An emo boy with piercings and some of his hair dyed red is being filmed at a middle school, with Carly Balmaceda on the scene. "What are we doing at Futterton Middle School, Mr. Scheck?" She holds out the microphone to him and he scoffs.
"Mr. Scheck? What am I, 20? Call me Illusionist Mind-bending Scheck. I'm gonna make this middle school disappear," He wiggles his fingers. "No probbles. It's gonna be way sick, because us kids...don't need school. It's an illusion."
"Kids definitely need school," Carly says to the camera, as she valued education like every other adult does.
"Scheckter piece, now!" He throws down a smoke bomb and when the smoke clears, the building is gone. Everyone cheers, with one student exclaiming 'Oh my god!'
The video ends there because a gloved hand smashes a phone to pieces. "Those kids want magic, I'll show them a real disappearing act," Hypnopotamus grins evilly. He could do much better than some kid. He has the experience, the style, and...the pizzaz.
-/-
The invitation came to Aina the day before the dance. It arrive by post--which was the first indication that it was out of the ordinary. Most people would just send and email, so if someone actually took the time to sharpen their pencil and use it on a piece of paper, then they want you to open it.
"Well open it" Aina's little sister, Sonya said, more excited by the envelope than Aina was. She tore open the envelope open and pulled out a card that was the same eggshell color as the envelope, then reading it to herself before reading it aloud.
The pleasure of your company is requested at the Highschool dance, tomorrow night, seven p.m.
There was no signature, no return address. There was, however, a single purple rose.
"A school dance?" Jamal said. Ew."
Aina couldn't agree more.
Aina's mom took the invitation and envelope from Aina to study them herself. "Whoever sent this, and whatever this is, it sounds interesting."
"It's probably some idiot's way of asking me on a date because he or she too afraid to ask me to my face."
"Do you think you'll go?" Her mother asked.
"Mom...a person who invites me to the dance is either joking or delusional."
"Or he's trying to impress you."
Aina grunted and went to her room, annoyed by her own curious nature. "I'm not going!" She called out from her room, knowing fully well she would end up going.
The school dance was one of the several places where anyone who was anyone went to be seen. At any given song, only most of the patrons were there for the actual dance. The rest were there to participate in the great melodrama of social climbing and career advancement. Even Aina, who moved in none of those circles, knew the drill.
Especially when it comes to Taylor Martin. "The coolest girl in school".
-/-
April takes a breath as she's standing in front of some trees. Mayhem is sitting right next to her. Instead of wearing her usual outfit, she's wearing a yellow dress with a blue belt around her waist, blue earrings, and yellow heels. Tonight was her homecoming dance at school.
"Come on, you can do this," She's giving herself a pep talk. "You've fought monsters, been to hidden cities, destroyed robots. You've..."
She looks at the banner and balloons, her confidence quickly shot down. "Who are you kidding? School dances are way more dangerous." She places her hands in her pockets and starts to walk away. She shouldn't have come, how could she do this?
Mayhem senses her hesitation and teleports to her shoulder. "Why am I even here?" He teleports them both so that she's facing in front of the school. Mayhem lands on the ground and swings his arms, placing them on his hips in pride. "You're right. I can do this. For Taylor, the coolest girl in school. Time for you to jet. I can't be like Seagull the Lizard Boy. I gotta be cool." He understands as he teleports away.
"Now where's Aina and Donnie, she's supposed to meet me here..."
As if an answer, Aina pulls up on her violet bike. Her outfit is a burgundy suit with magenta lining and a magenta shirt, with a black tie hanging loosely around her neck. Her shoes are black high-tops. Aina's face gets unrevealed as she walks closer to April. There's a red rose at the right side of her hair. She has light-pink lipstick on, Double Up Eyeliner, and grey blush.
Donnie's outfit was a black suit with a popped collar, slightly showing his shell. His shoes are also black high-tops.
"Oh wow! You two look amazing!" April exclaims and they both smiles slightly.
"Thanks." Aina acknowledge.
"Now come on. The homecoming dance ain't waiting for us."
