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April’s eyes glazed over for the fifth time.
“Got me again, hm?” Donnie said in that over confident tone of his, finger under his chin. “It seems you’ve been practicing.”
Holly Blue, the mutant wasp, sat on the other side of the chess board, her antenna moving up and down as she stared at him. “Perhaps. Leonardo also wished to improve.”
“Hah, that’s where you’re learning all these tactics.” He studied the board, squinting, trying to calculate a next move.
It’s not that April hated chess, but when she wasn’t the one playing, it became very hard to pay attention.
But what else was she going to do? Splinter was just watching TV and Mikey and Raph went out to do some mystic training. And Leo was, apparently, at Hueso’s. Maybe she should just go home? But that seemed rude after asking Donnie if she could come hang out. Besides, college kept her so busy as of late she hadn’t been around as much as she’d like. She should take any chance she got to spend time down here.
Maybe she should just ask if they wanted to do something else after this game.
Before doing that, she pulled out her phone as Donnie finally made his next move. Nothing interesting on her socials, maybe a couple of cute animal videos, not even the news updates were grabbing her.
Just then a new text notification popped up at the top of the screen. April’s face brightened when she saw Sunita’s name and icon—a cute sprite of a blob monster from a video game. April opened it right away.
>Hey girl, are you busy? Do you want to go somewhere tonight?
Yes, finally, a girl’s night. Sure, April saw Sunita a lot at college but it’d been ages since they both went with Cassandra somewhere.
>Of course! It’s cool if I invite Casey too, right?
April glanced back up at the game while waiting for a reply.
She could see Donnie’s eyebrow twitch as he stared at the board. She glanced over the pieces herself, noting that while he had a number of moves he could make, they would all result in one of his own pieces getting taken out.
“Losing, Donnie?” April smirked.
“It’s not over until it’s over.” He pointed at her.
April went back to her phone as she shook her head.
>Yeah, that’s fine! The more the merrier!
The message was followed by a handful of grinning emoji.
April sent the invite to Cassandra and honed back in on the game. Holly’s confidence hadn’t faltered in the slightest while Donnie kept looking more and more frustrated. Then again, the soft shell was far more competitive than the wasp.
Thinking of her, April watched her for a bit. She saw Holly plenty of times since she’d visit the lair often when her and Donnie weren’t working in the Hidden City. But April and the wasp hadn’t really hung out.
Which was a shame. She seemed cool.
Maybe…
“Hey, Holly.” April straightened up in her chair. “Do you want to join me, Sunita and Casey out on a girl’s night?”
Holly’s orange eyes glanced over at her. “Girl’s Night?”
“Yeah, it’s when all the gals just enjoy each other’s company. Donnie can come too, if he wants.”
Donnie hadn’t looked up from the chess board. “As much as I love girl’s nights, I may pass this time. Between work and my scales flaking I haven’t been sleeping well.” Speaking of which, he rolled up the sleeve of his jacket just a hair as he scratched at his wrist. The golden flame-like scars that were caused by Mikey’s magic overloading were still as prominent as when he got them, and while they’d healed just fine, it seems it had some side affects to his skin.
“Quit scratching.” Holly lectured him. “And make your next move.”
“You have put me in quite the difficult predicament.”
“Is that not the point of the game?”
April tried to veer the topic back. “Would you like to go, Holly?”
“I am not overly fond of wandering around the surface.” Holly watched Donatello finally move one of his bishops and moved her knight to take it out. “Apologies.”
“Why? Do you need one of those cloaking brooches? We can find you one.”
Holly shook her head. “I already have one.”
“You do?”
“You do?” Donnie repeated the question as he sat up, attention finally off the chess board.
“Of course, I have to do business exchanges on the surface sometimes.” Her mandibles clicked together a few times. “But even in a human disguise I can’t seem to stop drawing attention to myself.”
April frowned and tilted her head. “Why? Is there something off about the disguise?”
“I don’t know.” The wasp sighed and reached up to her hat. “Why don’t you tell me?” She tapped the flower that sat on the side of it.
Her body was enveloped in a deep blue light, and after a couple of seconds her wasp form shifted into that of a middle aged woman.
And April understood immediately why she kept drawing attention. Beautiful brown skin, short and perfectly curled black hair, sharp cheek bones, and brown eyes that almost looked orange. Not to mention the sharp eyeliner, blue eyeshadow, and navy lipstick.
Her dress remained the same shade of light blue, but instead of being a wrap it turned into a sleeveless v-neck.
Holly Blue stared at her, and then Donnie. Both of them stayed silent, and eventually Holly tapped her painted nails on the chess board.
The noise snapped April out of her trance. “Um, okay, so no there’s nothing wrong with it?” She squeaked and then laughed to get rid of the nerves. God, April, get it together you already have a crush. “Just seems that you’re uh, really pretty, no matter what form you’re in.”
Holly snorted and turned the cloaking off. “I find it hard to believe I’m so beautiful that people don’t have better things to do.”
April almost argued with that. “Well, some humans just… you know. You see someone you think is so pretty you have to say something to them, I guess. Not the point. If you want to go, me and the gals can make certain that no one bothers you.”
Holly squinted at her. “You seem rather eager for me to go.”
“I mean? It’d be nice to hang out with you. Outside of the lair I mean.”
“April does have a point.” Donnie returned to the chess board. “If you became more adapted to the surface, you and I could also visit some places together.”
“I fail to see what you have up here that I don’t have in the Hidden City.” She crossed her arms. “But if you want me to go that badly, I suppose I can give it a try.”
“Good.” Donnie slumped in his chair. “Because I’m pretty sure this match is over.”
“Is that you conceding defeat?”
“Yes.”
April smiled at Holly’s laughter and finally looked at her phone again. Casey replied in their group chat to say she was coming. Her and Sunita were already discussing meet up places.
A: Is it cool with you guys if Holly Blue comes?
April bit her lip as she waited for a response.
C: Sounds fun. Invite her.
S: Sure! It’d be cool to talk to her.
Good. With all of that confirmed, April scrolled through the meet up ideas to find one to add onto.
Holly Blue and Donnie worked on putting away the pieces of his fancy chess set when April finally spoke up.
“Hey, Holly, how do you feel about tacos?”
“So explain this to me again.” Holly Blue shifted into her disguise as the pair of them reached the streets. “We are getting food from a… truck?”
