Chapter 1
The homeroom bell rang and the teacher called for attention. After a few minutes, the rowdy teenagers settled down and the day's lesson started.
April O'Neil took out her note book and lazily started taking notes, only half paying attention. It's hard to focus on calculus when your daily concerns involve mutants, aliens and ninjas.
"Whatup, Teach," a teenaged boy sauntered into class fifteen minutes late, carrying a hockey stick over one shoulder, his black hair tied back with a bandana over his forehead. He smiled sweetly to the teacher, revealing a gap where his incisors should have been.
The teacher wasn't impressed with his shenanigans. "Take your seat, Mr. Jones."
Casey Jones made his way to an empty desk at the back of the class room, winking to April who rolled her eyes. Even after an alien invasion and spending months hiding out in an old farmhouse, Casey Jones hadn't changed a bit. For that, April was thankful for, even if he could get annoying at times.
Halfway through that mornings class, another teenager came in. He had shaggy light brown hair, baggy pants, a loose hoody, and a calculating gaze. He looked around the room before handing the teacher a slip of paper.
"We have a new student," the teacher announced, reading the slip, "Jay Cogen, take a seat."
Jay made his way to the only empty seat in the room, right next to Casey Jones, who smiled at him, "Welcome to the home of the Vikings, skater dude," Casey said, noticing the skateboard strapped to the new kid's backpack.
The kid nodded to him, not saying anything. The teacher managed to finish the lecture without further interruptions and assigned questions from the text book. The other kids in the class shuffled their desks around and formed their respective groups as they socialized more than they did math.
Casey looked over at the new guy as he kicked his feet onto his desk and leaned back, "It's Jay right? So, where're you from, Jay?"
The new guy glanced over at him, those piercing eyes analyzing every bit of the rough looking kid in front of him. After a few moments of scrutiny, he replied. "Canada."
"Seriously?" Casey's face lit up, "Well welcome to America dude! Do you play hockey?"
"No," Jay said simply, keeping his sentences short, "Never got into it."
"Never got into it?! It's only the best sport in the entire universe. I thought you were supposed to be from Canada."
"Give the guy a bit of space," April came up to them with her calculus textbook clutched to her chest, "Don't mind Casey, he's a block head."
"That's harsh, Red," Casey said, mocking an expression of hurt.
April pulled up a chair and opened her text book on Casey's desk, after knocking his feet off of it. "I'm April," she turned back to the new guy. "And you've already met Casey."
"Jay," his response was curt and short, like everything else he'd said.
"Alright, Jay," April said, flipping through the book to the correct page, "how're you at calculus?"
Oo-oO
The final bell couldn't ring soon enough. Casey launched out the front doors of the school and jumped down the short flight of stairs onto the sidewalk. April followed after him, waving good bye to the new kid. He just nodded back and started off in the other direction.
"Come on, Red," Casey urged her, "Let's get a move on."
"Coming," April called, and skipped down the stairs. "What do you think it is that they found?"
"Something Kraangy by the sounds of it," Casey replied.
"I hope they're not back already," April frowned at the thought of their alien enemies, "We just got rid of them."
The two teens had received word from their friends down under that they had come across something new the previous night. From what they were told, even the genius of the team couldn't for the life of him come up with what it was supposed to be. That was enough to get the teens curious, and after enduring the rest of the day at school, they were more than ready to head down into the sewers to check out what all the fuss was about.
Oo-oO
The Shard became aware of its surroundings as a soft humming brought it back to the present. A slight vibration accompanied the humming, and the Shard realized that some sort of machinery was nearby. It was simplistic and underdeveloped technology, but by the photosensitive receptors that were clearly present, the Shard could tell it was trying to take measurements; probably trying to determine what sort of radiation it was emitting.
Good luck figuring it out withthat hunk of junk. Sigh. So primitive.
The Shard probed with its consciousness past the machinery and reached out, trying to feel out life forms. There was a large, seemingly intelligent life form rather close to the Shard. Reaching out towards it, the Shard examined its mentality . . . curiosity, intelligence, some frustration, and something else . . . determination. This was an interesting one, but it was incompatible. Not surprising.