Donnie and Aina turned to one another before he lent out his arm to her. She smiled and wrapped her hands around it in return.
Everyone kept their gazes onto her and her companion, but she doesn't care. Aina doesn't attend school in person, as she works during school hours. Instead, she has a robot to navigate through the school and uses that as her way to attend classes. April brings her the homework, tests, and quizzes afterwards.
April walks up to the entrance with Aina and Donnie, who glances at a hippo float made by Taylor Martin. She rolls her eyes at it.
"Taylor Martin, the coolest girl in school," April states as she looks at it. Aina looks at the float with indifference since she knows that Taylor, is in fact, not cool.
"Oh, well I bet Taylor's nice!" Donnie remarked.
"Eh. It's only a hippo." Amy waves it off.
"Hey, April!" A bald kid wearing a purple dress shirt, gray pants, a light blue tie, and black shoes waves at April.
"Dale." Dale makes a boy drop his drink and Aina sighs slightly. "Aw no," April facepalms. Dale was...Dale.
"My favorite person," Dale smiles at her. "Aina, wow! I haven't seen you in person for months! You look like a goddess!"
"I figured I might as well make my presence known," Aina shrugs, as she fidgets a bit uncomfortable. "And I'm here to accompany my friend," she places an arm around April, who smiles. She's glad to have Aina so that she wouldn't be alone.
"Hey, you going to this shindig? We usually wouldn't really go to one of these...dances, but I actually got invited by Taylor Martin to sit at the cool kids table, sooo..." April starts to walk away, Amy crossing her arms. Since when did April care about fitting in...?
"She invited me too!" Dale calls out as he holds up his phone.
"Oh," April comes to a stop. "I thought she just invited me, but...I guess you got invited too, that's cool. Cool..."
"Hey, you never introduced me to your friend here," Dale gestured to Donnie.
"Oh, right," April stood next to the two. "Dale, this is Don..."
"Othello Von Ryan," Donnie cut her off. "Aina Johnson is my lovely date."
"Love the suit, man!" Dale remarked at Donnie. "Looks great on ya!"
"Well, thank you," Donnie beam proudly as he walked alongside the other three humans to the entrance.
"Donothello Von Ryan, huh?" Aina raised a mischievous eyebrow at the soft-shell turtle.
"Hey, someone needs to have a full name to blend in," Donnie mumbled to her. "And at least this disguise is paying off."
"Right," Aina nodded her head.
April opens the doors to the gym, with Dale and Amy next to her. Everyone seems to be focused on their phones rather than the dance. The gym is well lit, with blue, pink, and turquoise balloons. There are tables with bunny ears sticking out of hats. The theme was magic this year. Under a spotlight is the cool kids table, with a blonde girl standing there. She's wearing a hot pink dress with a magenta bow, and her hair is in a bun.
"Taylor Martin," April says as she smiles at them. April waves, Dale looking nervous.
"April, Dale. So glad you came," They glance at a boy with a lizard over his shoulders. April shudders at him.
"Lizard boy..."
"Oh, look at what the cat dragged in," Taylor eyes Aina up and down. "Amy, was it? You should really dye your hair, and maybe wear a dress instead of a tux." Taylor looks at her and clothes as if it was disgusting. "Maybe blonde so that you can actually look better."
"Taylor," Aina greets before smiling widely, "Was it? You should really mind your business and stay out of mine, please? Besides my suit's better than the pink-tastrophe you have going on, so please suck on a lemon to keep your mouth shut."
They both glare at each other. April and Dale glance at each other, feeling awkward. "L-Let's be civil, girls," April stammers nervously, putting an arm around both of them. "How about you let Aina sit with us as an apology?"
"Hm, as long as she doesn't embarrass us." She pulls Dale to the table and April turns around to Aina.
"Aina, please don't ruin this for me!"
"April, why even bother trying to impress her? She's shallow," Aina states bluntly. "She's not worth your time."
"I need this!" April begs and Amy holds up her hands silently in defense, sitting in an empty chair.
