A/N: Sorry for the hiatus, explanations for said break are located after the chapter in what is my attempt of being humorous. But as many could probably guess, schools a *****, but it's almost over. Last exam isn't for another couple weeks, and after that, we'll see what happens. For now, let's see how our fearless leader fares against Hyper April.

Note: Haven't really read over this in a while, but I just wanted to get this posted since it's been such a long time since I updated. Bare with me.

Chapter 7

The well kept man approached his lord once more. The Monster took in his reluctance to report and growled. He knew what was coming. Failure. Once more, these ridiculous creatures couldn't even complete the simple task of capturing some Earth girl and a powerless Guardian.

"My Lord," the well kept man managed to keep his voice even, "I'm sorry to report that the Tagoo battalion that we sent to Earth has taken heavy losses."

"Was it the boy?" the Monster asked, straining to keep his temper in check. It wouldn't do to take out the messenger.

"No, my lord," the well kept man brought up a holo-screen. "It was the female."

The image that appeared was of the same female child he had ordered the Tagoos to capture, but her appearance had changed slightly. The video played, starting with the image of the female surrounded by the Tagoo squadron. A flash of yellow light and a wave of energy ripped through the squadron. After a moment, the entire squadron fell to their knees.

"What is this?" the Monster demanded.

"It seems that the female was somehow able to take overwhelm the Tagoos' simple minds and take control of their will," the well kept man stated before the video began to loop, restarting to the beginning.

"Impossible," the Monster snarled. "The Shard does not possess such power."

"That's the thing," the well kept man brought up a chart beside the looping video. "There is more at work in this female than just the Shard's power. Something else is using the Shard's power as an amplifier for some sort of psychic attack that takes over the motor functions and thought processes."

"What next?" the Monster moaned, rubbing his head, "What of the boy? Have they at least been able to locate him?"

"No, my lord. He had not used any of his abilities. We have not been able track his essence."

"The Tagoos begin to ware out my patience," the Monster stood from his seat before stalking out of the room, the well kept man following behind closely. "Prepare my ship, I shall do the job myself."

Oo-oO

"Who are you?" Leo demanded as he faced off against Hyper-April. He could hear the battle sounds behind him as Raphael and Casey took out the little alien creatures that she mind-controlled.

"What do you mean?" the white-haired girl responded innocently. "I'm your friend."

"You're not her!" Leo lunged forward, stabbing at her shoulder. A clang of metal on metal rang as Hyper-April deflected the blade with a familiar tessen, the metal fan glinting dangerously in the low light.

"Leo, Leo, Leo," the two-toned voice taunted. "You would strike me down in cold blood? And after everything we've through."

"You are not April!" Leo exclaimed before launching into a series of slashes and jabs, side stepping and deflecting, that was met with equal ferocity from the imposter. They were evenly matched, or at least they seemed to be.

"I may not be April O'Neil," Hyper April said, deflecting a swipe at her leg, "but this is still her body. Hurt me, and you hurt her."

Leo growled and spun away, putting distance between them.

"I don't need to hurt you to beat you," Leo replied, sheathing one of his katana and gripping the remaining one in both hands.

"Let's see you try," she taunted.

A puff of purple flared up as Leo broke a smoke bomb and melted into the shadows. Hyper-April smiled at the pitiful attempt. She stood still and unmoving as she tracked Leo's presence through the darkened parking lot.

It was too easy. Leonardo was too naïve to believe he could win against the newly empowered Hyper-April. His usual disappearing acts didn't have any effect when one could effectively follow your mental signature. Invisibility and stealth were useless against one of her power.

Leonardo struck from behind, as she knew he would. A hilt aimed at the base of her neck, a strike that would have easily and effectively put her out of commission . . . if she hadn't seen it coming.

"Silly Leo," the two-toned voice echoed in a child-like manner.

Just as the hilt of his sword was closing in for the KO, a yellow flash blinded Leo. He felt the jarring impact as the hilt connected. Blinking back purple spots that clouded his vision, Leo grit his teeth when he saw Hyper-April still standing, and grinning at him. Wrapped around the hilt of his sword, were glowing yellow tendrils that stopped the sword just inches before it hit.

"What?" Leo gawked and jerked back as the tendrils snaked around the hilt to entangle his hand. He tried jerking the blade from the tendrils' grasp, but it had too strong a grip. He felt them slide through his fingers and wrap around his wrist.

He struggled against their hold, but they wouldn't give up the katana. It was only when the tendrils started growing hot and burning that Leo finally relinquished his hold on his katana, slipping his hand out of the tendrils grasp before they could tighten. The yellow tendrils kept their grasp on the katana, letting it float in the air, supported by their clutching limbs.

