flames of fury!"
"Huh? What are you—whoa!" the brunette barely had time to move out of the way as intense flames burst from the pigeon's mouth. Pete shot out more fire, which Christina once again barely evaded. AFTER one more close call, she took her best defensive stance and easily evaded Pete's blazing breath. Stream after stream he puffed out, left, right, left, right, and Christina dodged. Their play fight ended abruptly, nonetheless, when the girl tripped over her own feet, landed on her side, and her avian friend blew out nothing but air.
"Aw, it wore off," he whined.
"Yeah, oh well," Christina said, standing and dusting herself off.
"You okay, my friend?"
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she brightened. "You were so cool! A fire-breathing pigeon! Now that's something you don't see!"
"You too!" Pete returned the compliment. "I mean, did you see how quickly you were moving? It was like you weren't even there!"
"Thanks!" the girl remarked gratefully.
Giggling, the mutant headed towards the bag containing the potions and pulled out a purple bottle with yellow music notes on it. Grinning, he downed the contents.
"Which one did you get?" she inquired inquisitively.
"Vocal enhancer. It says it'll make my singing voice incredibly beautiful, and you know I can't sing a note!" Pete answered with a laugh.
Christina waited eagerly to hear the bird's newly-improved voice, but when silence followed, she looked at him quizzically. The other appeared hesitant. "Chris—what if this makes me sound completely different?"
"I'm sure it won't. I think the potion is just going to make your singing different, not your voice," the human encouraged.
"Well, here I go," the pigeon man took in a gulp of air through his stomach. His throat constricted, resulting in him making a strained noise. He exhaled and took a few calming breaths. Trying again, the bird drew in another breath, making the same strangled noise, only louder. Disheartened, he sighed. "I can't do it, Chris. I'm sorry, I'm too nervous."
"It's okay, you don't have to if you don't want to. At least you tried," Christina soothed, walking over and patting Pete's shoulder, the ladder smiling and cooing. She went back to the plastic bag and sifted through its contents, deciding which potion to draw next. After a moment's consideration, she settled on a pink bottle adorned with slightly darker swirls. The human was about to drink it when melodious humming caught her ear. Averting her eyes from the magical item, she gaped at Pete.
"What?" he asked.
"Wow," she breathed.
"What?" the pigeon man reiterated.
"That potion worked a little too well. Your voice is absolutely heavenly," she told him blissfully.
"That wasn't me," Pete rung his hands nervously.
"Oh, yeah, it was! Come on, sing some more, please!"
"Um—well—okay!" Pete beamed at her. He cleared his throat and belted out another tune. His soprano voice possessed great control and vibrato.
After Pete finished, Christina broke out into applause, jumping up and down wildly. "Oh my gosh, Pete, that was so amazing!"
The birdman turned crimson once more, flattered. "Really? You really think so?"
"Yeah, I mean, that potion did wonders!"
"Aw, thank you!" Pete responded, grinning broadly.
"No problem, my friend!" Uncapping the bright pink bottle, the brunette drank it and waited a moment. Concentrating hard, what was once a human female became a pigeon. She cooed, fluttering her wings and grinning up at her companion. "Check me out, Pete!"
The mutant blinked in sheer disbelief and speechlessness. She just turned into a pigeon, right before his very eyes! He then laughed jubilantly, bouncing on his heels.
"Yahoo!" she cried, taking off into the air. "I can fly!"
"I can sing!" Pete shouted gleefully, singing a series of ascending notes and soaring after her upon hitting a high note.
The two friends flew about, cooing, squawking, and laughing. Pete sang as he flapped about. He landed soon after, the normal pigeon perching herself on his shoulder and nuzzling the side of his neck. Pete chuckled softly, cooing and playfully pecking the top of Christina's head. The female cooed pleasurably, pressing her cheek against the larger bird's, who returned it, cooing contently as well. After giving Pete one more peck, she flew off his shoulder and landed on the ground in front of him. After focusing intensely, there was a puff of white smoke, and what was once a pigeon morphed into a brown, long-haired feline with white fur starting from between large, honey-brown eyes to her underbelly, even on her paws. Trotting towards the birdman, she sat on her haunches and gazed up at him pleadingly, mewing softly.
"Aw, look at you! You're adorable, Chris!" Pete squealed, bending down and scooping the cat into his arms.
Purring loudly, Christina pressed her cold, moist nose into the pigeon's warm, feathered chest. Pete cooed, gently stroking her back. Twisting her upper body slightly to the left, Christina began rubbing her cheek against the bird's hand, even licking it, prompting a laugh from the ladder. The female leaned her head into her friend's chest once more. She closed her eyes, relishing in the sensation of being petted and the sound of the bird's heavenly voice as he hummed.
