This is the shortest chapter we've had in a while. But I would argue that it will also be one of the hardest hitting chapters yet.
March 31, 2014
"You're grounded."
"You can't ground me! I'm 18!" April yelled at Splinter.
The rat stood firm in the face of teenage angst. "You may be an adult legally, but your actions as of late have been nothing but childish."
Over the past couple of weeks, April had missed nearly every morning ninja training session with Splinter and the Turtles. There were some mornings where she simply slept in or stayed out so late that she snuck in as training was beginning. There had even been instances where she made plans with one of the boys, but ended up canceling or ditching them at the last minute to hang out with Casey Jones in the Hidden City.
That's how she missed seeing Aladdin on Broadway with Donnie.
Leo stepped forward from his place on Splinter's right. "I agree with Sensi. You may be a part of this team, April, but you haven't been acting like it."
"No one asked you, Lamenardo!" April sneered.
Everyone made noises of dissent at April's comment. Mikey shrunk back from his sister's harsh words.
"That's too far, April." The boy whispered.
April blinked, like she was surprised the words came from her. The look disappeared as she shook her head.
Donnie moved closer to his girlfriend. He gently held her hand. "April… whatever's going on with you, please… just talk to us. We can help you!" He pleaded. His eyes briefly flickered down to the crystal hanging from her neck. The turtle let loose a sigh of frustration when April wrenched her hand away.
"I don't need your help," She pointed to Leo. "I don't need your 'leadership'," She whirled on Splinter, her eyes flashing. "And you're NOT my real father!"
The room was dead silent as April stormed from the room.
Hurricane April raged through her room. After cranking up the volume on her stereo and flipping it to Rip It Up by the Jets, she knocked over several items around her room.
Her lamp.
A Times Square snow globe.
A box of random objects on her desk.
She reached to toss her pillow across the room when her hand landed on a familiar blue lump.
"Boba," The girl whispered. She hugged the stuffed dog to her chest, allowing one tear to fall.
Lifting her head, she saw that the box of random items she'd thrown was full of the spray paint cans Casey had given her after he showed her some of his tags in the Hidden City. Her gaze drifted from the spray paint to the mural on her wall.
Her eyes glowed teal.
Several hours later, Donne and Raph came to check on April. Donnie knocked, leaning his head against the door.
"April? You've been in there for hours. Are you okay?"
Raph wrinkled his nose. "Smells like she's been huffin' paint fumes."
"She wouldn't do that!" Donnie glared at his brother.
The turtles began coughing as the door swung open, the paint fumes becoming stronger. A red eyed April emerged. She tossed an empty spray paint can to Donnie. She smirked as he fumbled with the can.
"That wasn't my goal, Raph, but it certainly didn't hurt." April hefted a duffel bag over her shoulder.
It was the moment April moved from the doorway that the boys got a good look at what April had been working on. Donnie dropped the paint can in shock.
"Wha-" Raph took a slow step back before sprinting after April. She hadn't gotten too far when he grabbed her arm. "What did you do?" He growled.
Raph's growl quickly turned into a grunt as April used her psychic powers to easily flip him on his back. He grimaced as she pressed her foot to his plastron.
"It's my room, doofus. I can do whatever I want with it." She removed her foot. "Besides, mermaids are so early 2000s. Get with the times!" April turned back to the entrance, heading towards the turnstiles. "I'm spending the night at Karai's. DON'T follow me."
Leo and Mikey arrived at the bedroom nook after hearing the commotion. They were greeted with the sight of both their brothers standing in shock in front of April's room.
"Hey! Were you guys able to talk some sense into April?" Mikey bounded towards them. He felt a hand on his arm, holding him back.
Leo, now seeing what Donnie and Raph had seen, didn't want to cause his youngest brother more heartache.
Mikey easily shook him off. "Come on, guys! What're you looking at…"
The boy trailed off when April's mermaid mural came into view.
The mural Mikey and Donnie had so lovingly painted of April as Ariel surrounded by her four color-coordinated sea-turtles was now entirely painted over with a graffiti tag of 'April O'Neil'. The colors and paint strokes were harsh and done in a hurry. It was garish; it was ugly; it wasn't the April they knew.
A single tear rolled down Mikey's cheek at the sight.
"April… what happened to you?"
If you've forgotten or just haven't read it in a while, I'd recommend going back and rereading Chapter 7: A Space of Her Own. I had the idea of a bonding thing could end this way. Just took 50 chapters and about 2 years to get here.
Stay creative!