A/N: This is the second chapter I've posted today, one right after the other, just in case anyone was confused. Long live reading week!
Chapter 3
Wrong. Something is wrong.
He can feel it. The shift in the air, a pulse of wind . . . a stab in the back of his mind telling him that chaos is close. Looks like Light isn't going to make it in time. He has to find the Shard before things get out of control . . . if they haven't already.
"Where are you going, young man?" the authoritative voice rang out as he failed to sneak out.
"Just . . . wanted to go to the store, Mom," the boy's excuse was pathetic, he knew.
"Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow. It's late, and I don't like you walking around on the streets after dark."
"But, Mom—"
"No buts, you can go tomorrow."
And that was that. He may have once been a great warrior, a Guardian of one of the seven Shards of Light, but here, he was nothing more than a high school boy who had a math test next week. In this life, Mom was the boss and what she says goes.
Looks like the search has been put off until tomorrow. I pray that nothing too bad will happen . . . who am I kidding, this is the Shard. I'm so screwed.
Oo-oO
"Geez," Raphael said getting his first good look at the mess in Donnie's lab. "That Shock Rock really did a number on this place."
"All my equipment," Donnie groaned. There were burn marks over various surfaces where the Shock Rock had been set up. The resulting storm caused vials, papers and projects to be flung around the room.
"Come on," Leo sighed, "let's get the clean up over with."
"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta . . . gen-gen-gen."
"Uh guys," Mikey said nervously, drawing his brothers' attention. He was standing over by Donnie's trophy shelf, inspecting something that had fallen. "Heh. Funny thing, but . . . the Creep's jar is, uh, sorta broken."
"That's not funny Mikey," Donnie scolded, still ticked about his earlier Creep joke in the Railroad Bunker.
"Dude, I'm not joking this time," he picked up the jar in question with a pair of tongs and held it up for his brothers to see before delivering the more frightening news, "And it's empty."
"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta . . . gen-gen-gen."
"Oh, come on!" Raph growled as he recognized the hoarse whispering taunt. He drew his weapons and stood defensively in the middle of the room. The others followed his lead, positioning themselves back to back in a circle, searching the shadowed areas of the lab for any sign of their enemy.
"How is it back?" Leo asked, shifting his stance, "I though he was gone for good after we drained all the mutagen from him back at the farm house."
"Actually, even though it was just some goo in a jar, it was still sort of alive. Just in some sort of resting state," Donnie explained. "But the Rock was giving off psychic waves, and the storm it created must have woken it up."
"Well that's just great," Raph said. "Now where is—"
Raphael didn't finish as a vine shot down from the ceiling and curled around his face, acting as a gag. More vines followed, wrapping around his arms and torso before lifting him up off the ground. He kicked and squirmed in protest and managed to lose his grip on his weapons and they clattered to the ground.
"Above!" Leo yelled as he saw his brother being lifted away.
"Raph!" Mikey yelled. Unwinding his kusarigama, he flung the chain, catching Raph's ankle and stopping his ascent while Donnie launched Leo high enough to reach Raph. With swinging blades, Leo cut through the vines holding Raphael and they both came crashing to the ground. The newly severed vines squirmed and wiggled without purpose as they lost their grip on their captive before growing still. A white residue leaked out of the cut appendages, forming puddles that looked suspiciously like barf.
Now weary, Leo eyes the ceiling but he only found empty rafters. White liquid slowly dripping down like blood was the only evidence that anything had ever been up there.
"Where is he!?" Raph demanded, seething. "Imma tear him apart!" He retrieved his sais and twirled them menacingly.
"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta . . . gen-gen-gen . . ."
"There!" Leo yelled and threw a shuriken. It hit its mark and sunk deep into the Creep's forehead. Stepping out from the shadows, the ninjas saw their enemy revived, and he looked just as he had back then. The green foliage that made up his flesh was dotted with small, delicate, white flowers here and there. He had once again donned a pair of overalls, but his face was still exposed. His eyes glowed with their ghostly green light that resembled the mutagen it craved so much.
His normally viney hands were cut short, and still leaking that weird white blood from where Leo had cut. But just as fast as he had cut, the vines grew back. The Creep twisted his face into a deformed smile before charging at the group.