"You are a fool, Leonardo," Hyper-April said as she plucked the sword out of the air. "You can't even touch me, let alone defeat me."

"Maybe not alone," Leo admitted.

"Goongala!"

A lone hockey puck sailed through the air and connected with Hyper-April's chest before combusting against the black T-shirt, and sending her to the ground from the resulting shock wave.

"Aw yeah!" Casey yelled as he skated over on his make-shift blades, "Direct hit."

"Easy there, big guy," Raph said, joining him. "Be sure to leave some for me." Together, the two rampaging vigilantes had fought like wild animals, leaving a bunch of little alien creatures lying defeated on the ground. The three remaining fighters now formed a ring around the last enemy standing.

"Ganging up on a girl? Now that's not fair." Hyper-April said, picking herself off the ground. The little fire cracker didn't do much other than surprise her, and leave a smouldering spot on her shirt. Her white hair was now a mess, with tangles falling over her face. "I've wasted enough time here. It's time to stop playing nice."

Leo saw two glinting eyes beneath a mess of white hair and drew his remaining katana from the sheath on his back. Raph followed Leo's lead and dropped into an offensive stance, sais ready. Casey eyed the girl who was no longer April, and adjusted his grip on his hockey stick.

Hyper-April just smirked and drove Leo's katana into the ground and clasping her hands together. The yellow glow moved through her arms and into her chest until the light shone through the dark material of her shirt.

Leo jumped forward, drawing back to strike when the glowing energy was released. A curved wave of light erupted from her clasped hands and hit the three warriors head on. As the light faded into the night, the three warriors slumped to the ground and Hyper-April fell to her knees, breathing hard.

She did it. She beat them. But it was costly. She struggled to her feet, stumbling as she regained her balance. The fight took a lot out of her. She used too much energy. She needs to rest.

No! I can't rest yet. I need to get the rest.

"The Shock Rock," she muttered to herself, smiling to herself. "I've got to get the Shock Rock."

She stalked away from the battle-field.

Leonardo watched through half open eyes as understanding dawned in his fading mind. The Shock Rock did this to April, and now she was going after it. He had to stop her, but not before his eyes slid shut and he was lost from the conscious realm.

Oo-oO

"Leo! Raph! Dude, Casey. You guys gotta wake up!" Mikey called out to his fallen team members as he shook his oldest brother. Sirens wailed in the not so far distance, signaling that their show down had not gone unnoticed.

Leo groaned and his eyes fluttered open. "Mikey?"

"Leo, we gotta get out of here," he said.

"Donnie?"

"He's still out," Mikey said. Donatello hadn't so much as stirred since Mikey laid him down in the Shell Razor.

"What happened?" Raph growled as he sat up. Casey followed suit, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, but only succeeding in giving himself a headache.

"Explanations later, dudes," Mikey said, "We gotta scram, like, now."

Taking the hint, they all piled into the Shell Razor that was parked nearby. Leo took the wheel and peeled out of the parking lot.

"What now?" Raph demanded, glancing at Donnie who was laid out on the floor, Mikey was cradling his head in his lap, keeping him steady in the constantly shifting van.

"Hyper-April is after the Shock Rock," Leo said. "We've got to get to it before she does."

"What does she want that thing for?"

"I don't know, but it can't be good."

"This is all that things fault!" Casey declared, angry. "That rock did this to her in the first place!"

"So we make sure it can't do anymore damage," Leo said.

"How are we gonna do that?" Raph said, "If you didn't notice, she kicked our shells, and we're down a fighter too." They all looked down at Donnie, laying prone in Mikey's lap. He still hadn't stirred.

"What's wrong with him?" Mikey asked in a small voice. "Why won't he wake up?"

Leo grit his teeth and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "First things first," he said, forming a plan. "We need to get to the Shock Rock before she does. We can figure out what to do after that."

Oo-oO

"Damn tunnels! Why are they so complicated?" the girl exclaimed as she found herself once again at an unfamiliar intersection deep in the New York City sewers. This was taking too long, and she could feel herself weakening by the minute. She needed to find this place soon. She reached into her mind again and confirmed the location of the Shock Rock—

"No, no, it's called the Shard," she reminded herself mid-thought. "And if I could only find this Railroad Bunker—"

You'll never find it!

"Ugh," she sighed at the voice in her head, "The damsel in distress speaks out. You must be getting some control back to be able to do that. . . either that or I've grown weaker than I realized."

I'm stronger than you give me credit for.

