sleepzonesworld - Tumblr blog

sleepzonesworld · 2 months ago

Text

Please go read peak

TMNT MUTANT REIGN CHAPTER 1

authors note:

yall omg it’s doneeee!!!!! I’m so so excited for this fic 🫡

For everyone’s designs you can check my tumblr masterpost here! : https://www.tumblr.com/dylniz/781392395577294848/tmnt-mutant-reign-masterpost?source=share

Also! I do have voice claims for everyone if anybody wants to check them out before reading the fic (obviously not a requirement)

Raph = Erik Killmonger Mikey = Brandon Mychal Smith (his rise VA) Donnie = milo thatch Leo = cloud final fantasy 7 remake Casey = jonesy garcia 6teen April = Rocket from YJ Splinter = Hanzo from OW

Also I’m not from New York or America so I did my best on the research, apologies if not everything is entirely correct!

There may be an occasional spelling/punctuation mistake as well, please be patient with me 💔

also available on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/65214214/chapters/167752468

April groaned, shoving her way out of the packed NYC subway train. Getting home from school on any day was hard— large crowds and overfilled subways are what New York is known for— but on a Friday afternoon? It was near impossible.

She hopped up the stairs of the subway exit, being met with the familiar sight of her neighbourhood. Pulling her phone out, she checked how many minutes was left in the podcast she was listening to.

“Cold Cases Episode 109: The O’Neil family tragedy” stared back at her, as she skipped ahead a few minutes.

“-after the week long search, police received a call from someone on one of the intersections between New York and Jersey, claiming they saw a small girl wandering on the side of the road.”

“Oh my god, was it—?”

“Yup, it was 4 year-old-April O’Neil. When police found her, an officer claimed that she was in shock, with—“

April skipped ahead again.

“Now, onto the theories on what happened to Niara O’Neil. Wait- before we move onto that, what do you think happened to her?”

The other girl on the podcast made an introspective noise before snorting.

“I mean, you said before that she was going a little insane right? Her and her husband were on the brink of divorce. I think it’s a pretty typical situation y’know— a mother taking the kid and leaving.”

“That’s a popular theory and we’ll cover that in a second. But how do you explain there being no trace of her? The car was never found either. And remember, she hadn’t taken anything with her besides April.”

“Maybe she like- was gonna drive them both into the Hudson or something, like that one South Park episode?”

“The one with Butters’ mom?”

“Yeah! Maybe she like, felt bad at the last moment and left her daughter on like..the side of the road or something.”

Both women giggled.

“Like I said, that is a common theory. But let’s start with our first theory and the most outlandish one; aliens—“

April rolls her eyes and skips ahead again.

“—terms of updates on April and Isaiah O’Neil; April O’Neil is currently in highschool and still living in NYC. She has a mostly inactive social media presence and she doesn’t post about or answer questions about her mother’s disappearance.”

“I mean I get it, I’d totally like- not wanna talk about it too.”

“We reached out to her for an interview but got no response, so from what I can tell she’s trying to distance herself from the case, especially since there have been no new leads since the case happened-“

“Hudson Riverrrrrr~” The girl said in a sing songy voice as the host laughed. April closed the podcast, angrily pulling off her headphones.

Assholes.

April unlocked the door to the apartment with a tired flick of her wrist. She was immediately met by a familiar sound: a high-pitched meow and the soft thump of paws against hardwood.

“Asim!” She said, crouching down to pet the cat.

Asim was a cute kitten she had found during a visit to a friends place in Cobble Hill. He was a clingy and skinny little stray who clung to her hoodie and refused to let go. After loads of begging her father had caved into keeping him (he knew once April set her mind to something, it was almost impossible to stop her) and she had placed the small kitten into her hoodie pouch and carried him home.

She had named him Asim, which meant “protector” in Swahili. Fitting at the time with his energy and personality, not so fitting anymore considering all the weight he’d gained over the past 3 years.