Oo-oO
She had said she wanted to sleep, but sleep just wasn't happening. It may have been the early hour, could be the pounding head ache, or even that she kind of already had a nap earlier after she touched that stupid Rock. Whatever the reason, April couldn't seem to sleep.
It didn't help that she seemed to be mad at almost everything. She snapped at Casey on the way home, ignored her dad when he asked about her day, and locked herself in her room where she lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
This isn't doing anything, April thought to herself. Maybe some fresh air will help.
Carefully opening the window, April climbed out on the rickety fire escape and made her way up to the roof. She sat on the edge, watching the passing cars and the people walking on the sidewalk. The wind was soft and blew through her red hair that still fell around her shoulders, free of her usual pony tail. Strands blew into her eyes and April caught a glimpse of white among the red.
Fingering the white patch, her thoughts turned once again to the Rock and the voice that called to her. It sounded to compelling. But now that she tried to remember, she couldn't quite describe how it sounded. Maybe because she wasn't really hearing it with her ears, but with her mind. Was there even really something inside the Rock? Donnie had said that the thing was giving off psychic radiation or something, maybe the rock was just messing with her head.
On the street, a car honked loudly and swerved around a slower moving car, cutting off a truck in the process, and making more noise as the truck driver blared his horn and shook his fist.
The cacophony sliced through April's head, causing the pounding to once again flare up. Accompanying the renewed head ache was her temper. She grimaced and glared at the drivers. The stupid idiots don't even know how to drive down a stupid road without making a big deal. Her head pounded in time with her heart and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the pain that flared with each honking horn. Each beat growing stronger and more painful as her anger continued to build.
When it felt like her head was about to explode, something else did. An electric zap followed by glass shattering brought April's attention back to the road, or more specifically, the street light closest to her position on the roof. The light had broken and sent glass falling down on people walking underneath.
Shouts of alarm drifted up to April as one thought ran through her head, "Did I do that?"
Oo-oO
Sounds of rough housing brought Splinter out of his trance and he sighed in defeat. It never ceased to amaze him how a couple of boys could make so much noise, even when said boys were supposed to be masters of steal and invisibility.
A particularly loud crash brought him to his feet and he left his quarters to investigate the ruckus. Surely it was another water balloon fight, or possibly Raphael chasing Michelangelo once again. Then again, it could be another one of Donatello's creations not working the way it was supposed to.
Seeing as how none of his sons seemed to be in the common room, his gaze fell on the door to Donatello's laboratory and Splinter concluded that it was indeed another one of Donatello's creations. Most likely something to do with the odd object that they had retrieved the other night. The rock had peaked his interest; he had felt some sort of presence deep within its confines, but did not find any ill intent, so he had allowed Donatello to perform his tests.
Although after the incident, he wasn't so sure it was the safest course of action to continue such tests, and he was relieved when his sons agreed to find a safe location to hide the thing.
Gathering his composure, Splinter slid open the laboratory door silently and was caught off guard by what he saw. A green plant like creature in overalls and glowing green eyes was attacking his sons.
His protective instincts kicked in and he dashed forward intercepting a blow that would have struck Michelangelo.
"Sensei!" the orange ninja exclaimed in relief as he scrambled out of the way.
The creature swung an overgrown hand at Splinter, but he dodged and ducked under the next blow. This creature was simple in his movements, but they were powerful. Blocking another blow, he delivered a few jabs to his opponents exposed midsection, hitting major pressure points before grabbing one of its' plant-like appendages and throwing him over his shoulder. The creature screeched as it flew through the air and out of the laboratory through the garage door.
"My sons," Splinter caught his breath, "Is everyone alright?"
"Hai, sensei," Leonardo replied as he rushed out to finish off the enemy.
They followed the trail of white blood out and saw that the Creep had disappeared down the subway tracks.
"He's gone," Leo said.
"What do we do now?" Raph asked, sheathing his sais.
"We go after it," Leo said.
Oo-oO
"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta . . . gen-gen-gen . . ."
Failure. Failed to get it. Turtles too powerful. Need to get mutagen.
A pulse in the air caught the Creep's attention.
Energy. The one that woke it up was near. Need more power, more radiation, to get mutagen. Must find the entity that woke it up, that gave it strength, that will in turn give it the power to drain the turtles of their mutagen.
"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta . . . gen-gen-gen . . ."