"We were all just talking about the most amazing new game. Hippo Crush," Taylor smiles as she leans in towards April. All the kids turn to them.
"So fun..."
Aina looks at them weirdly. "Something's up with these kids."
"I concur." Donnie nodded. "There's something fishy is definitely going on."
"Have you played it yet?" Taylor asks April.
"Uh, I've been meaning to download it!" April fibs.
"How are we gonna be besties if you don't have the game?" She wonders as they hear a ding.
"Got it!"
"Huh?" April looks away to look at Dale, who smiles, waving the phone to show the app.
"Ain, you should get it too. That way you can be like me! Oh, and you too strange kid."
"Oh, how nice of you to tell me that," Aina grits her teeth, but she doesn't pull out her phone. She's not that willing to be like the popular crowd. She'd rather slit her own throat.
"Oh, okay," April scrolls up and tries to download it...but then Donnie's face pops up, blocking access to the app.
"Donnie says no no no."
"What the...?" April murmurs, as she doesn't remember that being installed.
"Donnie says no no no."
"Would you excuse me a second?" April glances up at Taylor, who groans at the music.
"This entertainment is so yesterday...wish we had something cool."
April glances at Aina, who looks a little bored, and then gets an idea. "Hey, how awesome would it be to have Aina do a little something?"
Taylor gasps as Aina's eyes widen and her heart strikes down with fear. "Oh wow, really? That would be super awesome!"
But before Aina gets a chance to say anything, a hand was placed onto her shoulder.
Aina turns around and her eyes widened when she saw the one person she thought she wouldn't see again.
A tall girl that was lanky and her hair in a decent mohawk. Her smile was a consistent thing on her face, and in her milky brown eyes showed warmth and kindness inside her.
Aina began to question reality. "Jodi?" The girl gave a shy wave and smile became brighter than the sun.
"Sorry I wasn't back sooner." She chuckled, her voice calm and soothing yet her face seemed apologetic and modest.
"Uh, Aina?" Donnie called out to her. " Do you know that girl?"
"Yes." Aina's voice became shaking and there was a barrier of tears forming around her eyes, thankfully nobody had seemed to notice it yet. Unfortunately before she could answer, April's voice spoke up as she brought the old subject back up.
"So!" She began before smiling widely. "Aina is totally gonna sing!"
The said girl turned her head back to her friend and the soothing feeling she had was now gone. "No I'm not!"
Suddenly the weight slid someone laying themselves out on another person was now on Aina. It was so, since it was Jodi doing it. "Come on Nana!" She beamed with pleading eyes. "I know that you have a good voice - Also I want us to sing a duet!"
"That's great! Now Aina won't be all alone!" April added.
Aina began clenching her teeth and tried to not let her old friend see how miffed she was with the charade, but she wanted to let April know how totally uncool it was to nominate her for something she didn't want to do. Especially in front of other people.
April takes Aina's and Donnie's hands and pulls them away. They exit the gym so that April can talk to Donnie. Aina is ranting at her, but she's not paying attention.
"I don't want to sing, April! Ugh!" Aina crosses her arms as she looks away. April cringes as she looks Donnie.
"What is a Donnie blocker?!" April demands.
"I put it on your phones so that you wouldn't get hacked or download anything with malware because I know how much you're into fantasy-"
"The only thing Donnie's blocking is April from being cool!" April yells at him in frustration. Mayhem suddenly appears. "What are you doing here? I told you to go. Cool kids don't bring their pets to school. Do you want people to pick on me?"
"No, wait a minute," Qina her and knelt to Mayhem's level. "I think something is wrong, what is it, Mayhem?"
Unfortunately, she didn't get a response since Mayhem disappeared, causing April to sigh in relief. She then feels a dark presence and cringes, turning around to Aina. She doesn't look happy with her at all.
"April, I don't sing," Aina states clearly.
"What? Yes you do," April replies, as she's got the information from a reliable source.
"Let me rephrase that, I don't sing for teenagers, let alone in public!" Amy shouts, clenching her fists. "I don't wanna do anything for Taylor and her cronies. I'm not doing it."