Asim meowed again as he rubbed against her legs, before padding over to his empty food bowl and looking back at her.

April rolled her eyes. “You are so greedy. Look at you! We need to put you on a diet.” She said, poking his nose making him lightly swat her hand away.

“Ugh, fine.” She says, grinning as she brings out the bag of cat food.

She leaves Asim to eat as she makes her way to her room, kicking the door shut behind her. She tossed her backpack on the bed, flopped into her beanbag, and pulled out her phone.

3:48 pm

Hmm…still wasn’t super late. Her dad wouldn’t be back until at least 9pm. She didn’t have any big assignments to accomplish…

Unlocking her phone and jumping to her notes app, she ignores all the grocery lists and unfinished drafts, clicking on the one labeled;

Journalism Project: Vigilantes

At least 3 people

A team?

Traditional handheld weapons, no guns

First spotted them fighting purple dragon members in Brownsville

I spotted them again in Chelsea

When April had initially called Irma to scream at her about how she just saw these tall bulky figures fighting off gang members in Brownsville, Irma’s first response was to ask her what she was doing in Brownsville at night, her second response was to tell April to mind her own business if she didn’t want to be killed and her third was to hang up.

Obviously April didn’t heed her advice.

She saw three of them again on a rooftop when she was in Chelsea. Again, it was too dark to make out any features but she recognised the bulky silhouettes. Two of them seemed to be arguing, with two distinct male voices peeking through the city noise. Though, they had hopped away before she could do anything.

Now, she couldn’t just pitch the story to her school paper without any evidence, she knew that. So, she had made it her personal little project to find these guys.

What she would do when she found them? She wasn’t so sure herself. She was hoping she’d figure it out in the moment. She always considered herself good at improvising.

So far, the internet had turned up next to nothing. A few Reddit threads — mostly complaints on r/manhattan about “teens parkouring on rooftops” and making too much noise.

That was her only lead.

So why not follow it?

Worse case scenario she finds nothing and calls Irma to beg her to hang out in midtown or something.

Throwing on her jacket she grabs her messenger bag and is out the door.

She’d make this trip count.

…

She was so fucking bored.

It was nearly 8 p.m., and she’d been walking around different Manhattan neighborhoods for almost three hours.

And absolutely nothing.

She huffed. Total waste of time.

The sun had nearly set, she figured she might as well text her dad that she’d be out a while longer, maybe call Irma.

At least Gramercy’s nice, she thought, unlocking her phone. She scrolled to Irma’s contact and hit the call button.

As the phone rang, she glanced around the street.

It was… weirdly empty. There were a few people milling around, but it was definitely quieter than usual.

Wasn’t this street near one of the NYU dorms? She expected it to be busier, especially at this hour.

She was broken out of her thoughts when Irma picked up. “Hello?”

April perked up. “Irmaaaa, you doin’ anything right now? I was thinkin’ we could hang out around midtown. Heard there’s an open air movie night in about an hour-“

“Well, I am doing something right now, and you probably should be too. Have you started Mrs Adani’s calculus homework yet?”

“Uhh..no—?”

“Exactly. See, no offense April but we have exams in like— literally two weeks. You’re fun, you are, but my parents have been on my ass about my grades recently and honestly- hanging out all the time—“

April had already stopped listening. Not because Irma was going on one of her usual tirades, but because she heard voices coming from a nearby alleyway.

“Are we even sure this leads to the lair? We’re not usually in this neighbourhood—“

“Yes I’m sure Leo. I’ve already mapped out the rest of the Manhattan area which you would know if you ever bothered to check the app I made for us.”

“Sorry Donnie I—“

“Don’t apologise to him.”

“Raph—“

“Excuse you?”

April blinked, bringing the phone back to her ear.

“Hey Irma? I’m gonna call you back later.” She whispered, hanging up before Irma could respond. She slowly walked towards the alleyway, the bickering getting louder with each step.