The Shard searched through its knowledge bank, looking for what kind of life form this was.
. . . Data Retrieved: No match found. Closest match: 'Testudine', a form of reptile found in various regions of the known universe. Transmission Terminated.
Odd. It had been awhile since the Shard came across something new, but decided to come back to it later.
Moving on, the Shard picked up a few smaller life forms: insects here and there, a large cluster of single celled organisms to one side that the Shard identified as a sort of plant like material, possibly algae. There was another large lifeform, but it was unresponsive, seemingly in some sort of stasis. The Shard didn't even check for compatibility. It wouldn't be useful it wasn't even conscious, but out of curiosity, the Shard searched this life form also.
. . . Data Retrieved: No match found. Closest match; Glumorantus, a large type of multi cellular amoeba, complete with organs and digestive system, found in the Ultransive Solar System. Transmission Terminated.
Another unknown? Ultransive System? This is definitely not the Ultransive . . . the atmospheric pressure is wrong.
Another presence almost directly above the Shard caught its attention. This one also seemed to be in a sort of stasis, but it was responsive. There was some sort of brain activity going on, even if it didn't really have a brain. It also seemed to be contained in a sort of small container . . . a jar? Its mentality was rather simplistic; it's only thought was to obtain a substance that would sustain it . . . a type of mutagen?
. . . Data Retrieved: No match found. Closest Matc— Transmission Terminated.
For Blarg's sake! How many new things are there!?
Frustrated, the Shard reached farther and ran right into a wall, literally, since its consciousness could not penetrate solid objects. Tracing the wall around the room, the Shard mapped out the immediate area, taking note of larger pieces of machinery, various chemicals and reagents, more pieces of equipment. But other than the one curious life form, there were no other intelligent life forms present. At least none that were going to do something anytime soon.
Suddenly, a hole appeared in the impassable wall, as what must have been a door opened briefly, admitting a new life form into the room.
"Donnie," the Shard registered the sound as a voice as the new life form spoke. The Shard recognized the voice from the previous night. "Got anything?"
The Shard examined this new life form. It was the same type as the one operating the machinery, an almost-Testudine. A quick scan of his mentality revealed a calm soul, led by devotion and fierce urge to protect. This was a warrior's mind . . . but also incompatible.
"Oh, I got plenty," the first life form replied, apparently answering to 'Donnie'. "Just don't know what to make of it. I've never seen this kind of radiation before. If I didn't know better . . . I would think that it's alive."
It? The Shard was a little offended by that.
"Alive how?" the Warrior asked.
"It's hard to explain. But these . . . some of these readings almost resemble the electrostatic pulses that occur in the brain, but their occurring as electromagnetic waves."
The Shard was impressed with this 'Donnie' life form, instantly forgetting the 'it' comment. Even with such underdeveloped technology he managed to deduce as much as he had, and he wasn't too far off either. Too bad he wasn't compatible, he would have been an interesting one.
"So, is it Kraang tech?" the Warrior asked.
The Kraang? The Shard recognized the name and searched its knowledge bank again.
. . . Data Retrieved: The Kraang; a species native to Dimension X in the Gamma sector. They seek to conquer and thrive. They have successfully taken over many planets including Sparstales of the Tebunin Galaxy, Yuz-Kan of the Waltnir System, and Lntooren of the Quental Galaxy. The residents of planets the Kraang conquered were altered into beings that could provide manual labour, or in cases where the residents were unable to do so, were destroyed— Transmission Terminated.
The Shard shut off the transmission, recalling the species in question.
Ah yes, the Kraang. Nasty little buggers with a thing for blasting stuff and making monsters. The Shard recalled the stories of when the Kraang went against another species called the Triceratons. That was a bloody war if there ever was one. But in the end, this was all a history lesson from millennia past.
If the Kraang were still active in this time, how far back had the Shard traveled? Pretty far, based on the technology surrounding it. As for where it ended up, if the Kraang were here the obvious destination would be Dimension X, that is if this was before the Kraang ran it into the ground. If it was after . . .