Up. The energy is above. Noise. Above is noisy. But above has energy.
The Creep found a ladder and climbed out to the surface.
"En-en-en . . . er-er-er . . . gy-gy-gy. . ."
Oo-oO
A shiver ran down April's spine as the wind blew harsher than before. The street below was dark due to the blown out light, and ominous shadows were cast around the area. April imagined all the monsters that could be lurking around in the shadows and the people they could be terrorizing. The shadows were a mysterious phenomenon, causing people to shy away from the darkness and the unknown horrors that it hid.
Unknown to April, one of these horrors was drawing closer.
A shadow darker than the rest crawled to the surface with glowing green eyes, leaving a trail of white blood from a wound that had yet to grow back.
"En-en-en . . . er-er-er . . . gy-gy-gy . . ."
Farther up. The energy is farther up.
April kept her vigil over the darkened street, trying to calm her angry thoughts and her vicious headache. She tried a breathing technique that Master Splinter taught her to help meditate.
Breathe in . . . absorb the energy from the environment.
Breathe out . . . let go of anger, resentment.
Breathe in . . . feel the tranquility of the Earth as it works in harmony with the universe.
Breathe out . . . rid your mind of all distract—
CRASH.
More honking.
So much for tranquility, April thought bitterly as her head ache flared up again.
"En-en-en . . . er-er-er . . . gy-gy-gy . . ."
April was instantly on her feet, tessen in hand and peering into the shadows on the other side of the roof. The echoing voice sending shivers over April's skin and she tensed as the monster stepped into dim light.
"The Creep?" April asked incredulously, taking in the glowing eyes, the leafy arms, the tattered overalls.
"En-en-en . . . er-er-er . . . gy-gy-gy . . ." The sound radiated from the Creep, even though his mouth didn't move.
"What happened to mutagen?" April asked.
The Creep growled in response before it struck. Extending a lumpy arm, it grabbed at her.
Ninja training took over and April sprang to one side while throwing her weapon towards the Creep. The tessen sheared through one of the Creep's arms, leaving a deep gash and spilling white blood over the concrete roof.
April's tessen flew back like a boomerang and she caught it with expert precision. The Creep screeched and clutched his arm for a second, before his repair systems kicked in and grass and vines covered up the wound.
"En-en-en . . . er-er-er . . . gy-gy-gy- . . ."
The two faced off, the wind blowing through April's loose hair, the dim light causing the white patch to glow with an unearthly light.
The Creep stood still, but only for a moment. Mutagen glowed bright in his veins as he felt the energy radiating out of this human. It was strengthening him, but it was not enough. He needed more.
He lunged forward again, but April evaded his grasp once again. She slashed at him, connecting and causing more white blood to pool, but the wounds closed up just as fast as the last. The Creep may be slow and predictable, but he was pretty much resistant to any physical attacks.
A stab of pain tore through April's head and she faltered as her headache chose the worst time to act up. The lull was the only opening the Creep needed. His arm stretched out and vines wrapped around April's body, tangling her up and causing her to lose her grip on her weapon. The metal fan clattered to the ground as the Creep drew her closer.
"En-en-en . . . er-er-er . . . gy-gy-gy . . ."
All of a sudden, something deep in the Creep's core started to glow brightly and the ghostly light spread over the roof. April's head pounded as she felt her strength start to drain out of her. She felt herself grow weaker and her struggles lost vigor. Her vision started to dim, but at least her headache was starting to die down.
But at the same time, she felt an anger deep inside that wasn't her own. She was angry that something as mindless as this beast could best her. She was angry that someone of her power could be drained by something so simple. This beast would pay for this. But why was it getting so hard to think?
April's eyes started to flutter and her head started to droop, but in her state of fleeting consciousness, a voice pierced through.
"BOOYAKASHA!"
Vines were slashed and strong arms caught her before she could hit the ground. Taking a deep breath, she felt her strength starting to return and her vision cleared. The arms around her helped her stand on shaky legs and between the pounding beats in her head, she heard Donatello fretting over her.
"April, are you okay?" Looking up, she took in Donnie's worried expression as she leaned on him, unable to quite find her center of balance.
"I'm alright, Donnie," April reassured him. "How is he back?"
"The storm the Shock Rock created when you touched it must have woken it up," Donnie vaguely explained.