“Guyssss can we continue the fight when we’re back at the lair?”

“Shut up Mikey.”

“…Don’t you tell me to shut up!”

“Guys-“

“You always get involved—“

“Guys! I’m literally begging you to argue when we get home. Somebody is going to hear us!”

“…Well they’ll hear us for sure if you yell like that.”

“Yeah bro.”

“Seriously.”

April hears a frustrated huff and then the sound of metal scraping. She peeks into the alleyway just in time to see the manhole cover drop shut.

They went…into the sewer?

No way she was following them.

Definitely not.

They might not even be the guys she was looking for! Could just be some dumb teenagers doing weird shit — people in New York were always pulling stunts. Kids at her school were literally posting themselves subway surfing last month.

But as if her body was moving on its own, her fingers were already reaching for the manhole cover.

April O’Neil was a curious girl. And when she set her mind to something, it was almost impossible to stop her.

She winced as the smell of the sewer hit her, but held her breath as she slowly made her way down the ladder.

What the fuck was she doing?

Her hands felt sweaty against the metal bars, and the humidity definitely didn’t help the smell. She was 100% going to have to marinate in body wash when she got home.

She adjusted her glasses as she blinked, her eyes trying to get used to the dark. The little light coming through one of the drains definitely wasn’t enough to see where she was going.

She pulled out her phone, and just as she was about to open her flashlight—

The air got knocked out of her lungs.

Something slammed into her, arms wrapping around her arms and torso, holding her in place. Her feet kicked wildly, uselessly.

“Donnie, I don’t think you need to hold her like that—“

“She was literally following us Leo.”

“I know but we’re trained! She’s-“ If April could see in the dark she’d see his slightly pitying expression.

“I agree with Leo, you’re gonna crush her or somethin’.” A deeper voice called out.

“Isn’t crushing people kinda your thing?” A fourth voice chimed in.

“Crushing psychos Mikey, not crushing defenseless civilians.”

“Stop acting like you haven’t done worse Raph!”

“How about you shut up, Donnie.”

“You’re always-“

He was distracted.

Now or never. Her arms were incapacitated due to the hold, but her hand could just barely reach into her bag…

She pulled her taser and jammed it into her attackers thigh, pressing the button.

He yelped — loud, letting go of her in the process.

“Holy shit!”

“Is that a taser??”

April didn’t stay to hear their reactions. She turned on her phone flashlight and sprinted.

“Hey, wait!” one of them called, footsteps scrambling behind her.

“Please, we just wanna talk!” The voice called out again, closer now.

Just talk her ass.

“You can’t outrun us lady!” “Raph—!”

Oh, she definitely was not stopping now.

The footsteps were getting louder and louder and—

They didn’t have a chance to catch her before the ground beneath them gave in. April felt herself falling before—

…

The first thing she heard when waking up was a panicked voice.

“—how do we explain to dad that we killed someone?!”

“She’s not dead Mikey, and even if she does die it’s not our fault! The fucking ground caved in—“

“Which is weird, the sewers are supposed to be the lowest point accessible under the city— there shouldn’t be—“

“We don’t need the full rundown Donnie.”

“I wasn’t talking to you Raph.”

“Wait, wait! She’s waking up.”

April’s vision blurred as she opened her eyes, immediately wincing when a bright light was shone in her face.

“I can’t fuckin’ see, dude.” It didn’t help that her head was POUNDING.

“I’m checking for a concussion, do me a favor and open your eyes before I leave you here.”

Damn. Rude.

“Jeez Donnie.” Someone muttered.

April opens her eyes, blinking at the harsh light. The flashlight clicks off as April sits up, taking off her glasses to rub her eyes.

“Well the good news is, you’re not concussed.”

“Uh, thank you mister..” she trailed off as she put her glasses back on, and immediately froze at the sight.

A green man.

A mutant, green, turtle man.