"Oh yes you are," April points at her. "You're my ticket for impressing Taylor."
"Well, using your friends is kind of what you do so no surprise," Aina narrows her eyes.
"I wish you would understand how much this means to me! Ugh, I wish I never saved you." April glares at her.
"Fine by me," Aina felt the familiar bridge of tears building up again but she covers them up and turns away in a huff as the gym doors open. They turn around to see students holding their phones, walking out in a straight line. Their eyes are pink.
"You don't think..." Aina's eyes went big.
"Oh, boy," Donnie realized angrily. "Hypno-Potamus."
"Is the dance already over?" April wonders as Donnie looks at bis watch. The dance doesn't end for another few hours. "Dale, what's going on? Hey, did Taylor tell us to go somewhere. Cool, cool, cool, I'm coming."
"Did you get the game, April?" Dale turns to her slowly and Aina cringes at unnaturalness Dale was showing off. "We can play together."
"Not yet," April looks at her phone. "Someone installed a-"
"April," Taylor places her hand on her shoulder, scaring April and
aina a little. "Did you get the game?" Amy swore she saw an evil grin from that face.
"Totally!" April exclaims, but the blocker is still on. "Got it."
"Can I see it?" Taylor leans into her.
"Taylor. She needs her privacy,"
Aina states, arms crossed. Seriously, this girl doesn't know anything about boundaries.
April 'drops' her phone. "Oh darn, my phone. But the game is so fun! All the hippos and stuff."
Aina glances at all the students and senses something wrong. She would tell April, but she's too busy trying to be popular. Aina scoffs, waving everyone else off and walking in the other direction. Mayhem notices the weird thing about them too above the lockers.
Donnie suddenly outs a strong grip onto Aina's arm. "What are you doing?" She barked.
"We can't just leave April with this! We have to go and help her."
"April's made her choice. I'm outta here."
Mayhem gives her a serious look. "Yeah, I noticed it too, but-cretins, why do I do this to myself?" She grunts in defeat. Deep down, she still wanted to help April and figure out what was going on. "Fine! I'll do it. Where do we start?"
-/-
The students from the dance have moved from the gym to the auditorium, where green spotlights are moving around the stage. Some of their phones are just pink.
"Everyone give it up for the master magician," April is sitting between Dale and Taylor, glancing around nervously. She felt awkward as everyone is holding their phones and she broke hers. Not only that, she's looking for Amy, but she can't find her. "And inventor of Hippo Crush," The turban on the stage dissolves into smoke. "Tada! Hypnopotamus!" He makes himself known to them. April's eyes widen at him.
"Mutant hippo?"
"Hynpo is great," She glaces down the row. "Hypno is great."
"Now bitter biscuits another Scheck," He presses a button, covering a picture of Noah Scheck. "Ooo, he made a middle school disappear. Well, forget that hack! I'm telling you, tonight, I'm gonna make a high school disappear! Starting with this mascot!" He waves his fingers away from the stage as the mascot flies into the air being held by strings. "Behold, the awesome functionality Hat of Doom!" He throws a hat so that it's underneath the mascot.
April gives a nervous look and gets out of her seat.
"Abra-kazi-" He hears a noise and stops. "Wait. Wait a minute, something's not quite right."
As soon as April is about to get away, a spotlight shines on her. "Where do you think you're going, missy?"
April makes her arms like a robot. "I want to serve you." She drops her arms. "Aw forget it, it's wack." She goes out through the door and Hypnopotamus blinks at her phrase before he snaps out of it.
"Get her!" He orders, pointing to the door.
-/-
April hides in the science classroom, using a table to barricade herself in. Taylor peeks inside and kicks the door open. "April. It's your BFF Taylor. I just wanna play." She turns around April, only to find that it's a decoy. April is actually at the door and she slams it shut. "Get her!"
April runs down the hallway, Taylor immediately chasing after her. They turn the corner and run down the hall, with April coming out of hiding from a locker. A hat falls down, which has an hourglass inside it.
