Chapter 6

"No, no, no!" the boy muttered to himself as he felt a surge of the Shard's darkened power. "It's awakened, I'm too late."

His attempt to track the girl, April O'Neil, had proved fruitless. Even the small glimmers of power she had been emanating hadn't been enough to pinpoint a traceable location. He then tried to follow her friend, Casey Jones, to see if he could lead him to her. But, embarrassingly, he managed to lose Jones when he disappeared into an alley.

Feeling defeated and utterly useless, the boy found himself on the roof of the tallest building, straining his senses to their maximum capacity, trying to feel something; another glimmer of the dark Shard's power, a hint of where the real Shard was, hell, even a trace of enemies would be welcome at this point. That at least would give him a clue as to where to go.

After hours of searching, he finally found it. Or rather, the overwhelming surge almost knocked his senses out. He realized how supressed this dark power had been when he felt a barrier break and the darkness was released. And what a darkness it was. But that was to be expected when the Shard was involved.

He couldn't let this go on. He was a Guardian! He had to stop this chaos before people started getting hurt!

Oo-oO

Deep in the sewers, one of the lesser used areas, in an abandoned storage room, behind the false backing in a cupboard that's all but rotted away lay a room where people once gathered in search of freedom. The secret bunker used back in the 1800s by the Underground Railroad now held another treasure; one that is coveted by many throughout the known universe. The Shard.

In a hidden compartment in the secret room, surrounded by an impenetrable safe, the Shard slowly came to its senses. Waking up after a failed attempt to connect with a compatible host was never pleasant, but waking up in a small box with no concept of where it was or even how long it's been there was even more nerve wracking. But the Shard was more annoyed than nervous by the turn of events.

The Shard had actually managed to find a compatible host, only for things to go horrible wrong. Being in a coma sort of state didn't help matters either. But the clincher was waking up in some stupid, cramped, cold metal box that didn't even let residual radiation through. It was like there was nothing beyond this crappy box!

What is this anyway? The Shard asked no one in particular. I've never seen this type of alloy before. And how is it able to block out radiation like that? How's my Guardian supposed to find me if I can't send out a signal for him to follow?

The Shard instinctively reaching to the data banks that would answer these questions.

. . . Error.

The blarg? No, no error. What's this stupid metal made of?

. . . Error.

What the hell? Where's my transmission? Is the box blocking that too?

. . . Error.

I wasn't searching that!

The Shard mentally sighed in defeat as her search options seemed to be malfunctioning. Resigning to the inevitable, the Shard launched into a sort of Trouble Shoot mode, searching for the cause of such an error. What the Shard found was disturbing.

Gone? It can't just be gone! By data base, all the knowledge we've gathered. Just gone? How—

That's when the Shard realized what had happened, and the thought scared the living hell out of her. The data base wasn't missing, it was stolen.

Oo-oO

"Woah!" Donnie exclaimed as his new tracker started screaming. The turtles and Casey were in the Shell Razor, driving around the city to see what signals they could pick up.

"What is it?" Leo asked from the front seat. Casey peered over Donnie's shoulder and tried to make sense of the numbers and letters and weird shapes on the trackers screen.

"Got a signal. It's big!"

"How big?" Mikey asked. "Like big big, or Raph's head big?" This earned him a glare from said brother and a silent promise of pain later. Mikey shied away and pulled the hair dryer that was attached to his seat down over his eyes.

"Mikey, enough goofing off," Leo scolded. "Which way?"

Mikey rolled his eyes as their location appeared on the map at his station. After three wrong turns, backtracking twice, and an odd encounter with a taco stand, the Shell Razor pulled to a silent stop a few blocks away from the Shock Rock signal.

Oo-oO

"That's more like it," the white-haired girl said as the last of her new minions fell to their knees before her. "Now, what to do?"

She thought for a moment; she was finally free of that mental prison, plans that were once only dreams could finally come to pass. First thing on the agenda, before any thought of destruction could be implemented, was that rock. Shock Rock, as those stupid turtles referred to it. Having only captured a smidgen of its essence, it was decided that the rest of this enormous power must be obtained. With such power at her disposal, those that had wronged her will fall, along with those that who would get in her way.

"Speaking of those that would get in the way," her two-toned voice murmured as the presence of five life forms approached. Sure enough, four turtles and Casey Jones soon appeared. The smart one was holding some sort of device that was tracking the power she was radiating.

"April!" Donatello called out upon seeing her surrounded by a new sort of enemy, shoving the tracker in his belt. He rushed to her side, leaping over the cluster of enemies and standing defensively between them and her, drawing his staff. The only thought running through his head was to defend her.