"Believe me, I know your limits. I've watched you grow your whole life."

What? How is that possible? Just who are you?

"That, my dear princess, is a topic for another time. Now I've got to find this Shard before I loose my hold on you—Dammit!" Another dead end. She looked around at her bleak surroundings. "I don't suppose you know where this 'Underground Railroad Bunker' is?"

Why would I tell you?

"You wouldn't, because you can't. You don't know where it is."

Then why bother asking?

"Just making conversation."

With a voice in your head?

"I never said I was sane. Oh, come on!" Another tunnel led to another intersection with more dripping pipes and gooey walkways. "Why didn't I get directions? I mean, I thought I knew these sewers well enough, but no, they just had to find the one place we've never been to before and hide the damn thing in a secret bunker that hasn't been found in over a hundred years!"

The voice in her head was silent, as if mocking her. She examined her surroundings and took stock of what little she knew about the area the Shard was supposed to be hidden in.

Tap tap tap tap.

Lost in thought, she failed to hear the echo of footsteps off the dripping sewer walls until it was too late.

"Damn, they've caught up." She spun around, facing the direction of the footsteps that were nearly upon her. She readied herself the best she could in her weakened state.

Tap tap ta—slide.

But it wasn't the Turtles who were coming to rescue their princess. She stared in shock at the figure covered in muck and sweat that skidded around a bend and came screeching to a halt. The boy was breathing heavily, and was just as startled to have suddenly come across her as she was to see him. But she was startled for a different reason; she recognized him.

The two stared at each other for a moment before she started laughing.

"Now what sort of development is this?" the two-toned voice asked the boy before her. "The quiet new kid from school? Seems like there's more to this story than I originally thought. Jay . . . Cogen, was it?"

"In this world, it is," Jay responded, "But identities can be fleeting, like yours. You aren't April O'Neil."

"Very good," she inspected him more closely. "And how did you come to such conclusions?"

"It's not hard to see that this is more than just a bad hair day."

"Indeed," she fingered a tangled strand of white hair that fell into her face. "But that still doesn't answer my question. Who . . . no, what are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Jay answered.

"I would actually," she replied with a knowing smirk. "Since asking you won't get me anywhere . . ."

Who is he?

. . . Data Retrieved: Profile found. Subject name: Jay Cogen. Adolescent youth born in Manitoba, Canada. Graduated elementary school from—Transmission terminated.

"No! I don't want his damn life history, just tell me what he is!" she burst out at the infernal program feeding her information.

"It can't be. . ." Jay said under his breath as he recognized what was happening.

. . . Data Retrieved: Profile found. Subject name: Marrow Fog. Planet of origin: Delttra Prone. Current occupation: Guardian of the Third Shard of Light. Transmission terminated.

"Guardian. . ." she muttered and looked at the boy in a new light.

"Why do you have the Index?" he demanded. "Where is the Shard?!"

"Index? Is that what that thing's called?"

"What have you done with her!"

"Her?"

"Return the Shard, before things get out of hand."

She smirked at this. "Kid, things are already out of hand."

His shoulders seemed to have slumped just a fraction, but it wasn't in defeat. Jay relaxed his tense muscles and regained his composure. Taking deep breaths, he gathered his thoughts and focused. He felt the familiar tingle in his fingertips that he hadn't felt in so long.

"I give you one chance," Jay's voice was quiet and void of emotion. "Hand over the Shard, or I will forcefully take it from you."

She was put off by the sudden change in atmosphere, but she didn't let it show. "What can you do? You're just a weak human boy."

"I am a Guardian. And I will protect the Shard until the Light comes to claim what is rightfully hers."

"Well, you've done a bang up job on that so far."

"Where is it?"

"I'm not telling," she sang, taunting.

Jay looked into her glowing, yellow eyes, the same yellow as the Shard, and he realized the truth. "You don't know."

She visibly flinched at this. Her arms flared with a yellow light, her hair seemed to glow ghostly white, and her eyes flashed with a mix of emotions.

"You don't know, but you're looking for it. It's somewhere in the tunnels," Jay put the pieces together. "You didn't manage to steal all of her power. That's why it's been so hard to track you, why it felt so different. It was incomplete. You mixed your own telepathic abilities with strength from the Shard to create this dark, overbearing presence that I've been feeling these last few days. You stole a fragment of the Shard's power, and somehow managed to get the Index. . ." He wasn't even really talking to her anymore, he was really only voicing his thoughts as he worked through the problem. And now he took a better look at the twisted girl before him. "But how did that happen? She isn't stupid enough to reveal herself to anyone, not even . . . I mean, she wouldn't have. Would she?"