“Yeah, a food truck.” April smiled and lead the way. “They’re like street vendors.”
“Ah, I see. And tacos are…”
“What, the Hidden City doesn’t have tacos?” She couldn’t help but laugh. “You guys are missing out.”
“If we do have them, I haven’t tried one. Keep in mind my diet mostly consists of sweets, even if I can eat other things.”
“Oh, that’s right.” April tapped her chin. “That’s fine though, if you don’t like tacos we can get you some of their churros.”
Holly frowned. “I don’t know what those are either.”
“Fried dough covered in sugar.”
That made her flash a smile, if only for a second. “Ah, now you have my attention.”
April laughed again and kept up her pace. The streets got a bit more crowded as they reached the main road. A few blocks down was a lot where a bunch of the food trucks hung out at night. April already told Cassandra and Sunita to meet them there.
“I also wonder…” Holly’s sandals clicked against the concrete. Odd for her steps to sound like that. “I have met Cassandra a few times, but I’ve only met Sunita once or twice. She’s your college… friend?”
April raised an eyebrow at the tone on that last word. “Yeah. I mean we met in high school but we’re friends. She doesn’t come down to the lair too often. We usually just hang out one on one.”
“I see.” Holly nodded. Her hands kept fidgeting with the strap on her dress. “But she’s a yōkai, correct?”
“Yeah, one of those slime ones. I bet you’ve seen her dad at Hueso’s, right? Exploding Frankie?”
Holly pressed her lips together as she frowned. It was interesting how expressive she was in this form, or maybe it was just easier to read with her eyebrows and mouth. “Oh, I know him.”
April tilted her head. “Something wrong?”
“No, no.” She waved a hand. “He’s quite friendly and polite. But more than once a piece of him has landed on my antenna. Imagine having some of that flying up your nose.”
“Ahhh…” April cringed. “Can’t lie, since befriending Sunita I’ve kinda gotten used to that.”
Holly’s steps slowed and she stared. “You’ve gotten some of Sunita stuck up your nose?”
“No!” April shouted and then laughed. “Just, having the goop all over me. She usually reforms pretty fast so it’s not a big deal. I think it’s cool she can do that.”
Holly hummed and looked forward again. “How did you two become friends. Through the turtles?”
“Nah, she transferred into my high school in disguise. She just wanted to live human culture, and had the brooch to help her out. She kinda showed up around a time where I wanted ‘normal’ human friends.” April made air quotes and laughed about the memory. “And then the girl I pick to hang out with is a yōkai, go figure. But, that’s fine.” She skipped a step, feeling her cheeks heating up. “She’s really cool, and fun to hang out with, and we gel super well, pun not intended.”
Holly smiled at her. “I see.”
“Enough about that.” They were getting closer to the food trucks. April could smell the spices, the grease, and the sugar all floating through the evening air. “Speaking of Hueso’s, have you gone to see him recently?”
One of Holly’s eyebrows twitched, but not like she was annoyed, more like she was trying to flick it like one of her antenna. “What makes you so curious about that? I never took you as someone into gossip.”
April scoffed. “I want to be an investigative reporter. I live for gossip. Come on, girl, spill. He seems like someone who’d spoil you on a romantic evening.”
Holly crossed her arms. “Oh, he tries to. I rarely let him take it too far, as flattering as it is. I’m not one for the long term.”
April frowned. “Why not?”
She didn’t get an answer to that question. Suddenly her vision went dark and April would have grabbed the cause to toss it over her shoulder until she heard Sunita’s familiar giggles.
“Sunita.” April smiled as she glared, moving her friend’s hands away from her eyes. “I told you to be careful doing that. You know my reflexes.”
“Psh, like I can’t take a hit from you.” She looked cute tonight, as if she didn’t on a regular basis anyway. New lipstick color to match her plumb top that only covered one shoulder. She had on a high waisted skirt, the kind you could twirl in, covered in a beautiful pattern of purple roses and sparkle effects.
April blinked to make herself stop staring. “Your outfit looks great. Is the skirt new?”
“Yes.” She smiled and spun it around. “I ordered it online. And it has pockets.”
April and her made a similar shout of joy.
Holly’s laughter reminded April that the wasp was there. “Ah, Sunita, this is—”
“Miss Holly Blue?” Sunita tilted her head. “Is that you? Wow, your brooch makes you look so different.”
“I could say the same to you.” Holly gestured. “But it suits you.”
“So does yours.” She put her hands behind her back as she grinned.
“It has its uses. But it doesn’t disguise me nearly as well as I’d like.” Her gaze became sharp, looking over Sunita’s head.
April followed her gaze, spotting the group of guys across the street who kept staring in their direction. Not even in a rude way, more like in awe.
“Come on, let’s get to the trucks.” April urged. “It’ll be easier to blend in there.
April tried so hard not to laugh at all the faces Holly made at her taco. None of them were disgust really, just sheer confusion.
“What’s wrong?” Cassandra, who sat next to her, studied her face as well.
“I have never eaten one of these before. Just how do you hold it?”
“Here.” Sunita chimed in as she picked up one of hers. “Like this. Then you turn your head and take a bite.”
“That looks uncomfortable.” Holly frowned. “It may also be a poor time to mention I haven’t eaten in this disguise before. I hope I don’t embarrass myself.”
April swallowed what remained of her laughter. “Huh, I didn’t think about how different your mouth would be between those.”
“Well, I can speak with it just fine. I’m sure I can manage this.”
April pretended to focus on her own food, but kept casting Holly a glance as she carefully picked up the taco, as if it would jump up and bite her.
Eventually, she took a bite, and while she seemed unsure at first, her expression relaxed as she started chewing.
“Is it good?” Sunita bounced in her seat.
Holly nodded. “A rather interesting blend of—” Suddenly she flinched and put a hand to her mouth.
April straightened up. “Uh oh, too spicy?”
“No.” Holly swallowed, keeping her mouth covered. “I think… I bit my lip.”
“Ouch.” Cassandra cringed. “I hate when that happens.”
“Having lips is terrible.” Holly mumbled.
“I’d agree if kissing didn’t exist.” April said. She wound up glancing in Sunita’s direction, finding her friend looking right at her, and then snapped her gaze forward again. “Anyway, do you want to borrow some ice from my drink?”
Holly shook her head. “I’ll be fine in a few moments.”