"That's so sweet," a two-toned voice rang out behind Donnie, amused, "My hero." The voice was familiar with a dark undertone to it, creating a creepy echoing effect. It made Donnie freeze as his rational thought process started up again and he realized that something was very much not right.

Slowly turning to look at his friend, he took in her altered appearance; her hair that fell loose around her shoulders had gone completely white with no trace of the once fiery red that mimicked her personality, her arms glowed softly with a yellow light that disappeared under a black shirt, and her eyes were a darker blue than before with sparks of that yellow dotting them.

"April?" he asked uncertainly, not sure how to process these changes.

"How do you like my new friends?" the two-toned voice asked again, gesturing to the group gathered around. That's when Donnie noticed that the new . . . aliens, he guessed, weren't attacking. Actually, it looked more like they were . . . bowing? They were just sitting there, doing nothing, just waiting.

"What's going on?" Donnie breathed, taking in the new creatures' odd appearance, lowering his staff from its defensive stance.

"They're going to help me," April smiled sweetly in a familiar manner, but it looked dark and sinister in Donnie's eyes amplified by the echoing voice. "Will you help me too?"

"Help you with what?" Donnie was quickly becoming uneasy with the one he thought he knew so well. "April, what happened to you?"

"I just need you to stand still," she reached up and grasped his head between her hands even as he tried to move away. Latching onto the sides of his face, her fingers dug into flesh and her arms started to glow brighter.

Leonardo watched in horror with his brothers and Casey as the yellow light rushed down April's arms and into Donatello's head. His eyes went blank and started to glow as the yellow light danced around his face. A cry of surprise and pain escaped his opened mouth before he fell to his knees in front of the glowing girl with white hair.

"Donnie!" Leo yelled as he leapt forward, knowing the others were right with him. But he only got as close as the ring of aliens before the closest one lashed out with a sparking baton. The movement was quick and unexpected from the previously stationary creature, and Leo was barely able to bring up his sword in time to catch the hit. The creature pressed against Leo's katana, trying to force him back, but Leo was bigger and easily pushed it off and away. Glancing to Mikey, Raph, and Casey he could see them in similar positions.

"Keep them busy," the two-toned voice that definitely did not belong to their friend said distractedly. All at once, the three brothers and Casey found themselves surrounded by the aliens that wielded sparking batons and alien blasters.

"You're not April!" Leo challenged over the heads of the small force they faced, concerned for Donnie who was still on his knees in front of the girl who wasn't who she appeared to be. Donnie hadn't moved and his eyes were glowing bright on a face void of emotion.

"And your interupting," the two-toned voice confirmed. "Let me work, then I'll get to you."

"What are you trying to do?"

"I am so not getting into the whole evil villain reveals his plan speech right now," she said, "I'm a little busy with Donnie-boy here, so if you wouldn't mind . . ."

With an invisible signal creatures converged on the small fighting force while the not-April returned her attention to the fallen turtle sitting in front of her. The link was established, she pushed into his mind.

Oo-oO

The intense pressure in his head came out of nowhere so suddenly that he found himself falling to the ground before the pain faded away. Donatello opened his eyes to find himself in a dark place that extended for an indeterminate distance. There was no one and nothing around for as far as he could see.

But what happened? How had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was that April was in trouble, and then . . .

And then it wasn't April.

Something was very wrong, and it all started after he brought the Shock Rock home. Somehow, he didn't know how exactly, but the Shock Rock has done more damage than just a little headache when it reacted with April. If only he hadn't followed that signal, if only he hadn't brought the stupid thing home, none of this would have happened.

"Speaking of the Shock Rock," a disembodied voice echoed, reading his thoughts. "Where did you hide it?" Donnie instantly recognized the voice; it was the voice that had overlapped with April's when she was speaking. It sounded two-toned because there were literally two voices speaking at once. One belonged to the friend he knew so well, and the other belonged to the dark presence that now surrounded him.

"Who are you?" Donnie demanded, his voice sounded echoed in the open space. "Where am I?"

"We're inside your mind," the voice answered.

"My mind?" Donnie's thoughts took off with the new bit of information. "Why is there nothing here?"

"Well, technically we're in between minds. It seems like your mental defenses are more advanced than most," the voice responded. "Couldn't quite get in by myself."

Turning around, Donnie saw that he was standing in front of a gate that wasn't there a moment ago. Beyond the gates were rows of books, computers, data banks. . . and Donatello knew that he was looking at his every bit of knowledge he'd ever learned in his lifetime. Everything he knew laid behind these gates.

"The gates into your mind," the voice said, drawing Donnie's attention back to where the voice came from. He turned back around, and came face to face with a dark silhouette. The figure didn't have a solid form, but seemed to shift as a fluid cloud with no expressions. The only element of a face it had was its mouth that grinned with teeth blacker than the rest of its body.