Gazing down at his friend, Pete was surprised to see the head of a human, not a cat. She looked up, and their gazes locked. They smiled, gasped, and quickly pulled apart, blushing.
"Ah, hum, it wore off," Christina cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Yours did, but I think mine," he sang a bit. "Wait, never mind."
"Well, it was fun while it lasted. You're singing was so pretty," the human said optimistically.
"And, you looked so cute as a cat!" Pete added cheerily.
"Thanks, pal."
"Your welcome," the mutant walked over to the plastic bag and sifted through the six remaining potions, retrieving a black one with the image of a brain with waves protruding from either side. Without taking the time to read the label, he downed its entire contents and waited. Nothing happened.
"Which one did you get?" Christina inquired.
"Don't know," Pete responded simply.
"You didn't read the label?"
"Nope, I want to be surprised," the pigeon stated happily.
"Well, okay then," she dropped it. These were harmless, after all. The young woman reached into the bag and withdrew a crimson bottle with the image of a sumo wrestler on it. Following her avian friend's example, she uncapped it and gulped the fluid down.
"Hey, Chris?" the bird asked.
She turned to him, noting his slightly shocked expression. "Yeah?"
"Benches aren't supposed to float, are they?" Pete commented, gesturing to the right.
Christina turned, eyes as round as saucers. Sure enough, one of the park benches was, indeed, floating a good foot from the ground. "How—how—can this—wait."
"What?"
"Pete, let me see the last potion you drank," the female enjoined, holding out a hand.
Pete gave her the bottle. She inspected it closely and grinned amazedly, though did her best to conceal it. Returning her gaze to the feathered creature, she appeared calm, but beamed internally. "Try to focus, and see if you can put it down. Concentrate."
"Uh, okay," Despite being majorly confused, the bird did as he was told. Feathered face scrunched up, he focused on lowering the bench. After an intense moment, slowly, the piece of furniture lowered to the ground. The birdman's face held sheer disbelief.
"I know, right? This is so cool!" Christina cried, in raptures.
"Are you saying I have..."
"You have psychic powers!"
"No way!" he squawked.
"Yeah, way!" the girl countered. She threw her arms in the air. Her moment was short-lived when the sound of cracking glass was heard. Stunned, Christina looked to the bottle in her hand. She hadn't even been holding it that tight, so how could those have appeared? Shaking her head dismissively, she tossed the bottle into the nearest waste basket, only to have it land into one several yards away.
"Whoa, someone's got a mean throwing arm!" Pete commented, levitating a picnic table in a circle.
"I didn't even throw it that hard," Christina said, her voice laced with genuine confusion.
The pigeon man gasped. "The potion you drank!"
Slowly, a smile graced her features. Walking over to a tree, she was able to effortlessly lift it above her head. She walked in a small circle, then placed the large plant on the ground rather roughly, causing a loud bang to echo throughout the park and the ground to vibrate. Her companion jumped out of his feathers.
"Sorry," Christina apologized, laughing sheepishly and blushing somewhat.
Pete panted, heart pounding in his chest. The picnic table he had been telekinetically holding crashed to the park floor. Regaining his composure after a short while, he replied, "It's—it's fine."
Relieved, the girl headed to the swing set. Curling both hands around one of the metal poles, she again easily lifted the entire thing above her head, swings dangling. They probably weighed a few tons, but Christina was holding them as if they weighed only a few ounces! She put the playground equipment down and turned to Pete, who was floating a good four feet in the air. The bird's arms were at his sides, and his long, thin legs were crossed. He grinned down at her. "That was so cool! You're like an incredible she-hulk!"
His friend burst into a fit of giggles. "Thanks! Having fun up there?"
"Yep! Why didn't I think of this sooner? Drink a magic potion, get some telekinesis, and just float about. Flying is nice and all, but it's nice to just be like this. Plus, I get to lift things with my mind! I mean, how cool is that?" the pigeon babbled.
Christina laughed in response. Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted. Letting out a startled cry, she quickly ran and grasped a picnic table. She held on tight as she, along with the table and the rest of the park's equipment, was lifted into the air and slowly spun around like a carousel.
"Round and round and round she goes! Where she stops, nobody knows!" Pete exclaimed, laughing jovially.
"Pete, get me down! I'm getting dizzy!" his friend cried, knuckles white from gripping the edge of the wooden table so firmly.
"Oh, alright," he responded with another chuckle, releasing his psychic grip on the human and park furniture, effectively lowering them to the ground. Pete followed seconds later, sighing happily. "Well, that was fun."
Smirking, the female ran over, wrapped her arms around Pete's torso, and picked him up, the ladder emitting an alarmed squawk. After a quick spin, she gently set the bird down.
"I think you almost broke my spine," Pete groaned, bending and straightening his back, which clicked and popped.