"What's this do?"
The hourglass glows purple and starts emitting electricity, making her gasp. She jumps out of the locker to see the hat swallow up the lockers. She gasps as she realizes how Hypno is gonna do it.
"He's gonna make us all disappear, permanently!"
Taylor stands at the end of the hallway and April turns around. "Get her." Her two minions chase after April and she takes off into a run, Taylor running after her. Leo, Raph, Mayhem, and Aina peek from the bushes outside, seeing April.
"April's literally being chased by teenagers." Donnie states in fear.
"High school." Aina mutters.
Aina facepalms and they turn around, seeing the float. "I've always wanted to drive one of those," Donnie admits.
"Come on, we gotta save April!" Aina clenches her fists in determination, as she hopped into the vehicle.
"Hypno is great," The students say in unison as they've caught up with April. "Hypno is great."
"Join us," Dale holds up his phone that has the inside of a mouth moving on it. "Play the game. Be cool. I love you."
"Dale, you're so hypnotized. You'd say anything!" April replies in fear as Dale approaches her.
The lone girl then spots someone else within the crowd. "You!" She exclaims, spotting Jodi who was now wearing sunglasses. "You know Aina, right?"
Jodi nods her head, giving a soft smile. "Yeah, she and I go way back! Also I overheard the argument that you guys had, are y'all ok?"
"No, I said something I shouldn't have. Now I'm paying for it."
April looks down to the ground in despair, hoping that whatever is going to happen to her will be quick.
"Don't worry, she'll forgive you." Jodi says reassuring as she walks away from the hypnotized teens.
"Join us, disappear with us," He tries to hypnotize her by putting his phone to her face. Her eyes start to be taken in by it when Mayhem teleports onto her head, snapping her out of it. April smiles at him and he teleports her away...only for them to be taken back to the hallway.
"Mayhem!" She hugs the dog mutant. "You came back! I'm so sorry about what I-" Mayhem points behind her and she realizes that she's right behind the crowd. "Yeah, nope." She runs off with Mayhem, with the students chasing after her. She turns a corner and runs down the hallway. "Mayhem, now would be a good time to poof us out of here!"
She skids to a stop as she's blocked by several students. She turns to run in the other direction, only for her to be blocked off. She's surrounded by the students as they're holding their phones. She glances at Taylor, who looks crazed out of her mind. Mayhem tries to teleport, but all of his powers are drained, as he's teleported more than he's ever done today.
"Look at you. You're exhausted. You must be out of poof juice. Not to worry, I've got this. They will listen to me! I'm April O'Neil!"
"Who?" Everyone else asks in confusion, as April's eyes widen in realization that no one actually knows her.
"We're in trouble."
Suddenly, an engine roars and she looks up to see Taylor's float crashing through the wall. "Tally-ho!" Donnie exclaims as the hippo head breaks off, leaving just the golf cart. They roll to a stop, Aina clutching onto the back seat like her life depended on it.
They all blink at them in confusion. Donnie revs up the cart, driving past them and coming to a stop in front of April. She glances at Aina, smiling slightly. Aina pauses before she smiles back and April gets in.
"Drive." She fastens her seatbelt and Donnie starts up the cart, taking off with the others.
Donnie drives past a student. "That mutant hippo's got doom hats hidden all over the school," April explains, "But it's gonna be fine, I've got a plan."
"Against magic hats all over the school?" Aina asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Just trust me. We are still friends...right?" April questions hopefully. Aina smiles slightly and holds out her fist.
"Course we are...but I'm still not singing."
April bumps fists with her. "We'll agree to disagree!"
Donnie hits the brakes and stops in front of the auditorium, where April led them. They leave her and Mayhem at the cart.
"You've gotta break Hypno's spell and free my friends! ...Okay, acquaintances. Just free everybody!" She takes off, with the three barging into the auditorium. Hypnopotamus is looking at his deck of cards, as he's sent everyone away.
"Finally, you're back. I was-" He turns to the entrance to see them. "Oh, it's you idiots."