They kept eating and chattering away, each of them taking turns to talk about the goings on in life. Cassandra was proud to announce that the city approved of her setting up her own hockey team with the girls in her brownie scouts. Apparently it’d been the kids idea, since they got banned from the martial arts tournaments. Cassandra ranted about that one for weeks.
“It’s not their fault their opponents were so weak.” She would say.
Sunita mostly had the same college stories that April did, but she mentioned she’d have a part time job this coming summer working with her dad at Hueso’s.
Holly Blue hummed at that information. “I’ll be sure to start bringing a parasol to the restaurant.”
Sunita laughed, loud, dimples forming on her cheek as she smiled. April couldn’t keep herself from grinning, trying not to giggle from the bubbles in her chest. Focus. Now wasn’t the time to stare wistfully as the beautiful girl sitting next to her.
It took some coaxing to get Holly Blue to talk. Donnie mentioned once or twice that the wasp didn’t like talking about herself, but somehow April didn’t realize it was this bad. At least asking about work made it easier. But the table could only take so much business jargon—though Cassandra got invested at least.
“Anything else happening in the Hidden City?” April eventually tried, glancing at Sunita as well in the process. “I mean, I still haven’t been back since…”
Since that afternoon in the bagel shop went horribly wrong. She’d gone down there so many times without incident, and then that stupid magpie or whatever had to show up when Mikey was already having a hard time.
“If you’re referring to the social climate.” Holly Blue bit through her churros. The wasp finished her taco a while ago and was now going through two whole orders of the fried dough. Apparently she liked them. “It is… improving. I believe. Sometimes it’s hard for me to judge since I built so much of a reputation down there.”
“If you’re worried about going back I bet no one would bother you with Miss Blue or Donnie around.” Sunita smiled at her and gave a nervous laugh. “I uh, kinda miss hanging out with you down there.”
“Yeah, I know.” April sighed. “I just deal with enough of… that up here, you know? I really don’t want to deal with it down there.”
Cassandra snorted. “Bite them, then.”
“Casey, you’re not wrong but I don’t think making myself a threat would make it easier for me to be allowed to walk around.”
“Bite the counsel then.”
Holly snorted. “I don’t think they have physical forms.”
Cassandra rolled her eyes. “That’s never stopped me before.”
April tilted her head as she narrowed her eyes. “Casey, what does that even mean?”
No chance for an answer. Movement on her left had her glancing over just in time to see a group of guys approach their table. One of them leaned on it with both hands.
“Evening ladies.” His smile was friendly in all the worst ways. “Out here by yourselves?”
“Uh, we’re clearly in a group.” April gestured to the others, already seeing the very dangerous glare on both Holly and Cassandra’s faces.
“You know what I mean. Would you ladies care to—”
“No.” Holly interrupted and stood. A couple of the guys stumbled back, probably surprised by how tall she is. “I suggest you boys move on.”
“Aw, come on miss, we’re just trying to—”
“Do you not comprehend language?” Cassandra interrupted this time, but when she jumped up she landed right on the table, getting in the guy’s face. “Back off before I use your front teeth to decorate my new fish tank!”
“Ooh,” Sunita clapped, her tone seemingly unbothered. “You’re getting fish, Casey?”
Cassandra glanced back at her, face much more relaxed. “Yes, just a beta, but I have been researching proper tank care for them.”
“I love those, they’re so pretty.”
“Pretty and deadly!” She turned back to the guy near the table and grabbed his shirt. “Fish that fight to the death. Do you wish to find out why I find kinship with them?”
The guy finally shook his head and stumbled back when she let him go. Him and his friends all hurried off, glancing back and mumbling.
“Your direct approach is appreciated, Cassandra.” Holly Blue crossed her arms. “But you are standing in my last churro.”
April looked down the same time Cassandra did to see that it was indeed true. Her boot had completely crushed the paper tray and the sugary treat within.
She shouted in surprised and hopped off, but the damage was done.
“My deepest apologies.” She bowed. “I shall by another to amend this.”
Holly Blue held out a hand and shook her head. “No, it was just the last one. And I don’t think I need another order of those.” The hand moved to her cheek as she sighed. “Or I may end up buzzing around all night.”
Sunita giggled, finishing off her drink. “We should probably move on anyway. Where to next?”
April thought it over. Where should they go? Usually the three of them did something sporty like laser tag or the arcade, but April suspected Holly wouldn’t be that into it.
“Um, what do you usually do in your spare time?” April decided to ask her.
Holly gathered her trash up into a single pile. “Me? Well, I often just fly around. I suppose these days I also spend time with Donatello, or go and see some of my friends for ah… social hour.” The smile on her face indicated that it was more than that, but she didn’t say anything else as she carried her trash to the bin.
“Maybe we should just walk for a bit?” Sunita stood. “Walk off dinner and get some ideas.”
Yeah, that could work, maybe they’d stumble upon a shop or something that caught their interest.
April helped clear away the rest of the trash and the group gathered together as they started to walk. The chatter began anew, though it was mostly Sunita asking Cassandra about her new fish and what betas even needed for a tank. Turns out Cassandra wasn’t kidding when she said she did research.
“I find it strange to even think about you keeping fish in a tank.” Holly’s gaze kept drifting upwards, clearly thinking about something else. “It just seems like… a punishment.”
“A too small of a tank certainly is.” Cassandra huffed as she crossed her arms.
Holly just hummed in agreement, then visibly shrugged off whatever thought that lingered in her mind.
They kept walking, kept chatting, only pausing at the sound of a dumpster in a nearby ally. April glanced down it and instantly recognized Hueso who must have just emerged from the portal there.
“Hey!” April called out and darted over, her friends following. “Funny running into you tonight.”
Hueso jumped a bit at her voice, but instantly relaxed when he saw her. “Ah, good evening señoritas.” He nodded to the other girls. “Having a girls night out on the town?”
“Something like that.” Sunita smiled.
Hueso fixed his gaze on her. “Another group outing, huh?”
Sunita’s laugh turned nervous for some reason. “Well, you know—”
“Good evening, Señor.” Holly Blue interrupted.
The skeleton’s gaze moved up. “My apologies, have we met?”
April snorted. “What? Have you not seen Holly in her disguise before?”
His brows shot up and his pose somehow became far more rigid. “Goodness, my apologies, Azulita.”
Holly Blue laughed and stepped closer to him. “No need for apologies, I imagine I look quite different.”