She screamed and immediately punched him across the face, sending him crashing onto his back— or was that a shell?

“OW, WHAT THE FUCK??” He yelled, sitting up and clutching his snout.

“Donnie are you okay?!”

“Jesus Christ—“

“That was a really good punch actually—“

“Raph, I swear to god I’m gonna— fuck I’m bleeding.”

April sat frozen as the scene unfolded in front of her. She must actually be concussed. Or she must’ve fallen into wonderland because there was currently four turtle creatures in front of her.

Three of them were swarming around the one with the..purple mask? With varying levels of concern. Were those weapons?? Were these…the vigilantes she was looking for?

The one she punched raised his eyes to meet hers, clearly not happy.

“She did this— she tased me and— and punched me and now I’m bleeding!”

April scrambled back as he moved to stand, looking ready to lunge. He was stopped by one of the others (with a blue mask??) with a hand to his chest.

“Donnie.” The blue one said, firm. The purple one (Donnie?) looked ready to open his mouth but was stopped by the sound of a phone ringing.

“…Whose phone is that?”

“It’s not mine, my ringtones a SZA song—“

“I-It’s mine.” April said, quickly fishing the phone out of her pocket.

The screen had gained a new crack, but it was better than she expected. She ran her finger over the crack before checking the caller ID.

“It’s my dad.”

“Don’t pick up.”

She looked up at the red one. “If I don’t answer he’s gonna call the police for sure. I always answer. Always.”

The turtles glanced at each other, like they were having some unspoken conversation. After a second, the blue one turned to her, giving a slight nod.

April inhaled sharply and hit the answer button, bringing the phone to her ear.

“Dad?”

“April! Where are you? I just came home and—“

“Sorry, I’m uh…” she looked up at the four mutant turtles staring at her. For some reason, a lie tumbled out of her lips before she could stop herself. “I’m at Irma’s, lost track of time…”

She heard her dad sigh through the phone. “You scared me.”

“I know dad, ‘m sorry.”

“It’s a little late now—“

Shit. Was it? April quickly checked the time on her phone and..nearly 10 PM?? How long was she out for??

“April, did you hear me?”

“Uh— no..sorry..”

“..I asked if you were coming home tonight.”

She looked up at the four turtles, before locking eyes with the blue one, who shook his head no.

“Uhm..nah I think I’m probably gonna stay at Irma’s tonight.” She said, eyes flicking back to the ground.

“Okay. Text me in the morning when you’re heading back?”

“Of course, love you.”

“Love you too, April.”

She hung up quickly, looking back up at the turtles.

Before she could even think of what to say, the purple one reached forward and snatched her phone.

“Hey!”

“What’s your password?”

“Are you deadass?”

“…Yes?”

“Obviously I’m not tellin’ you!”

“1, 2, 3, 4. Unlocked.”

There was a moment of silence before the other three turtles broke out into laughter.

“Seriously?!” She shouted, standing up and reaching to snatch her phone.

Donnie simply moved out of her reach, scrolling away on her phone as she scrambled to get it back.

She groaned in frustration. “Dude! What’re you doing with my phone??”

He stopped scrolling, then turned the screen back toward her, annoyingly close to her face.

“I think the better question is, why were you following us?”

The other three turtles crowded around her, all trying to get a closer look at the screen.

There stood all the notes she had taken on the “mysterious vigilantes”.

That she just found out were four mutant turtles.

“It was a journalism thingy— I saw you guys fightin’ purple dragon members down in Brownsville.”

She snatched her phone back.

“I’ve been looking for a story, and I just assumed you guys were like, just some real skilled guys fightin’ crime! When I was walking to the subway in Chelsea I heard an argument coming from one of the rooftops. It was too dark for me to see clearly but I made out three of y’all—“

The blue masked one turned to glare at the others.

“—then y’all like- hopped to another building! Since then I’ve been kinda lookin’ for you guys I just didn’t assume you’d be…”

“Mutants?” Donnie said, raising an eyebrow, a thick layer of sarcasm in his voice.