"Oh, no, I did? I'm so sorry!" Christina gasped, horrified tears coming to her honey brown eyes.
Standing erect and his back clicking again, the mutant stepped forward and placed a warm, reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "Hey, it's alright, you didn't actually break my spine. It just felt like it, that's all. No worries."
"Oh, good," the human gave a relieved laugh, blinking away the moisture. She gasped upon being levitated a few inches, then put back down. She giggled again. "Uh-oh, it's wearing off."
"Aw, man!" the birdman whined, folding his arms and pouting in disappointment.
Christina attempted to lift the same picnic table again, but it suddenly felt as if it weighed a ton. She turned to Pete, also appearing slightly disappointed. "And, so is mine."
"I liked having telekinesis. I didn't have to use my arms at all, just my mind!" the pigeon said, grinning broadly.
"You were lucky! I had to use my arms!" the human said with mock annoyance.
"Hey, it was awesome seeing you lift that tree!" Pete countered brightly.
"Yeah, that's true."
Christina gazed upwards at the sky. The sun had long gone down, now replaced by a half moon and stars. She smiled in fascination. Pete followed her line of sight, grinning. "It's so pretty, isn't it?"
"Oh, most definitely. It's a beautiful night," the female responded dreamily, eyes trained on the sky.
The pigeon offered her a gentle peck on the side of her head, then moved to retrieve the next potion. He grabbed a bright blue, sparkly bottle. The label read "Elixir of Enchantment," which peaked his curiosity. Reading the label further, he broke out into a grin and drank the entire bottle in just a matter of seconds. Shortly thereafter, a tingling sensation wafted throughout his body. It started out barely discernable, then quickly increased, resulting in the birdman scratching himself. As rapidly as it started, the sensation ceased.
"Whoa, you okay there, Pete?" Christina inquired in concern.
"Yeah, this stuff made me itch like crazy," he said with a sigh.
"Yeah, that store owner said it does that, but it's only temporary," she informed.
"Thank goodness," the bird said, relieved.
His friend walked over and retrieved the same potion from the plastic bag. Pete looked at it in surprise. "You got two of the same one?"
"I thought we would both enjoy what this does," she told him with a bright smile.
"Okay," Pete replied. Upon closer inspection, the label also had a short list of hand movements. Putting the bottle down on the bench, Pete rubbed his hands together, causing blue sparks to form. Moving toward a tree, he placed the glowing extremities against its large, rough trunk. The plant glowed, then became a gorgeous rose bush in a flash of light. The birdman laughed in triumph. He had the magic touch! Looking over his shoulder at his friend, he saw her hands were also sparkling, only they were bright pink. He watched in astonishment as the girl thrust her hands forward, causing a beam to shoot forth and collide with the swings, morphing them into a gray and white stallion. It whinnied, snowy tail swishing back and forth.
"This is so awesome!" Christina cried happily, shooting another beam of magic at another tree, changing it into a pumpkin.
"I know! Look at us!" Pete sent magic hurtling towards a picnic table, which became a chicken, who clucked and ran around wildly. The horse whinnied once more, and an all-out chase ensued.
Whooping with laughter, the two ran around the park, blue and pink magic coming from all directions. Another picnic table materialized into a dancing coffee pot, three more became white bunnies, a tree was turned into a googley-eyed wallaby, a small bed of pansies became a flock of seagulls, and so forth. In short, the park looked as if it was being run by circus clowns.
"What have we done to the place?" the human asked with a laugh.
"We've created a monster!" the mutant squawked. Thrusting his feathered hands upwards, blue beams shot into the sky, and snow began gently falling to the ground.
"Oh, Pete, it's beautiful!" Christina gaped dreamily.
He just laughed. Pete was about to produce more magic, when nothing happened. Looking down at his hands, the pigeon man was sadly surprised to see no blue sparkles. Christina mirrored him, also surprised. Not even a second went buy, and there was a blinding flash of light. The park returned to normal. The horse became swings, the dancing coffee pot and bunnies became picnic table, etc.
"well, that was fun while it lasted," Christina commented.
"Imagine if we had all these powers permanently. Man, we'd be the unstoppable duo, saving the world from evil doers!" Pete cried exuberantly, breaking out into a series of dramatic, heroic poses, singing super hero songs.
"You watch way too many cartoons," Christina said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, I know," the pigeon replied.
"Well, only two more left," the human strolled to the bag and placed a hand on one of the two plastic handles. Pete followed and peered in. The pair simultaneously withdrew the final potions. Christina's was white, with the image of a wooden cane, and Pete's was fire red, adorned by a yellow arrow pointing upwards. Taking off the cap, the bird gulped the liquid down. Seconds later, a tingling sensation like the one he felt prior spread throughout his whole body.