“Ah, but I should have recognized the wonderful sound of your voice.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it.
April couldn’t hold back a giggle, Sunita mirroring it.
Holly rolled her eyes but didn’t scold them.
“Rare to see you on the surface, is there a special occasion?” Hueso let go of her and put his arms behind his back.
“April invited me out.” Holly gestured to her. “She made it very convincing.”
“Hey, you’re having fun, right?” April put her hands in her pockets and grinned.
“It’s not unpleasant.”
“What does that mean?”
Holly chuckled again and April could see the stars in Hueso’s eyes before he adjusted his hat to cover it up.
“Oh, maybe Hueso has some ideas for what we could do next?” Sunita leaned around Holly Blue’s tall frame. “What do you think Miss Blue would like to do on the surface?”
Hueso hummed and put a hand to his chin. “If she is looking for a unique experience you all could try going to the theme park. The Hidden City doesn’t have entertainment like that.”
“Really?” April tilted her head. “I figured they’d have something like crazy coasters.”
“There are some rides for entertainment but,” he drew out that word. “As you can imagine, with the many shapes and sizes yōkai come in, it is rather difficult to design rides for everyone.”
Oh, yeah, that made a lot of sense.
“Oh we could go on the ferris wheel there.” Sunita suddenly slid over to April, grabbing her hand.
April prayed no one heard the embarrassing squeak that escaped from her mouth. “Oh, yeah, I guess we could.”
She could see Hueso’s gaze darting between them before it moved back to Holly Blue. “Hopefully you’ll find it entertaining, Azulita.”
“It sounds harmless enough.” She leaned forward and kissed the skeleton on the cheek, leaving a clear blue lipstick mark.
April almost laughed at the grin on his face, but then Holly straightened up way too fast. Her gaze moved behind them, toward the end of the ally.
April looked back as well, but didn’t see anything.
“Everything okay?” Cassandra asked, already in a fighting stance.
“Ah, yes, my apologies.” Holly brushed her hair behind her ear. “I thought I heard something is all. Is the theme park far?”
“Not if we get on the subway.” Sunita jumped. “Let’s get going. See you later Señor.”
“Ah, yes.” Hueso cleared his throat. “Have a good night, señoritas.”
Sunita started back towards the sidewalk, and only then did April realize she was still holding her hand.
Okay, maybe the subway wasn’t the greatest idea. Not so much because of the usual crowd but because Holly Blue had to not only duck to get through the door but had to hunch hover to comfortably fit in the cabin.
“Probably should have considered this.” April sighed.
“It is what it is.” Holly’s eyes kept darting around, studying the people in the cabin. At least the train wasn’t as packed as it could be, since they were way past the hour when people traversed for work. So while they had to stand instead of sit, they had enough space to move their arms around.
All four of them hung onto the same pole, hands in different places.
“I confess, however,” Holly still kept looking around as she spoke quietly. “I may fly to our next destination instead.”
“I prefer roof hopping anyway.” Cassandra snorted.
April sighed. “Not everyone is as fit as you, Casey.”
“Then train more.”
“We’ve been over this—”
“So, Holly.” Sunita interrupted the conversation. “I’ve seen you at the restaurant before but I was never sure. Are you and Hueso going out?”
Holly’s eyebrow twitched. “I assume by ‘going out’ you’re asking if we are romantically involved. I suppose we are, but it is nothing serious.”
April remembered her earlier question that got interrupted. “But why? He’s definitely into you. Sorry for the joke, but I didn’t think a skeleton could look so alive.”
Sunita giggled. “Oh I’ve seen it. I guess you mostly see him when he’s having to deal with Leo though.”
“Hah, is that it? Leo just sucks the life out of him?”
Holly snorted and shifted her head to tilt a different way. “Make no mistake, Hueso adores Leonardo.”
“Hueso’s always been a softie.” Sunita nodded. “But that doesn’t answer our question.”
Holly Blue’s gaze finally fixed on Sunita and April. “I don’t know, April. Why don’t you get serious with your crush?”
Oh. April had not been prepared for that line of attack. The heat rushed to her face and she almost let go of the bar to cover her cheeks.
“Huh?” Sunita sounded baffled. “You have a crush?”
Even Cassandra stared at her with wide eyes.
“I… huh?” April burst out laughing to hide her nerves. “What? No. She’s just making things up to embarrass me.” She shot Holly a look, trying to convey that this wasn’t something they should talk about.
Holly Blue almost looked disgusted, possibly for being called a liar, but then she looked away.
“Anyway!” April scrambled to change the subject. “What should we do first at the amusement park?”
Well, calling it a full on theme park seemed like a stretch. The place only had one coaster, but at least all the carnival games, ferris wheel, and a few other spinning rides made the place feel alive. April just wished they’d install a go-kart track, but that’d probably be hard to put right over the water.
The girls all walked in, Sunita already marveling over the lights as if she and April hadn’t come here a dozen times before. Cassandra seemed unimpressed, but April could see her friend eyeing the various carnival games. No doubt she’d try to conquer all of them before the end of the night.
Holly Blue squinted as she looked around, wrinkling her nose a few times.
“What’s up?” April watched her various expressions.
“Ah, nothing. It’s just so much harder to decipher smells like this.” She pinched her nose. “But something certainly smells… sweet.”
“Funnel cakes.” Sunita cheered. “Why don’t we start there.”
“As curious as I am, we just had dinner. Perhaps later.”
“Games it is then.” Cassandra announced and grabbed Sunita by the arm. “Girl squadron, let’s move.”
April would have made a joke about the name, but Cassandra took off with Sunita, so they had no choice but to follow.
Her guess had been right, at least. Cassandra took out stand after stand of the games, regardless of how rigged they were built. Bottles and little cardboard enemies were knocked clean over. Rings landed on every single peg. Targets were hit dead center.
“Okay, Casey.” April had a hand on her hip. “Glad you’re having fun but uh… we can’t carry all of these.”
Cassandra shot her a glare, one arm full of various small plushes and the other holding a teddy bear almost the same size as her.
“She uh, does have a point.” Sunita gave a nervous laugh.
“Fine. I have a simple solution.” She tried to reach for her phone, but ultimately couldn’t reach it. “April. Text Donnie to make a pick up at our location. Most of these are for Raph anyway.”
“Aw.” Sunita put her hands on her cheeks. “That’s so sweet of you Casey.”