"I need you to open the gates for me," the dark cloud said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Your kidding, right?" Donnie scoffed.

"Well, you're certainly not going to just tell me what I want."

"I'm not about to let into my head, either."

"No, I didn't think you would," the dark cloud admitted, "but hey, couldn't hurt to try. And since diplomacy isn't working, I get to have some fun." A dark smile stretched across it face and familiar yellow tendrils lit up inside the dark cloud, whisping around like yellow veins stretching out from its fingers.

Donnie fell into a defensive stance and reached for his staff, but it wasn't there. Twisting his head around, he confirmed that his bo was indeed absent, and he suddenly felt defenseless. When had he dropped his weapon?

Laughter brought his attention back to his opponent and he realized with a start that the yellow veins were ripping towards him. He cried out in shock as he fell to the side and rolled out of the way as they lashed out at him.

"You cannot beat me here, Donatello," the dark voice mocked. "I have lived on the mental plane all my life. My power here in unrivaled. Just submit before this gets too nasty, we wouldn't want your little girlfriend to get too anxious now, do we?"

"Girlfriend?"

No sooner had Donatello voiced his confusion did another figure appear. Chained to invisible walls, but straining against her bonds, April fought with everything she had.

"Donnie!" April cried out with a voice that was so familiar.

"April!" Donnie cried, "What did you do?!" He demanded the dark figure.

"I've finally taken control," the figure smiled menacingly, dark teeth shining. "After years of being forced into submission, being a slave to a stupid girl who dares to steal my strength. This has been a long time in the making, and I'm not letting this chance pass by. Now, where did you hide the Shock Rock!?"

"Donnie, look out!" April warned.

The figure launched itself at Donnie even as he brought his arm up to swat away the reaching yellow tendrils. Hand-to-hand training kicking in, and he blocked the dark arm that was swung his way before spin kicking the figure in the chest. The blow didn't land. Instead, his foot passed right through and the clouded figure dispersed before re-forming a short distance away.

"Fool," the figure taunted. "This is the mental plane. Your physical attacks won't do you any good here."

Mental plane? Donnie thought, trying to come up with a solution. Mental, meaning thoughts. Got lots of those, but what can I do with them?

Yellow tendrils snaked their way toward him again and Donnie did the only thing he could, he dodged. With his usual fighting method useless, he was at a loss as what he could do to get the upper hand against such an opponent.

"What do you need the Shock Rock for? What is it, anyway?" Donnie questioned, fishing for information and stalling for time.

The figure stopped at the questions before straightening up in thought. "You know," it admitted, "I have no idea what the damn thing is. Let's find out shall we?"

Donnie cocked his head in confusion. How was the dark figure going to just—

. . . Data Retreived:

"What the—," Donnie started at the random voice that echoed through the mental plane.

"This again!" April exclaimed from where she was chained.

. . . Item identified: One of the Seven Shards of Light. Source of the Light's power, and coveted by many. Where ever one of the Shards are found, chaos is sure to follow. Kept by a Guardian, the Shards await the day they can join together with the Light again. Transmission Terminated.

"What was that?!" Donnie demanded as the random voice faded away.

"My search engine," the figure smiled again. "It answers all my questions. It's just a little something that I got from the Shock Rock, or Shard or whatever it's called."

"So you've already got what you wanted," Donnie said. "Why do you still need it?"

"You see this," the figure asked, holding up a misty hand as the yellow tendrils snaked around it and through its fingers, before lashing out and Donnie danced away. They kept up this exchange as they spoke. "This power that I've obtained is only small fraction of what is contained within that rock. With this little bit, I was able to break out of my mental prison and take control of the vessel I have shared with the girl. There is still power sleeping within the Shard. I will need it if my plans are to be realized."

"Plans?"

"Domination!"

"Typical," Donnie rolled his eyes and yelled out in surprise as a yellow tendril managed to snake its way around his ankle and pull him off his feet.

"Donnie!" April cried out as Donnie was dragged toward the figure. More tendrils lashed out, wrapping around his arms and binding his hands above his head. The figure laughed as Donnie struggled to escape, memories of his recent encounter with the Creep filling his mind where he found himself in a similar situation. He hoped this didn't end the same way.

Thoroughly bound, the yellow tendrils hung Donatello up beside April, who was still struggling against her own chains.

"Now, how about opening those gates for me?" the figure said drawing uncomfortably close.

"Stuff it," Donnie spat out and kicked out at the figure with his free foot that, once again, passing right through the misty body.

"How unfortunate," the figure sighed, reforming, "for you at least. I'm going to enjoy this." The figure reached out a misty hand, the mysterious yellow tendrils rolling around inside.

