Five days later
At Eastlaird University, young students are in their classes while some are outside using the cool air to relax and have a clear mind. It was only November; leaves were turning orange and red and falling out of trees to grow back in springtime. Meaning it won't be long till the University year is over and recruit new students for another year. One leaf fell on a young student's hair as she waved it off, floated away, and landed on a window sill inside Journalism Class. The same class April is taking.
April sat in her seat, notebook open and phone by her side. She listened to her teacher as she took down notes and lessons for later to take. By her side is her good friend Sunita. She got into the same University as April and learned so much from outside the Hidden City, the Yokai's home. And she was welcoming to come as long she didn't remove her cloaking device and tell anyone she was a yokai. April placed her cheek on her palm with her elbow up and watched a PowerPoint on the wall.
"If you turn your attention to the billboard, you can see every news article written by New York's Journalists who wrote good details, from big to small." Ms. Sabrina, April's teacher, explained as she pointed at a giant billboard that pinned articles cut out of newspaper articles and magazines.
April nodded and wrote down. Once she was sure no one was watching her, she opened her phone and pressed on the text app. And begin texting.
April
Hey guys, how are things in
The lair? How are the new mutants
Doing?
She pressed send and waited for a response. Two seconds later, and got a text from Leo.
Leo
Ginny is still upset :(
Nina, Donnie called her, refuses to leave her room
Like a hermit. But Judi and Julian are doing fine.
Judi is reading Lady Luna's Comics right now
So other than that, we are doing fine and are well
Too. Have a good day in class; see you! ;)
April smiled softly as she closed her phone. It had been a good few weeks since the new turtles stayed with them, but sad that out of the five, Ginny, Prim, and Nina were facing troubles that the boys couldn't do to help them. She would have done some digging on the girls, but out of respect and privacy for her new friends, she rather not push them too far and let them open up when they were ready. She set her phone down and went back to her lessons.
"Can anyone tell which journalist wrote The Dark Side?" Ms.Sabrina asked her students.
April raised her hand faster than the too-slow-lifting students. She smiled. "Jane Mayer. She wrote The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals, a 2008 Times bestseller." April answered her.
Ms.Sabrina smiled and nodded, happy with her answer. "Correct. Excellent work, Young O'Neil." She turns back to her teaching.
Sunita look amazed. "Wow. You are outstanding." She complimented her.
"I did some research. Thank Donnie for that." April smirked. She was glad for those extra lessons Donnie was helping her. The two return back to hearing Ms.Sabrina.
"Okay. For your assignment today, I want you all to write down an essay based on a New York famou-" Just as Ms.Sabrina was about to give out an assignment, she was interrupted by a loud door slam. She and the students all turn and face the door.
Coming in is none other than Bishop and his three EDF members, all wearing black suit and sunglasses. Bishop turns his gaze at the row of students, his sunglasses reflecting on each student till he stops, and the reflection of April show in his sunglasses.
He then closed the laptop, causing the PowerPoint to be gone. He faced Ms.Sabrina. "I am terribly sorry for interrupting your teaching, ma'am. But I need every student in this class to report to the office immediately." He stated.
"What?" Ms.Sabrina frowned, confused as to why the EDF were here out f nowhere. "Is there something wrong?" She asked him.
"No." He shocked his head. Then his eyes behind the glasses aimed at April. "Just want to talk and discuss with them about something."
"Very well." Ms.Sabrina nodded. She turns her attention to her students. "Everyone, please follow them. We'll start the assignment when you are all done." She told them, causing the students to groan in disappointment, and grabbed all their belongings.
April looks confused about who they are and what they are doing here. They weren't the police nor the FBI agents. But whoever they are, it doesn't sound like a good thing. As she was about to grab her bags, she noticed Sunita had a nervous and scared expression on her face. She had never seen her this afraid before, not during the loss of her cloaking brooch or helping the turtles through their trauma.
"What's wrong?" April asked Sunita.
Sunita faced April, a terrified expression replacing the nervousness. "It's the Earth Defense Force." She whispered. "I can't let them find me."
"Why not?" April asked. It seems clear that Sunita knows who they are more than she does.
"You don't know what they can do." Sunita shocked her head. "I need you to get me out of here before they can find me." She had a pleading look on her face. She was petrified.
"What?" April is confused.
"'Please!" Sunita shouted quietly.
April raises her hands. "Okay, okay." She whispered. She thinks for a moment; then her eyes look up and she smirks. "I got an idea." She pointed at the air vent in the wall, hidden away from the EDF's eyes and ears.
The students all crowded up, getting too impatient and wanting to get this over with so they could continue with their days. "Do not crowd! In a line!" One of the EDF members shouted among the students. So the students had to form a straight line, and they left the class one by one.
Bishop looks around the classroom, making sure each student gets out. He did a recount and a double as he realized that they were missing two students. April and Sunita. His eyes narrowed, and he figured it might happen. He failed to notice the open-air vent as the vent was removed from its hinges.
Another air vent was kicked out and fell on the floor, making a crash noise. A few minutes of silence passed, and two girls jumped down and landed on the floor. April pressed her finger to her lips and motioned Sunita to stay quiet till they were out of the building. Sunita nodded to her, understanding. So April took her hand, and the two ran down the hallway. Only to spot two EDF members coming their way in the same hallway.
April and Sunita run inside an empty classroom and remain still and quiet. April watched the EDF members walking past them and out of sight. April was nervous and could feel her heart hammering against her chest. Why is the EDF here? And what do they want?