Cassandra grumbled for a few moments and then finally spoke up. “He mentioned a number of his old ones were ruined when Shredder destroyed their old home so…”
Ah, so it was a mixture of kindness and guilt. April wanted to point out how sweet the thought was regardless, but ultimately decided this was just something between Cassandra and Raph. She pulled out her phone and sent Donnie the text. The reply was instant, a long trail of question marks. April just replied back that Cassandra kept winning prizes at the boardwalk. He sent a frowny face, but then announced Shelldon was on the way with a net. They would have to meet him at one of the far corners, however.
April passed along the message. “Shelldon’s on the way, we just gotta wait near the back.”
“Let’s do a few more games while we wait.” Sunita smiled. “I wanna win one this time.”
The group shuffled past a few more stalls, having to drag Cassandra away from challenging another while her arms remained full.
April actually saw Holly Blue eyeing one of them, the strength test of all things. Her gaze was fixed on the prize wall next to it.
“April.” She held out a hand, not even looking in her direction. “May I borrow a few of those dollars?”
“Huh? Sure.” April fished out another five. “See something you like?”
“No, something Donatello might like, I think.”
Huh? April scanned the wall, and only then did she the single Atomic Lass plush. She snorted. Yeah, Donnie probably would like that.
Cassandra with her cluster of plushes, pushed past April. “Move, I need to see this.”
Yeah, so did April. She already knew the wasp was stronger than she looked, seeing her pick up Donnie with little effort more than once. But was it enough for something like this?
“The hammer, if you please.” The disguised wasp held out the five dollar bill.
The young man running the stand eyed her up and down, looking confused. “You sure, ma’am?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay,” He traded the money for the hammer. “Don’t hurt yourself.”
“Your concern is appreciated.” Holly turned the hammer in her grip a few times, obviously getting a feel for the weight of it.
Then her stance shifted and she tossed the hammer back before bringing it down on the target.
The wood of the pier shifted from the impact and the bell rung so loud that a lot of people nearby went silent.
“Oh my gosh.” Sunita squished her cheeks. “If I thought she was attractive before.”
April snorted. “Huh? What?”
“I mean, nothing serious of course.” She stuck out her tongue. “But I have working eyes.”
“Yeah, that’s fair.” April nodded.
Holly fixed her hair as she handed the hammer back and pointed to the plush. The young man handed it to her, eyes still wide in awe.
Holly Blue came back over, keeping the plush close to her person. “I suppose that was a bit unfair of me, wasn’t it.”
“It was incredible.” Cassandra shouted. “Were my arms not full I would see if I could do even better.”
Holly’s eyebrow twitched. “Well, me being a wasp gives me a bit of an advantage.”
“Sure,” April shrugged. “But I didn’t know you knew how to swing a hammer.”
“Training with Donatello from time to time has various advantages.”
With that they moved along, just in time to get an alert text from Donnie that Shelldon should be there. They all headed to the back of the pier, handing off the plushes. Shelldon whined when he saw the giant teddy bear, but didn’t protest further.
Holly gave him the Atomic Lass plush as well, telling him that one was for Donnie, if he wanted to deliver it.
“Oh he’s gonna love this.” Shelldon chimed, making sure the net was secure as he hovered up. “I’m gonna dip though, there’s some kind of weird signal buzzing around here I don’t like.”
April frowned. “Like, the radio tower?”
“Dunno, I don’t have the equipment here to isolate it.” His rotors shrugged. “See you all later!” He darted off into the sky.
“So,” Holly hummed. “What now?”
“More prizes.” Cassandra shouted.
“Casey, no.” April groaned.
“We could um, check out the ferris wheel.” Sunita offered.
Yeah, maybe it’d be a good idea to sit and chill out.
“You two go.” Holly suddenly announced.
April blinked. “Huh?”
Holly put a hand on her and Sunita’s shoulders and nudged them both towards the ride. “You two go. I will join Cassandra on the last few games. Then perhaps grab something sweet.”
April shot Holly a look, because she didn’t believe the wasp was doing this by chance. The faintest of smirks confirmed that.
But no chance to argue with it. Sunita grabbed April’s hand and pulled her along. “Okay. We’ll meet up with you guys after the ride!”
April didn’t bother to protest, even if she kind of wanted to, she also kind of didn’t. A solo ride with Sunita might be nice.
They got in line, thankfully not too long, but it moved slow because of how the ride worked. Sunita had her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on her feet. Something about the smile on her face seemed strained.
April titled her head. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” She smiled wider. “Just um, thinking.”
“About?”
“Um…” She scratched her cheek. “Well, it’s like, um, do you really not have a crush on anyone?”
April’s cheeks caught fire again. “W-well, like I said. Holly was probably just trying to get back at me for poking at her love life.”
“Hah, maybe.” Sunita’s expression didn’t change. “But if you did uh, have one, you know I’d help you out with it, right?”
April wasn’t even sure how to answer that. Sure, she knew in a way, but Sunita was the person she had a crush on. So how was that supposed to work?
Sunita bounced on her toes a few times before she let out a long sigh. “I think I need some water. I did not hydrate enough after dinner.”
April opened her mouth, but her friend jumped out of the line.
“I’ll be right back, so hold our place.” Sunita gave her a wave and headed for the food area.
April sighed and shoved her hands in her pockets. She was really beefing this up, wasn’t she? Like jeez, a girl can fight a deadly piece of armor and three terrifying aliens but can’t just ask her crush out on a proper date? Hell, how hard would it be to take one of their hang outs and just wonder if they should take it a step further.
Maybe Holly Blue had been right to poke back. It wasn’t fair of April to pester her about that kind of thing when she was so unwilling to take a risk.
It was just frustrating. Keeping friends, even in college, got so difficult. Sunita was someone she could talk about the weird side of her life with because, well, Sunita was also weird. April didn’t want to end up losing that because of a misstep.
But maybe she should have more faith in Sunita than that.
Some shouts and screams caused her to look back toward some of the stalls. Someone must have just won big on one of the carnival games. Was it Cassandra? No, she’d already swept through that area.
April shrugged and turned her attention back to the ride. She kept on waiting for Sunita to jump back in line, because when she did and they finally got on the ferris wheel, April was determined to stop being a coward.
But April got closer and closer to the loading platform, and yet Sunita still hadn’t come back.
She still didn’t even when April got to the front. She glanced in the direction of the food, waiting for her to emerge from the crowd.