"Shock Rock?"
"Watch out!" Donnie pulled her away as Leo came flying over, knocked back by the Creep. That's when April noticed that the others were fighting the Creep. He glowed with a new light, blue light seeping out from under the old overalls. His movements were quicker, his actions more precise. Although the ninjas were able to land many blows, they healed almost instantly.
"How's he so much faster?" Leo asked, picking himself up. "He wasn't this good a few minutes ago."
"He was going on about 'energy'," April said. "Then when he grabbed me, it was like he was draining my strength." Her gut twisted from the memory, and her face twisted into a scowl. The Creep was going to get it now. No one messed with this girl and got away with it.
"Energy? Like life force?" Leo asked.
"If it was only after life force it could have gone after any human," Donnie reasoned. "But the Creep sought out April specifically."
"What does that mean?" April asked, fists clenched.
"Well, psychic radiation emanating from the Shock Rock is what woke it up, so maybe your psychic powers are what drew him to you."
"But I haven't been using my powers," April said. Her thoughts briefly went to the street light that had inexplicably shattered . . . had she used her powers?
"In any case," Leo said, "we need to take this Creep down."
No one objected and they leapt into battle. Mikey and Raph had managed to do absolutely nothing useful while the others were conversing. But that was to be expected when your opponent was a self regenerating plant monster revived by psychic radiation and a craving for mutant turtle life-blood.
And so they danced. A five on one battle of ninjas vs Creep. But despite the overwhelming odds, the Creep held his own, his desire for mutagen overwhelming any sense of fatigue and the energy he'd managed to absorb boosted his speed, strength and healing abilities.
Slashing and stabbing, whacking and smacking, the ninjas fought off the Creep, but made no head way.
"This isn't working," Raph yelled as he ducked under an extended arms and slashed through reaching vines, splattering more white blood. "He just keeps growing back."
"We need a different tactic," Leo said stepping into range and slicing off an appendage and jumping back as it regrew as fast as he cut it off.
"What if we—," Donnie's idea was cut off as a vine wrapped around his arm and dragged him off balance.
"Donnie!" Mikey yelled and lunged forward with his kusarigama blade extended, only to have another vine wrap around his torso. With a small yell of surprise, Mikey was lifted up off the ground as more vines snaked their around his arms, pinning the to his side.
"No!" Leo cried out as the appendages holding his brothers started glowing and the Creep began draining the mutagen he craved so badly.
April stood back out of the Creep's range. She watched the fight with clenched fists, a heaving chest, and a rage like no other burning deep within her mind. A small voice whispered to her to finish the monster, finish them all. Just let go of what little control she had on her anger and let her instincts rip this beast to shreds.
She fought the desire to give in, but when she saw Mikey and Donnie slowly going limp in the Creep's hands, something snapped.
Her hands unclenched, the air became thick, the wind shifted. Her head pounded like never before and her vision goes white.
As Leo and Raph fought to free their brothers who were now only barely hanging on to consciousness when a sixth sense made Leo tackle Raph and roll out of the way.
"What the heck!" Raph exclaimed, pushing Leo off. But before he could get on his feet again, a blinding yellow light flashed, a pulse of energy sped across the roof, and the Creep took the full force of the attack.
Squealing with rage and fear, the Creep dropped the two semi-conscious turtles as his glowing core seemed to leak out. Balls of light and energy leaked out of exposed veins and faded off into the night. White blood poured out in rivers as the Creep fell to the ground and disintegrated into a glowing green puddle.
"What was that?!" Raph said in dismay.
"April?" Leo murmured.
Their friend was standing at the other end of the roof, arms outstretched, panting heavily, legs shaking. The white streak in her hair seemed to spread, growing larger with each breath she heaved.
"Did she just. . ." Raph trailed off.
April lowered her arms, the wind died down, the air didn't seem so thick anymore. Coming back to herself, April took in the sight of the glowing green puddle, two moaning turtles in front of it, and the others picking themselves up to the side.
She was worried about Donnie and Mikey, but at least the Creep was gone, and Leo and Raph would look after them. Her pounding headache finally seemed to have died down, and taking what small relief she could get, April collapsed onto the cold hard rooftop.
A/N: Man, it's only the third chapter and April's already passed out, like, twice. Get it together girl!