After they were gone, the two girls left the classroom and ran down the hallway. They enter another hallway, only to their surprise that they spot three more members on the other side and look inside each classroom. The two are behind a trash can. This wasn't good; they could be looking for them once they realized that they weren't in class anymore. And they might get into trouble if spotted. But for now, April needs to focus on safely getting Sunita out of the university.
April spots a window across from their hide spot. April motioned Sunita to follow her, she nodded, and the two girls ran to the window. April opened the window and faced her. "Can you slide through it?" She asked Sunita.
"I can." Sunita nodded. She touched her cloaking brooch and transformed into her yokai form. She frowned and faced April. "Will you be okay?"
April smiled. "Don't worry about me. They can't break me; now go. Hurry." She whispered.
"thank you, April." Sunita smiled. She slid through the open window and landed on the ground. She touched her brooch and transformed back into her human disguise. April throws out Sunita's backpack. Sunita grabs it and runs off to an empty alleyway, away from the university and to the nearest entrance to the Hidden City.
April can hear the EDF's voices coming her way. She closed the window shut and ran back the way she came from. She took a turn and ran to a different hallway that would take her to the university entrance. She was so close and so nearly there, but she got pulled away and dragged away.
She looked up and saw who caught her. It was none other than Bishop. His sunglasses reflate on her face, and April gulped nervously. It looks like she got caught.
April sat inside an empty classroom with only two chairs and a table. April looks behind and sees the two members standing by the door as if they are security guards. April gulped nervously, then turned her head and faced the opposite direction.
Sitting across from her is Bishop, with a folder in his hand, closed. His glasses stare at her. "Hello, Ms O'Neil." He spoke to her with a flat tone in his voice. "Trying to go somewhere?"
April chuckled nervously. "Sorry, my mom wanted me to head back home." She lied. "Said it was important."
"Don't worry." Bishop tilted his glasses up and set them in the correct position. "It won't take long." He stares at her.
April felt an uneasy tension in the air, giving her a sense of danger alert. She has to remain calm and firm. "Is there a reason why you took me in?" She asked him. "Is there something wrong?" She can feel sweat forming on her brow.
"Well, no. I wanted to ask you about something." Bishop set the folder down on the table and placed both his hands on the table. "Do you know about what happened on September 22? Where Laneway High Chemistry class took a field trip to TCRI, and five teens went missing?" He interrogated her.
April's breath left her. So this is what this is about, about the new turtles. They're still looking for them and got a higher force to look for them. April can feel sweat dripping from her face and stomach, feeling sick with fright. She gulped and lied. "No, not really. I don't."
"Oh really?" Bishop raised an eyebrow, his hands linked together and held up by his elbow. "Ms.Sabrina told me you were there with them on the day they disappeared." He mentioned.
April chuckled nervously. "Okay, fine. I was with the group, but only for a journalism report." She accepted. "I do not know those missing teens, nor do I know where they are now." She added.
Bishop hummed. "I see." He grabs the folder and opens it. "If that's the case, care to tell me who you were with?" He pulled out a small piece of paper and set it down for April to look at.
It was a photo picture of April with the turtles inside the underground lab of TCRI and standing across the mutagen. April felt her heart beating fast and getting sick with fear. Someone was there with them during their discovery and spotted the turtles. She looked up at Bishop, who was staring at her and waiting for her response.
"They're no one important." She lied yet again.
"Really? So you don't know any of these strange-looking turtles?" He questioned her, tilting his head to the left side.
April shook her head no. "No, I don't." She denied. "They're just kids dressed up in costumes."
Bishop slammed his hands on the table loud enough to startle April from her seat. He leans close to her face and glares at her through his glasses. "April O'Neil. As Leander of the Earth Defense Force, it is my task to protect humanity from inhuman threats." He explained to her. "Aliens, monsters, and mutants that have mythical powers." He listed them. "I am doing the earth a favor here and right now. These teens are missing, and their families are worried sick about them."
"And you think they are the cause of them?" April testified. "what makes you believe that there are no good mutants that care about humanity and protect it?"
"If that's true, it would be impossible." Bishop disclosed. "Every mutant I meet is just the same. Power-hungry, ruthless, and careless. And I need to be sure that no human will be hurt by them." He mentioned the bad mutants the turtles had faced off and beaten. "And I know those turtles are linked to the disappearance of the missing teens. So do you know where they are or not?" He asked her.
April denied. "No, I don't." She is sticking to that answer. She then gets up from her seat and stares at him. "Look, I need to go. My mom is waiting for me." She grabs her bag. "Goodbye." She turned around and proceeded to walk out of the classroom and get away from Bishop—just a moment before she reached the doorknob.
"If you claim not to know these turtles, then care to explain why your back jacket bears the symbol of the Hamato Clan?" Bishop asked her.
April froze and widened her eyes in pure terror. She slowly turned her head around and spotted Bishop holding a grin with his linked hands under his chin and his sunglasses reflating on her horror expression. How did he know about Splinter's family and his own clan? He was the last living descendent and had never been close to anyone outside the family to know his entire history. But the way he stares at her shows that he means it.
In horror, she opens the door and runs out of the classroom, and runs n the hallway of the university. Her heart beat crazy fast, and she was shivering in terror.
Inside, Bishop took his sunglasses off, set them down, and opened his eyes. Revealing his purple orbs as he smirks to himself. He is close; he can almost feel it.