Nothing.
The employee gestured April toward the next available car, but she immediately ducked out of line. “Sorry, my friend still isn’t back. I’ll come back later.”
She sprinted off in the direction of the food stalls. The smell of sugar, fried dough, and even mustard rushed through her sinuses. Some of it gave her cravings, but she ignored it as she scanned the crowds of people. No sign of Sunita’s cute, purple outfit anywhere.
She did, however, spot Holly Blue. Hard to miss with how she towered over everyone else.
April ran over, seeing Holly and Cassandra eating funnel cakes as they glanced at the other stalls.
“Guys.” April gasped a bit from the sprint. “Have either of you seen Sunita?”
Cassandra frowned, food still in her mouth. “No?”
Holly put down the piece of cake in her hand. “Neither have I. She was with you at the ferris wheel, did she have to leave?”
“Yeah, said she needed water but…” April scanned the stands again. Sunita wasn’t at any of the drink stands. Maybe it had been a lie?
Holly Blue began to walk towards one of them. “We best ask the employees if they’ve seen her, then.”
Yeah, good idea. April headed to a different stand. The first girl shook her head as April described Sunita, so did the next guy. April felt more and more anxious, but as she walked to the third stand her foot clinked against something in the middle of the path.
A flash of gold and green revealed it to be Sunita’s cloaking brooch.
What was it doing here? Why wasn’t it on Sunita?
April snatched it up and glanced around, hoping her friend was nearby or possibly even cowering away in her slime form. Maybe she went under one of the stands to avoid being seen?
“None of these people have seen her.” Cassandra look disgusted as she approached, Holly not far behind her. “Should I get a higher vantage point and look?”
April held out the brooch. “If she’s not disguised, she might be hiding. We should look into some nooks and crannies to see if she’s there.”
“Would she still have her phone?” Holly said. “Can you try texting her?”
Ugh, duh, why didn’t April think of that. She pulled out her phone to send a text, but then saw one from Mikey instead on her notifications, all caps.
>UH APRIL U MIGHT WANNA SEE BAXTER’S CHANNEL
What? The stock boy? Was Mikey still watching his videos?
Whatever, she’d ask about that later. For now she brought up Youtube and furiously typed in the kid’s channel name.
He had a couple of announcements in his feed. Something about a new live streaming coming within the hour? Proof of the existence of the hidden world beneath our feet? He’d posted this just a few minutes ago.
April opened it to see there was a photo attached. A large jar full of something green.
Wait.
“Sunita?” April screamed at her phone. “Oh no. Oh hell no. He did not put my girl in a jar.”
“Your what?” Cassandra raised an eyebrow.
“In a what?” Holly practically growled.
April showed them the picture but then looked at the message again. “Ugh, looks like he’s going to have this dumb live stream the same place he tried to reveal the guys a while back.” She turned toward the exit of the amusement park. “But how are we going to stop him?”
Of all the times for the show off not to be live streaming. Because if he was, April could find him in a heart beat.
“If he gave a location for this reveal, we just need to beat him there.” Holly Blue crossed her arms.
“But how?”
She actually rolled her eyes and gestured them both towards the exit. “Come along, let’s first get to somewhere far less public for this.”
While on the move, April texted Mikey, telling him to alert her if anything on Baxter’s channel changed. He asked if April wanted any help but she said no, for now.
If she, Holly, and Cassandra couldn’t handle one Baxter Stockboy, well, that’d just be pathetic.
Out of the amusement park and ducked behind an industrial sized dumpster, Holly Blue turned off her cloaking device. She allowed herself to stretch her wings for a moment.
“Alright,” she turned to April and Cassandra. “I assume neither of you are scared of heights.
April just shook her head.
“Good, then direct me as I fly.”
Two arms wrapped around April’s midsection, the same thing happening to Cassandra next to her. Holly then took off, the air rushing up from the ground.
“Uh, are you sure about this Holly?” April raised her voice to be heard over the buzzing wings. “Someone might see you.”
“It would not be the first time.” They went higher and higher, going above most of the nearby buildings. “Now, which direction.”
It took April a second to even navigate from this height. Sure she’d been on rooftops before, but not quite like this. Still, after remembering they were still close to the theme park, she managed to orient herself to point in a general direction.
April did not realize Holly could fly this fast. She let out a yelp and curled up from the sudden motion. Holly tightened her grip.
April kept a hand on her phone, feeling for another notification buzz. Hopefully Mikey would alert her in the live stream started.
The roof of the City Hall came into view. “There.” April pointed. “That’s the building he’ll be in front.”
Holly did the smart thing and didn’t land right on the street. Instead she dropped them off on a taller building just to the left. April took a moment to remember how to stand before slipping over to the edge to asses the situation.
Ugh, Baxter had beaten them here. And did he have Sunita’s jar on a table under a blanket? April wanted to jump right down there and kick him in the face.
She wasn’t the only one thinking it, apparently. Cassandra walked up next to her, crowbar in hand. “Shall we jump into action?”
April blinked. “Casey, where did you get that?”
She snorted. “I keep weapons on many of these buildings in case of emergencies.”
Of course she did.
“Have any spares? I didn’t bring my bat. Didn’t think I’d need it.”
“Always be prepared!” Casey snapped at her, but then carefully held the piece of iron in her hand. Her fist crackled with light, and in a flash and a blur she held a copy of the crowbar in her other hand, though it glowed white. “Here.” She held it out.
“Whoa, when did you learn to keep them solid?” April took it, feeling it buzz under her skin.
“I train quite a lot with Raphael. Now,” she pointed down to the building. “Let us waste this kidnapper.”
Both girls got ready to jump when Holly Blue grabbed their collars. “Hold it.”
April stared back at her, glaring.
“Jumping down there and attacking a child, seemingly unprovoked, will only win him more favor with that forming crowd.” Holly Blue pointed to the street.
Damn, that was a crowd. April hadn’t noticed that many people when they got here, but more and more of them filtered off from the sidewalks as Baxter set up another poster and got out a microphone.
“So what are we supposed to do?” April hissed. “We can’t wait until he reveals her to everyone. She could be in a lot of danger.”
Holly’s wings twitched. “I could easily make a distraction and then disperse the crowd. This attempt will likely make this child flee as well, and you two can chase him down.”