. . . Data Retrieved: After Dimension X became uninhabitable to them, the Kraang created a trans dimensional portal in order to extend their influence even farther. Their advance was stalled when they came across the 'perfect' planet to inhabit, called Earth in the Third Dimension. A difference in the laws of physics rendered their mutagenic agent unstable, and delayed their expansion. The Kraang spent many centuries trying to alter their mutagenic agent so that it could work properly in this new dimension. When closing in on a solution, the Kraang met with more resistant. A group of the planets residents took up arms against the Kraang and fought to protect their planet. Though they were few, the Tur— Transmission Terminated.
. . . Earth? Was the Shard on this Earth planet?
"I'd hardly call this Kraang tech," the 'Donnie' life form said, drawing the Shard's attention once more, the thought process lapsing only a few seconds. "No, this is something we've never seen before. It-it's like a living crystal, but not like the Kraang Power Cells or the giant Rock people from Dimension X. It's even more alien than the Kraang. This is something totally new."
The Shard heard an erratic noise coming from outside the room and the Warrior life form left to inspect what was happening while the 'Donnie' life form went back to his tinkering, playing with settings on his machine and taking down readings. He noticed that the readings spiked while he wasn't paying attention.
"All this, just from when I was talking to Leo?" the 'Donnie' life form thought out loud. "It's almost like it was listening to what we were saying."
The Shard was impressed again. This 'Donnie' life form was quick on the uptake and had a sharp mind. The Shard tuned into his brain waves as he absorbed the readings and came up with so many possible explanations; many of which were ridiculous, but at the same time, very plausible.
Then the door opened in the impassible wall again and the Warrior returned with two new lifeforms following behind him. These two were different from the others, more fragile but just as strong.
Please be something in the system, I'm getting tired of all the unknowns.
. . . Data Retrieved: Match Found. Life forms identified as Homo sapien sapien, local resident of the planet Earth in the Milkey Way Galaxy and commonly referred to as . . . human. Transmission Terminated
The Shard recalled a few humans; interesting life forms, amazing diversity, good minds. So this was the planet Earth. The Shard got over it's excitement at finally being able to identify a life form, and focussed again on their mental capacity.
The first one had a simple, wild mind. It was intrigued by competition, ready for a fight, and seemed to be trying to impress someone. Incompatible. Even if this one were, it was too unpredictable. Pass.
The second human had a strong mind. This one was different from the others. Through a loss of some sort, this mind had gained a determination that it had not seen in a long time, along with a strength that could overcome many things. With a no nonsense logic and understanding, this human was strong in ways that others were not. This human showed potential that very few contained, and if the Shard's hunch was right . . . Compatible.
Yes, this human would do just fine.
Oo-oO
"So what's all the excitement about?" Casey Jones asked as Leonardo led him and April O'Neil into Donatello's laboratory. Casey had a grin on his face that said he hoped whatever it was they found would blow up.
"Sounded like something weird," April inquired, closing the door behind her. She'd been curious ever since she got Donnie's text during school.
"We found it last night," Donatello said smiling a greeting to April from behind work table where he was set up, gesturing to their find. Sitting on top of a round dais-like apparatus was an object that could easily be mistaken for a rock. It was about the size of cantaloupe with yellow streaks running through a light brown surface. Wires connected the dais to Donatello's laptop and a printer that hummed loudly and spat out a continuous string of readings taken from the rock. "One of my scanners picked up some really weird readings and we somehow managed to dig this thing up in the park."
"So what is it? A rock?" Casey asked, leaning in to get a closer look. He obviously didn't see what was so special about some crappy rock.
"More of a crystal," Donatello clarified, noting the small amount of luster and complex molecular structure. "It's not from the Kraang, that's for sure."
"Is it dangerous?" April asked, rounding the table to stand beside Donnie.
. . . cOmE cLoSeR. . .
April grimaced as she felt a soft prick in the back of her mind, but ignored it as Donatello started talking again. Just another headache in the making.