“…Yeah? I mean can you blame me?! I wasn’t expecting to find giant sewer monsters—“

“Harsh.” The orange one said.

“—hiding beneath New York! Like— what are you guys exactly? And—“

She whips her head around.

“—where the hell are we?”

The blue one stepped forward.

“Well, I guess it’s time for introductions—“

“I guess it’s time for introductions!” The red one repeated in a mocking tone. “Seriously dude, you sound like a guidance counsellor.”

“—Anyway,” the blue one continued. “We’re mutant turtles, we were created in a lab, we aren’t sure who created us but we were saved by our mutant rat dad and we’ve been living in the sewers ever since.”

April blinked before closing her eyes and nodding slowly. “Okay. I’m gonna need a second to process that. You can continue.”

“I’m Leonardo, but y’know— most people call me Leo.”

“By ‘most people’ you mean the three out of four people you know.”

Leo glared at the red masked one.

“The nice one over there is Raph—“

Raph greeted her with a slight upwards nod.

“I’m Mikey!” The orange one jumps in, giving a slight wave.

“—And that’s Donnie.” Leo finished.

April turned to meet the eyes of Donnie, who was still glaring at her.

“Uhm..nice to meet ya’ll, I’m April.” She said, turning back to Leo, who smiled before glancing around.

“As for where we are…we also have no clue.”

“We looked around for a little bit after waking up.” Mikey added. “There’s a tunnel that leads that way but we didn’t wanna leave you here.”

“Oh…thanks.” April replied, almost wincing at how flat she sounded.

She looked up at the giant hole they fell through and frowned. They fell from that high up? How was she practically uninjured?

Falling from that height was more than enough to kill someone.

Well, one thing was clear: there was no way they were climbing outta there. The tunnel they fell through wasn’t rock, the walls were a smooth metal, which meant there was nothing they could use to climb.

She glanced a bit more at their surroundings. The space around them was mostly shadows, but the walls — rough and rocky — felt more like a cave than anything manmade.

“I suggest now that she’s awake we take a look at what’s down that tunnel. Doesn’t seem like we have any other option.” Donnie said, using the flashlight in his staff to inspect the walls.

April turned to Leo, who nodded.

“He’s right, we really don’t have any other option.”

He placed one hand on his hip, using the other to point to the tunnel. “Alright, team! Let’s—“

“Here he goes.”

“How much do you wanna bet he’s rewatching Lord of the Rings again?” Raph snorted.

“Please Leo, spare usss.” Mikey whined as the three brothers walked past him.

Leo sighed, shoulders slumping as he turned back to April. “You coming?”

April shook her head, snapping out of her daze. “Yeah, yeah I’m coming.”

The tunnel was weird. Honestly it was beyond weird. April looked around at the others, finding slight comfort in the fact that she wasn’t the only one who was clearly unsettled.

“Jeez, the air in here feels prehistoric.” Raph said, looking around.

Donnie traced a hand along the wall, brushing the dust off some sort of writing and leaning in to inspect it.

“I’ve never seen this alphabet before. Whatever it is, it’s not even close to any discovered language.” He mumbled to himself, snapping a photo with his phone.

“Could be that some sewer worker got bored and decided to doodle,” Mikey offered, peeking over Donnie’s shoulder.

“Seems more like they went crazy and started scribblin’ random shit,” Raph added, arms crossed.

Donnie ignored them, still inspecting the odd writing.

April felt an odd pressure in her skull as she looked at the writing. She must’ve hit her head hard.

“Maybe it’s an unfinished expansion that got sealed off.” She chimed in, causing Donnie to roll his eyes.

What the hell was his problem?

“I doubt this was the work of anybody associated with the DEP.” He said, his voice clipped. “The way this area is carved out wouldn’t even function as a sewer.”