“What are you going to do?” April frowned. “You don’t have to uh, you know, jump down there and scare people. I know you don’t like—”
“April,” Holly rested a hand on her shoulder. “Your concern is appreciated. But being terrifying can have it’s advantages. Besides, it’s not just me.” She stepped up to the edge of the building. “Though I hope this works. I haven’t had to use this ability of mine in a long time.” She took a deep breath and her wings buzzed. “Now, get ready to move.”
Holly took off into the air and began to descend behind the crowd.
“How do we chase him?” April looked out to the other buildings. “I can’t roof hop like you.”
Cassandra snorted but turned away from her and gestured to her shoulders. “Climb on my back. I can carry you easily.”
“You sure?”
“No time for questions! Move it!”
April wouldn’t argue with that. She practically leapt onto her friends back, clinging to her with both her legs and her arms so Cassandra could keep hers free.
Panicked shouts came from below. April glanced down to see Holly Blue standing there. One by one people noticed her, though while most let out frightened gasps some just pulled out their phones to take pictures.
“Apologies for interrupting your event.” Holly gestured towards Baxter. “But I believe I have something far more alarming than whatever ruse you’re carrying around.”
A few people spoke to each other, too quiet to hear.
“Ruse?” Baxter shouted back through the microphone. “I can assure you, the mutant I have captured is just as real as you.”
“Yes, well.” Holly Blue’s wings buzzed again, fast, a faint hum carrying down the street. “You won’t get the chance to prove it.”
More gasps and screams came from below. April wasn’t even sure why, but the longer she stared the more she noticed something moving along the concrete. Small, dark spots that grew and grew in number, all of them emerging from the sewers or the trash cans.
Wait, were those cockroaches?
April clung even tighter to Cassandra as she watched this swarm of bugs get bigger and bigger. Soon the ground dwellers were joined by hundreds of other dots flying through the air. Moths? Wasps? Maybe even bees?
As the swarm began to seep into the crowd, people began to split. They ran in different directions, screaming and trying to toss any hitchhikers off their clothes.
“What the hell?” April shouted. “Has she been able to do this the whole time?”
Cassandra just hummed, impressed. “I should ask her to help with the ant problem at my apartment.”
April turned her head to try and argue for how terrifying this was, but then noticed Baxter grabbing the still covered jar and sprinting away.
“Baxter!” She pointed. “After him.”
Cassandra took off, her pace not slowed down by April in the slightest. She jumped to the next building, then onto a light pole which she slid down to reach the street level.
They kept going after the kid, watching him weave down the street and the crowd. April refused to lose sight of him.
Then he jumped onto a fire escape, scrambling up the ladder—an incredible feat with only one arm—and heading up the stairs.
“Ugh, does he have another air machine of some kind?” April growled. “We can’t let him get up there before us.”
Cassandra passed her crow bar into April’s free hand. She took a bounding leap, not even using the ladder to grab onto the bottom level.
Didn’t bother to use the stairs either. She leapt from level to level, gripping the iron bars tight before tossing herself up. The stop and go made April feel nauseous—thank goodness she didn’t eat any fair food—but she held fast.
They got to the roof just as Baxter scrambled onto it. He glanced back at the both, letting out a scream, but it didn’t stop him.
April had been right. The kid was aiming for some kind of helicopter looking machine. “Augh, we have to stop him.”
Cassandra took her crowbar back. Her ninpo flashed across her knuckles again, creating five clones of her weapon in the air around her.
She pointed the weapon at the machine. All the copies shot through the air like arrows, smashing through the metal with a crunch. The engine sparked a few times before the front of the helicopter exploded.
Baxter fell back, at first scrambling away from the smoke before he remembered who was behind him.
He got back to his feet, clutching the blanket covered jar close to his person. “S-Stay back.”
“Or what?” April climbed off Cassandra’s back, clutching the clone weapon in her hand. “Give me back my girlfriend, or else.”
“No way. I am not letting you guys ruin my chance at getting my name across the internet again.” Baxter kept backing up. “And if I finally uncover evidence for the secret society that you all—”
Then roof shook when something landed behind Baxter. The shape of the wings quickly identified her as Holly Blue.
Baxter spun around and screamed again as the wasp hovered over him. He tried to run, but Holly swiftly snatched him right off the ground. She easily held him in one hand while two more took the jar out of his hands.
“Hey, let me go.” He kicked his legs and tried to wiggle free.
Holly rolled her eyes. “April, catch.”
April didn’t hesitate to drop her weapon and hold out her arms. The blanket covered jar flew through the air. She easily grabbed it, though the weight surprised her. How did that punky kid climb a ladder with this thing?
She tossed the blanket off and looked at the green goop inside. She almost wondered if it even was Sunita, but eventually a yellow eye blinked at her.
“Hang on Sunita.” April shouted and gripped the top. “I’ll get you out of there.” She twisted and turned, but the lid of the jar was extremely stubborn. Her grip kept slipping around the smooth metal lid. “Ugh, you have to be kidding me.”
“Here.” Cassandra held out a hand.
April handed off the jar, expecting her friend’s superior strength to snap the lid off.
Instead, Cassandra smashed it on the ground.
April screamed, staring at the crime scene of glass and goop. “Casey!”
“What? It’s open?”
“You could have hurt her!”
“Please, Sunita is tough enough to take some hits.”
April knelt on the ground. “Sunita, are you okay?”
The bits and pieces that made up the yōkai slowly began to move and inch toward each other. They piled together until Sunita fully stood once again, blinking a few times.
Then she stretched and shook her head and her arms. “Ugh. You know, I normally like wedging myself in tight spaces but that one sucked.”
April cheered and jumped up, hugging Sunita in the process. “Thank goodness you’re alright.”
Sunita laughed. “Yeah! Casey’s right, I can take a few hits.”
April blinked. “Then why didn’t you just blow up the jar?”
“Oh, well,” She pointed.
April followed the direction to where Holly Blue kept holding Baxter in mid air.
“I mean, I hated being stuck but I didn’t like the idea of impaling him with glass either.”
“Well, he’d deserve it, but fair enough.” April let go of her and dug into her pocket. “Here, I found your cloaking brooch.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Sunita snatched it and held it in the air, giving it a kiss before putting it on. “I should have known you would. Actually, I figured you guys would show up to save me anyway.” She turned to the wasp again. “I’m upset I couldn’t see what you did to make the crowd go screaming though.”
Holly Blue shrugged. “I just summoned every bug within my radius to chase them down.”