"Enough!" Yellow light flared as glowing tendrils shot out catching the Guardian off guard. Tendrils closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, wrapping around his arms and torso, causing him to stumble ever so slightly, but he quickly regained his balance.

"What are you doing?" he asked in exasperation as he eyed the tendrils bound to his arm.

"I'm disposing of an annoyance," she replied with a sick smile. "Your time as a Guardian is over. It's my turn to have some fun with the Shard."

"You really think that you can beat me with the Shard's power? Especially when it's this weak?" The question seemed to put her off, but she redoubled her efforts and the tendrils tightened around her captive.
"Don't underestimate me," she growled.

"You're the one who's underestimating me," he replied before the tendrils simply dissipated. The glowing yellow strings diffused into the dark underground tunnels until nothing was left.

"What?" she exclaimed in confusion.

"The Shard's power will not hurt its Guardian," he replied. "I thought you would have known that, since you stole the Index and everything."

"Impossible!"

"It's really not," he flexed his hands, the tingling wanting to be released after being latent for so long.

"You can't defeat me!" she yelled and grasped her head between her hands, doubling over. The air seemed to pulse from her forehead as a wave of psychic energy was released and sent as a direct assault into the Guardian's mind.

He grunted and fell onto one knee as he struggled against her hold.

"The yellow light may not affect you," she said approaching the downed Guardian, "but your still no match for my psychic abilities."

She was strong, but her power was weakened. He was well versed in mental defenses, but even in its weakened state, this power was raw and unrefined, wild and untamed. It was pure and dark and angry. He couldn't even fathom where such a power could have originated from, but thoughts like that would have to wait. He was losing his grip on himself, he had to act before he was overwhelmed. While she wouldn't be able to actually take control of his mind, she certainly had the power to knock him out.

"You are nothing," the twisted girl smirked as the two overlaying voices echoed around the tunnels and Jay fought off her mental assault.

The desperate situation called forth his powers, and his tingling power strengthened until sparks jumped between adjacent fingers.

"Don't think me beaten yet," he shot back and raised a hand. Pure, bright, yellow electricity jumped from his fingers and arced into her chest.

She screamed at the sudden attack and was flung back. She slid on the ground until she fell into the raw sewage that surrounded them. With goo and muck dripping from her form she hulled herself out of the small canal before sprawling out on the ground.

The air rippled with the energy that the Guardian still kept in check, the tingling bite of electricity buzzing on his skin, and the elation of having released his powers after hiding for so long fresh in his system.

He was breathing hard after having to stave off a mental attack before delivering his own, and he stood panting for a few moments before he approached the still form of the girl who had once been April O'Neil. She was still conscious, her white hair marred by brown glop, the glow from her arms extinguished, and her eyes flickered with what little hold she had over the Shard's power.

"Just as the Shard's power cannot hurt me," the Guardian explained as he stood over her, "nor can my power harm the Shard. You hold a fragment of the Shard, so the effects were not as strong. Now, tell me what you know."

"Jay?" a small voice sounded from the lips of the girl. The voice was different than it was before; the familiar, single-toned voice that belonged to the girl he met on his first day of high school in New York City.

"April?" Jay breathed in relief. "You're back, you've taken control."

"For now," she struggled to sit up, and Jay quickly helped her, supporting her back. "But I can still feel it. It's fighting back . . ." She gripped her head in her hands again in her silent battle for her own mind.

"We need to find the Shard," Jay said pulling her to her feet. "Then we can figure this whole thing out. Do you know where she is?"

"I . . . I don't know," she admitted. "Let me call the guys, they're the ones who . . . Oh, no. What did I do?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out her T-Phone from a soaked pocket. "Please be okay."

Jay watched her in concern. Obviously something had happened, but this wasn't the time for that. They had to find the Shard and fix this whole thing once and for all.

Without warning, a pulse so strong erupted from a source not too far away. The strength of it caused Jay to lose his breath for a moment as the familiar sense rushed over him, and he felt relief. Finally, something he could actually follow.

After a few moments he spent gathering his breath again, a smile crept up his face and he looked over to April who had a look of shock on her face.

"What was that?" Apparently she had felt it too. Not surprising, considering the psychic powers she held within her.

"That was the Shard," Jay said with a smile before grabbing her arm and pulling her in the direction the pulse had come from. "And I know exactly where she is."

A/N: Man, that was close. Looks like I managed to escape from the monster long enough to post this. It's really hungry now. Unless it's fed, I don't know if I'll be able to post more! Save the damsel in distress! Feed the Review box!