"Don't you touch him!" April screamed next to him, but she was helpless as the figure placed its hand on Donnie's chest. Yellow tendrils felt around the hard plastron until they found the correct spot. Donnie struggled against his bonds even as the tendrils reared up and plunged into it chest, right into his heart.

"Donnie!"

Oo-oO

Donnie's scream passed from the mental plane to the physical world and the sound ripped through the parking lot. Leo froze and whipped around, searching for his brother. Still kneeling on the ground, Donnie's glowing eyes were squeezed shut and his hands grabbed the wrists of the one holding his head. The white-haired April stood over him, her eyes closed in concentration. Donnie was still fighting, and Leo wasn't about to let him do it alone.

The momentary distraction left Leo encircled by four of the creatures. They all attacked at once, and four sparking baton swung toward him, only to hit the bare ground where he no longer stood. Leaping up, Leo landed on top of two of the creatures, intending to use them as stepping stones to launch himself to where Donnie was. But the sturdy creatures weren't expecting the sudden weight and all three came crashing to the ground instead.

"That didn't work," Leo muttered before rolling away to avoid sudden blaster fire. In a flash, he was up and running again, not bothering to engage any more enemies. He was already ticked at himself with that embarrassing fall, and he didn't want to waste anymore time.

In the background, he heard the gibberish yells of Mikey as he played with opponents before flipping around and dispatching them. He heard the angry roar of Raph as he charged through a group like an unstoppable animal, leaving no one in his path. He heard the 'Goongala!' of Casey as he shot his exploding hockey pucks at distant enemies. In all, they were handling themselves. Donnie was the one who needed help.

Weaving around the few remaining enemies, he drew closer to Donnie, but it was too late.

Maniacal, two-toned laughter filled the air as not-April opened her eyes again, the yellow light retreating from Donnie's eyes back into her arms and disappeared under a black shirt. Donnie's glowing eyes dimmed before they slid shut and he slumped to the ground.

"Donnie!" Leo covered the remaining distance and the white-haired April danced back as he swiped his swords at her.

"That was fun," not-April said, stretching her arms above her head. "He's a real fighter."

"What did you do to him?!" Leo demanded, standing protectively in front of his fallen brother.

"Just a little reconnaissance," she turned and started walking away. "He might wake up, but that's not much of my concern. I've got bigger things to worry about, but then, so do you."

At the taunt, Leo realized that the fight wasn't over. He whirled around, and took in the sight of the air shimmering oddly in several places. The shimmers broke down and more creatures appeared from behind their cloaking shields.

"Reinforcements, just in time too," not-April said.

One of the creatures in front took in the sight of its fallen comrades and started making sharp clicking noises before charging. Leonardo stood on the defensive once again, but was startled when the creature ignored him and rushed at the white-haired girl, clicking angrily.

"Oh, don't be like that," she said in response to the clicking and flicked her wrist. A wave of yellow light shot out of her hand and struck the creature. It stopped it in its tracks before it fell to its knees. "That's better. You see, we can all be friends here."

The other creatures gapped at the submission of their comrade before they too charged, clicking their protest. Leo counted around fifteen of the little guys thundering towards April, but she once again flicked her wrist, sending out a larger wave of yellow light that engulfed them all. Soon, all of the little alien guys were kneeling before the white-haired April.

"Dude, that's so not right," Leo heard Mikey say somewhere to his right, "This is taking psychic to a whole new level. We've moved up from Super to Hyper."

"It's not April," Leo relayed to the others who drew up beside him. Mikey bent down beside Donnie, making sure he was alright, while Raph and Casey took up places to Leo's right and left.

"What gave it away?" Raph jeered. "Was it the white-hair or the creepy voice? Oh, what about the glowing arms, eh?"

"D's not waking up," Mikey said nervously as he shook his unconscious brother.

"Mikey, get Donnie back to the Shell Razor," Leo ordered, taking control, "Raph, you and Casey keep the cronies busy. I've got April."

"Hyper-April," Mikey insisted, before taking off with Donnie thrown over his shoulder. Leo just rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Hyper-April.

"This isn't how I thought tonight was gonna go," Casey admitted, twirling his hockey stick.

Hyper-April laughed, "You don't know who you're dealing with. But I know you're not just going to leave well enough alone. At least I've got my new friends, to keep you busy."

As one, the second wave of little creatures rose up and charged.

A/N: Poor Donnie, I've been kind of mean to him lately. But a lot's happened in this chapter and I actually cut it shorter than I was going to. But whatever, here's to not doing school work and procrastination!

Oh, and I've got a little problem. I'm gonna need you guys to help out on this one, alright. I'm currently facing a monster that will destroy me if it's not fed! So if you want this author to survive the monsters wrath, feed it! That's right, the comment box is hungry and it's up to you guys to save the princess (that's me) from its clutches!