April stomped over to her and Baxter. “Yeah, since when could you do that?”
“Always, it just doesn’t have much use in the Hidden City.”
Baxter flailed again. “Did you all forget I’m here?”
“No.” April snapped, upset she ditched her magic crowbar. “Hold him up like a piñata, Holly. I’m going to beat the stuffing out of him.”
“I’m sure you would, but we should refrain.” Holly sighed. “He is still a child.”
“He’s a menace.” April stuck out her tongue.
Baxter stuck his out as well.
“Be that as it may, I find it unwise to harm a child in such a way. However,” she pulled Baxter close to his face. “I hope one day he learns that trying to gain fame by ruining the lives of others is a very unsavory business practice. And when he gets older, many people will not be so lenient in their anger.”
Baxter scoffed. “When I’m older I’ll have already—” Suddenly the kid screeched and shouted. “Ow, ow, owowow!”
Holly Blue set him down, but he didn’t get up, he just lay there clutching his shoulder, still screaming.
April wasn’t sure why until she saw the glint of a needle on one of Holly’s fingers.
“Oh, so we can’t beat him up, but we can poison him?” April raised an eyebrow.
Holly shrugged again. “It’s a light dose. He’ll recover easily enough. Come on, we best get out of here before someone finds him.”
Yeah, April could agree with that.
She let Holly pick her up again. The wasp carried her and Sunita down a few blocks while Cassandra easily followed by jumping between buildings.
They paused another rooftop, a much shorter one so the climb down wouldn’t be too bad. April turned to talk to Holly, only for the wasp to walk towards Cassandra.
“Cassandra dear, may I have a word.”
Cassandra frowned and tilted her head. Then Holly made a gesture that April couldn’t see from this angle and Cassandra nodded.
The wasp looked back at April, smiling.
What was going on?
A tap on her shoulder reminded her that Sunita still stood right next to her. She had her disguise back up and tucked her hands behind her back.
“Um, April, can I ask you something?”
“Sure?”
“Uh, did you call me your girlfriend earlier on purpose?”
April’s brain stalled, then panicked. Had she? When was that? She scanned her memory of the past thirty minutes and realized that—oh shit—yes she did.
“Uh, well.” April’s embarrassment had her scrambling for an excuse, but then she caught herself. No. She wasn’t going to just try and shove this under the rug again. “I didn’t do it on purpose? But I uh, wouldn’t mind if you… were.” The last word came out as a squeak and she wanted to smack herself.
Sunita pressed her lips together, as if suppressing a smile. She rocked back and forth on her toes. “I thought you didn’t have a crush.”
April glanced to the side. “Yeah, well, maybe I lied about that.”
Sunita snorted when she laughed. Always so cute. “I believed it. I figured, you know, if the brave and bold April O’Neil liked someone, she’d just tell them, right?”
“Hey, I didn’t wanna beef things up between us.”
Sunita kept laughing. “Sorry, it’s just a bit funny. I mean, I’ve been trying to ask you out for months.”
April blinked and straightened up. “Huh? You have?”
“Duh! Why do you think I kept asking you to go places with me. But then you’d invite Cassandra and I didn’t want to be rude and say she couldn’t come or something.”
“Oh my god.” April hid her face in her hands. “I just thought you wanted to have girls’ nights.”
Another laugh. “Well, to be fair I wasn’t super direct about it.”
“Ugh, okay.” April reached out and grabbed Sunita shoulders. “Next time we’ll go on a proper date, okay? Just the two of us.” She paused for a seconds. “But we’re still doing girls’ nights sometimes, right?”
Sunita stuck out her tongue. “Duh. Despite getting kidnapped this has been a blast.” She glanced over where Holly Blue and Cassandra were talking on the other side of the roof. “And they’re fun to hang out with.” Her gaze moved back to April. “But, still, I’d like to get some alone time too.”
“Of course! How about Tuesday night? Fancy dinner date?”
“Can we go to that new Italian place near the college?”
“You got it.” April pulled Sunita into a tight hug.
Then it all sunk in at once.
“I have a girlfriend.” April mumbled.
Sunita laughed again and leaned back. “Huh, would you look at that, so do I.”
“Don’t be so cheeky.” April gave her a gentle shove.
Cassandra shouted from across the roof. “Just kiss already!”
April flinched and turned to glare. “Stay out of it, Casey.”
Sunita put a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. Then spoke quietly when she added, “Maybe later in our dorm room.”
The heat returned to April’s cheeks.
At least an interruption kept her from over thinking that. Holly Blue and Cassandra came back over.
The wasp looked so smug as she stared down at them. “I’m glad that’s sorted out. If I had to stare at you two giving each other looks for the rest of the night, I may have gone mad.”
“We can’t be that obvious.” April crossed her arms.
“I just know the looks.” Holly glanced between them. “So, is the ‘girl’s night’ over?”
“Of course not.” Cassandra announced. “The night is still young.”
“But what do we do?” Sunita frowned. “I’m not sure I’m up for going back to the theme park at this point.”
Holly shrugged. “I do know a nice spa in the Hidden City I could get us all into.”
All the girls gasped and stared at her.
“A spa?” Sunita squeaked.
“Deep tissue massage?” Cassandra asked. “Acupuncture?”
“They have a lot of options.” Holly said. “I take it that means you’re interested?”
“Let’s go.” April announced, hooking one arm around Sunita and the other around Cassandra. “Girl’s night!”
They all laughed and Holly Blue brought her cloaking back up as they headed for the stairs. April let herself linger toward the back, bumping shoulders with Sunita before taking her hand.
“Hope they have a hot tub.” Sunita giggled.
“I thought you couldn’t be submerged in water.”
“I can with my cloaking on.” She smirked and stuck out her tongue. “Hope they have cute swim suits.”
April’s face felt warm all over again. “Man, now that this is out in the open your flirting is gonna be non-stop, huh?”
“I didn’t want to overstep boundaries before.” Sunita put her free hand on her hip. “But yup, now you’re in for it.”
“Guess I’ll just have to up my own game.”
“You can try it.” Sunita whispered and kissed April on the cheek.
The squeak that came out of her throat was so undignified. Sunita burst out laughing.
“Hey.” Cassandra shouted from the stairs. “Move it or we’re leaving you behind.”
“Coming.” Both girls replied, giggling as they started darting down the steps.
April held onto Sunita’s hand the whole time.