“Well then what do you think it is?” April snapped back. If her suggestion was so stupid then she was very interested in hearing what his theory was.

“If I knew, I would’ve said. We’ll have to keep going. Maybe we’ll find something further in.”

Great.

The air felt more and more stuffy as they continued down the tunnel, and April felt the strong urge to cough. The dampness added an uncomfortably sticky sensation to her skin. She wiped some sweat from her brow, the humidity was really getting to her.

The turtles seemed fine though. They were cold blooded right? This place probably felt like a nice breeze for them.

She glanced ahead as Raph and Mikey shoved each other playfully, laughing under their breath. Donnie, noticeably annoyed, drifted farther away from them.

They seemed oddly calm about the situation they were in.

“You seem oddly calm.” Leo’s voice broke through her thoughts, causing her to jump a little bit.

“Oh—! Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. It’s just…” he looked at his brothers and back at her. “I expected a bit more about the whole—“ his hand moved to gesture to his face and body. “—turtle thing.”

“I think I may have freaked out more under any other circumstance.” She said, gesturing to the tunnel they were in.

Leo let out a small laugh. “That’s fair.”

“So,” he added, “what part of New York are you from?”

“Brooklyn, Bay Ridge area. Live there with my dad.”

“That’s awesome, I love Brooklyn! We live beneath midtown…in the sewer.”

“Better than payin’ rent in midtown…” April said.

“Guys! I found something!” Mikey called out, voice echoing through the tunnel. He waved them over, crouched in front of what looked like—

“Check it out! It’s like some kinda door!”

It did look like a door, but not like any door April had ever seen before. It reminded her of something from a sci-fi film—massive, metallic, and seamless. A pair of heavy sliding panels, set into the wall like they were waiting to come alive.

“I can’t— ngh— get it open!” Raph grunted in frustration, trying to pry it open with his bare hands.

“Skipped arm day?” Mikey snorted, causing Raph to shoot him a murderous glare.

“It has more of that weird language on it.” Donnie noted, inspecting the writing further as if he stared at it more it would start to make sense.

April blinked, feeling an odd pressure in her skull. She blinked again, once, twice. Suddenly, pain cracked through her skull like a splitting seam. Her vision blurred—one door became two, and both swam.

“What’s wrong with her?” Raph questioned, causing the others to turn to April.

“My head…” April groaned, grinding her teeth together as she took off her glasses. She could feel her pulse pounding behind her eyelids as she rubbed them, the ache moving beneath her skin.

“A concussion?” Leo asked, stepping toward her.

“No,” Donnie answered quickly, already moving in. “I checked her earlier—no concussion symptoms. Not classic ones, anyway. This might be something else. It could be—”

April opened her eyes suddenly, sucking in a breath. The pain was suddenly…gone. Not fading, not dulled, just completely gone. Like someone had pulled the plug and drained it away.

Her eyes met the text.

She could read it.

The text itself was unchanged, the markings themselves still foreign, but the meaning of it clicked in her brain, like when she understood the occasional word in Spanish class or when she came across a Swahili word she recognised.

What the hell had just happened to her brain?

“….Laboratory.” she said, her voice a mix of shock and epiphany.

“Uhh…what?” Leo said, taking a step closer to her.

“The door it— it says laboratory! I— I can read it!” April said, turning to face the others, all with varying levels of disbelief on their faces.

Donnie stared at her with a skeptical expression.

“I’m checking for a concussion again,” he muttered, already raising his flashlight.

“No I’m serious!” She said moving closer to the door. “It says laboratory it—“ she placed a hand on the door, trailing off as a pink light bloomed beneath her palm.

The door shuddered. A low, mechanical groan echoed through the tunnel as the panels slid open.

There was a beat of silence.

“…How did you do that?” Donnie demanded, stomping toward April.

“I—I don’t know—hey! Back the fuck up.” She stepped toward him, head held high now, eyes hard.