"Uh, Chris, I'm feeling kind of funny," he said worriedly, then blinked. "Hey, is everything shrinking?"
"Holy…" she stared, wide-eyed and mouth agape, then covered her face with her hands. After a moment, she removed them, her expression remaining unchanged as she gazed at the dauntingly monstrous, taloned foot. Her head seemed to reach only the ankle. Closing her slackened jaw, the female craned as high as possible. "Pete!"
"What happened?" he asked, floored and somewhat frightened. The sound of his voice was greatly amplified, making Christina cringe.
"You grew!" the brunette shouted, surprise clear in her tone.
"I did?" the pigeon glanced left and right. A tree he was standing beside went up to just below his hip. Peering down, his friend seemed as if she stood only three inches in height. "How much?"
"I don't know! I think—a hundred feet!"
"What? A hundred feet!" Pete shrieked, alarmed. His voice echoed around the park intensely.
"Yeah!" his friend shouted.
The gigantic mutant gasped, feathered hands flying to his mouth. He was huge—no, bigger than huge! He was ginormous! He chuckled, feeling something tickle his right foot. Looking down, he noticed Christina climbing on it and grasping his pant leg. "Chris, what—what are you doing?"
"Trying…to…get…a better look at you," the human grunted as she attempted to climb Pete's leg. Her arms and legs were barely wrapped around it.
"Well, here," the birdman bent down, his friend nearly falling due to the movement. He scooped her up in his massive hand and brought her to his face. Pete peered down at her in his palm. "Look at you, you're so tiny!"
"No kidding! Your eyes are, like, five times the size of my head!" the female exclaimed, tossing her arms in the air for emphasis.
"Hey, am I good to sit?" Pete asked.
"Um," she scooted to the end of Pete's hand and peered over his fingers. "You're good for about three baby steps."
Carefully, the bird moved his giant left foot, followed by the right, then the left. His companion glanced behind her and nodded to him in approval. Pete squatted to the ground, placing his left hand against his legs, the other holding the human palm up on his knee. Christina scooted out of the large extremity and onto the bird's knee, wrapping her arms around her legs and gasping when her friend stretched his own out slightly.
"What do we do?" the mutant asked, anxious. "I can't go around looking like this."
"Don't worry, it's only temporary," she reassured him, patting his knee.
"So—what do we do until then?"
"We'll just have to wait. Until then," she chuckled and opened the final potion, holding it up as if proposing a toast. "Down the hatch!"
The pigeon laughed. He watched as her hair turned a light shade of gray and crinkles appeared on her face. He squawked in incredulity. "You turned into an old lady!"
"Why did I buy that potion?" Christina muttered, putting a wrinkled hand to her forehead in exasperation.
The avian covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. "Well, I don't know. Why did you?"
The elder sighed, smiling. "I don't know."
They stared at each other for a few moments, trying to contain their laughter. It soon burst forth in guffaws, Pete pounding the ground and Christina clutching her midsection.
"Oh, man, this is great! You're an old lady, and I'm birdzilla!" he chuckled.
"I know, right!" the human replied.
"We're nuts!"
"You bet we are, pal."
Pete squawked, the loud noise making the ground rumble. His friend clutched his knee. The bird laughed apologetically. "Uh, sorry."
She sighed in relief. "That's okay. Hey, you want to try walking around? I could guide you."
"Are you sure? I don't want to accidently destroy anything," Pete responded nervously.
"We'll give it a shot. If you're still not up to it, we can stop. Is that okay with you?"
"I'm sorry, Chris, I'm just not up for it. I just think it's too risky," the birdman responded.
"Oh, alright, then. Just thought I suggest it," Christina dropped the subject.
Pete let out another earth-shattering caw as the tingling returned. Slowly, his body began decreasing in size. Quickly, his friend slid down his leg and onto the ground. Upon standing, she turned to Pete, who was back to normal. He let out a breath. "You know, I'm actually glad that's over."
"I'm kind of in between. It was cool, but scary," the brunette commented.
"I mean, can you imagine what life would be like if I was that gigantic? Can you imagine sleeping? I wouldn't be able to fit in the trees!" the mutant went on. "More importantly, can you imagine how people would react?"
"No doubt they'd be scared," she stated.
"No charge!" Pete chortled. He strolled towards the park bench and lifted the bag. "Well, we used the last of the potions."
The girl nodded. "Yup."
A few moments of silence stretched between them. The pigeon broke it by asking, "So—now what?"
She stared ahead in thought, then turned to her friend with a grin. "How about a quick flight?"
With a huge grin on his beak, Pete faced his back to Christina, who climbed on. The bird flapped his arms, and the duo soared into the night sky.
A/n: Well, what do you guys think? I personally feel Pigeon Pete deserves more love. Reviews are greatly appreciated!