"I don't think so. From what I've gathered, the radiation that it's emitting isn't harmful, but I don't know for sure what it's capable of."
"I thought you said you didn't know what kind of radiation it is," Leonardo spoke up. "How do you know it isn't dangerous if you don't know what it is?"
"I don't, that's why I'm still running tests," Donnie said testily. He bent over the dais and adjusted a few of the knobs. "If it was buried for as long as I think it was, then all dangerous forms of radiation should have all been dispelled by now. I really don't think there's any cause for concern."
"Then why are we all here to look at some useless rock?" Casey asked, poking the object in question.
"It's scientific discovery, Casey," Donnie said, slapping his hand away when the readings spiked again. "And I'm pretty sure this isn't useless. If I'm right, and I usually am, I could probably turn this into a sort of energy source."
"Nice," April said.
. . . cOmE cLoSeR. . .
Another prick in the back of her mind made her stop. This wasn't just a head ache, it felt different. . . Another presence? Wait, was this her psychic powers acting up again?
. . . cOMe cLOSEr. . .
"Ugh!" April felt it that time. The jab was more painful and she heard the voice along with it. There was something near, something . . .
"April?" Donnie asked, coming up beside her.
"What's wrong, Red?" Casey asked, seeing his friends distress.
. . . COMe CLOSEr. . .
Another jab, sending searing pain through her skull.
"Agh!" April gasped through the strain, but she had definitely heard it that time. She whipped her head around to look at the rock. It sat on its dais, unmoving, unchanging. . . but it was defiantly there. Something was in the rock. "It's calling me."
"Calling you?" Leo asked. "What do you mean? Who's calling you?"
"Not who," Donnie realized seeing the radiation readings spike again, "what. The radiation that this thing is emitting must be some sort of psychic pulse. That's why it resembles brain waves. Why didn't I think of it before? April's psychic powers must be tuning into it's wavelength."
. . . CLOSER!
"It's so loud," April's legs became wobbly, and she steadied herself on the table, mere feet away from the rock. She eyes locked onto it's yellow tinged pattern, and she could have sworn that she saw something moving around under the top layer. "What are you?" She asked in a small voice and reached out to touch it.
"April, don't!" Donnie warned. But it was too late.
April touched the surface of the mysterious rock, and chaos erupted. A loud crack filled the air, sending a bolt of electricity into everyone clustered around the table. Donnie, Leo and Casey flew backwards as a wave of energy burst from the rock. April stayed glued to the rock amidst the smaller streaks of electricity that flowed from it, attacking any surface that got too close.
The dais it sat on sparked and started to smoke. Timothy's containment unit cracked. Donatello's 'trophy shelf' fractured, sending objects crashing to the floor where the streaks of electricity showed no mercy. The Obturaculum Somniorum's pages were ripped from its' bindings and flew around the air, caught in a vortex. The Creep's jar shattered upon impact, electricity rippling around the semi conscious green ooze that leaked out.
The rock glowed bright under April's touch; a piercing yellow light that erased any and all shadows and darkness from the room. Something snapped, and April's hair fell out of her pony tale, but the strands floated around her face, defying gravity, as the glow creeped up her arm and onto her face in elegant lines. The glow finally settled in her eyes, streaking their usual blue with yellow speckles.
Then all at once, the light receded back into the rock. Gravity seemed to return and April's hair fell around her face once again. The indoor storm halted as fast as it arrived with only the damage to the room as proof that it ever occurred.
April snapped her hand back, and without the connection to the rock, she fell to the floor in a graceful heap.
A/N: Wow, a lot has happened in this one chapter. A mysterious rock with a consciousness got a hold of April. What did it do? What will happen? Why am I asking these questions? I already know what's gonna happen!
Just a side note, for anyone wondering, Testubiles it the scientific name of the Order that Turtles belong to, just a fun fact you know, if anyone cares, or even bothers to read these things. . . especially when they're long like this one. . . I wonder how much longer I can make it before people decide to just stop reading. Maybe if I—aw screw it, I'm bored.
Keep Reading, Keep Writing, Keep Dreaming.