“Donnie,” Leo said, voice sharp. He grabbed his brother’s shoulder, pulling him back. “Give her some space.”

“She has to know something. She has to—this makes no sense!” Donnie snapped, eyes still locked on April like she was a problem he couldn’t solve.

“This makes no sense to me either!” April shot back, exasperated. “What even is your problem? You’ve been movin’ mad since the second I climbed into that sewer! Like what’s the problem?”

A quiet “Ooooh…” came from Raph and Mikey, both clearly somewhat entertained.

“My problem—“

“Guys!” Leo cut in, voice sharp. “Please can we shelf this conversation until later?” He pleaded, eyes darting between the two of them.

April gave one last hard glance at Donnie before pushing past him and moving into the lab.

As the others followed in behind her, she overheard the whispered conversation between Donnie and Leo.

“—are you three so quick to trust her?”

“She’s a random civilian we nearly scared to death, the least we can do is work with her to get out of here!”

“How do you explain her knowing this— this random language? She was investigating us Leo, she said it herself!”

April grit her teeth and tuned them out, choosing to instead focus on the lab.

The air inside was thicker and stuffier than the tunnel, she could see the dust particles flying through the air, clearly having been sealed inside here for years. Aprils eyes watered as she coughed.

The room was circular and mostly empty. The floor was metal, dust gathered thick in the corners. The walls sloped inward slightly, giving the place a strange, enclosed feeling. There were no lights overhead — only a dull glow from long-dead power lines, pulsing faintly behind glass tubing that snaked along the ceiling.

And at the center of the room stood something massive. A metal ring, easily ten feet tall, anchored to the floor with support pylons. It looked dormant, but even in its silence, it radiated tension — like it was waiting for something.

It looked like no technology any of them had ever seen before.

“What the fuck is this place?” Raph muttered, walking up to the structure.

Donnie inspected the sleek glass control panel, experimentally pressing around until a whirring sound comes from the machine, stirring it to life.

A hologram appeared before him, the light from it illuminating the walls in a pink hue as more of the unknown symbols reflecting on the screen.

April blinked, squinting at the interface.

“…It’s asking,” she said slowly, “where you wanna go.”

“It’s a portal.” Donnie said, tone laced with fascination. He turned to April.

“Does it have any further instructions?”

April squinted at the glowing symbols hovering above the panel.

“Uhh… the button underneath says coordinates.”

Donnie tapped it.

A soft mechanical click answered as the interface shifted — the display now showing what looked like a flat keyboard and an empty bar waiting to be filled.

Leo stepped closer, eyes scanning the strange symbols that hovered where letters should’ve been.

“I’m guessing these are… numbers?” he asked April.

She nodded slowly, but didn’t look convinced.

“They look like it, but… I dunno. They don’t feel like numbers. Not the way we use ’em.”

Donnie pulled out his phone, already typing. “If I read out the lair’s coordinates, do you think you can translate them?”

April hesitated.

“I… think so?”

She stepped into Donnie’s place at the panel, shielding her eyes as the pink glow flared brighter.

The keyboard blinked, symbols rearranging as her gaze moved across them. There was a strange rhythm forming in her head—like she was remembering instead of figuring it out.

“Uhm…is this a good idea?” Mikey said, his tone a tad shaky.

“I’m with Mikey, we don’t even know who made this stuff. I don’t wanna end up gettin’ blown up or somthin’.”

Leo looked at Raph and Mikey before glancing back to Donnie.

“I-I don’t think we have any other option guys.”

With that confirmation, Donnie turned back to the coordinates on his phone.

“Okay. Forty point seventy-five—”

April blinked.

“Wait, wait!”

“—Four nine—”

“I said hold on!” she snapped, fingers flying across the panel.

Donnie rolled his eyes.

“And… negative seventy-two point nine four four zero.”

A final key lit up.

The bar filled.

The portal ring behind them groaned.

Something had accepted the input.

7 notes · View notes