"I beg your pardon?" Aina raises an eyebrow.
"Oh wow, so original," Aina rolls her eyes.
"But first. How do you make a school disappear? Wait, don't tell me! Okay, tell me. I-"
"A good magician never reveals his plans...but a good villain always does. Oh, I'm torn, guys. I gotta be honest. Therefore," He makes his razor sharp rings appear. "Rings!" He makes them float and he holds out his palm. The rings fly over to them and they jump out of the way. There's an explosion at the entrance. Five cards appear in Hypno's left hand. "Is this your card?"
"How did you-" He jumps out of the way as the cards explode at the seat. Aina jumps again and Donnie is suddenly at the stage.
"Hey!" He goes in for the punch, but Hypno moves out of the way. Amy drops herself down from the catwalk, but Hypno dodges that too. "Are you friends with Noah Scheck? We're huge fans."
"Scheckter piece now!" Donnie exclaims in hype.
"You would be," Hypno-Potamus growled. "He wears knit caps...in summer! Who does that?"
He aimed the wand-knives at the two, who dodged them or hit them away safely.
"Oh, really, because wanting to make a school disappear reminds me of his trick. Maybe you’re the hack!" Aina charged forward and swung her Kusarigama at him.
"Get ready for my special attack!" Hypno calls, pulling out a blanket and making a girl appear, but not just any girl; Jodi.
Aina stops in her tracks and yanked her weapons back before she even charged them. Jodi rose up, and she was completely under Hypno's control just like the other students. "Attack!" The hippo bellowed.
The tall girl brought out a long katana and brought herself into ready stance, waiting for the opponent. Donnie was about to step up but was stopped by Aina's arm.
"I got this."
Aina began the fight by charging at Jodi, who sent out wind blades in retaliation. The girl jumped over them with ease and tried to use her Kusarigama to grab her and move her, but instead she sliced her in the arms and caused the tall girl to bleed.
Seeing how distracted the girl was, Jodi made her move and sliced the girl on her foot, and kicked her in the side. Aina felt the rush of combat flowing through her and grabbed Jodi's arm and twisted it into an impossible angle, and tough Jodi was strong enough to overcome it, she let out a scream of anguish.
Aina let go of her arm and was suddenly knocked down to the ground and saw her best friend's arm in front of her, ready to attack if needed. Aina could easily flip her over, but she could never beat her friend in this state, so she surrendered.
Before Jodi could step back, she was suddenly slammed with a bo staff. "Take that!" Donnie yelled, Jodi flying back and hitting into Hypno and causing the doves to fly out of his jacket.
"My doves!" He picks up a magician's hat. "Say...rabbit, rabbit." Rabbits hop out of the hat, knocking down the twk. Aina jumps into the air and grabs the head of the hippo mascot costume.
"Cowabunga!" Aina screams, slamming the mask into Hypno's face. He goes flying into the wall and lands outside the school. Donnie glances at Aina.
Aina picks up a knocked out Jodi and begins to carry her. Hypno suddenly breaks out of his system and pulls out a phone.
April is driving the cart down the hall while Mayhem is gathering all of the hats with a stick. He glances at April, as he's still tired. April then gets blocked by two students.
"Get out of the way!" She calls out, but the hats start glowing, meaning the process is about to start. "We gotta do something."
Mayhem springs into action, grabbing one hat in his mouth and teleporting all of the others away, to April's shock.
Hypno holds up the phone. "Mesmer-Roo!" Suddenly, the hats that Mayhem transported appear above him, with Mayhem on top of the mountain. The hats land on Hypnopotamus, and Mayhem teleports them all up in the air.
"Oh, look at your little outfit. That is cute." Mayhem disappears and he realizes what's happening. "Oh wonker nelly." He disappears along with the hats, causing a large surge that makes all the students go back to normal.
Taylor looks around in confusion. April stops the cart in front of her, smiling nervously. The cart breaks down, smoke coming from the front. Mayhem teleports back into April's arms. Taylor screams in frustration.
"You and your ugly cat destroyed my float, O'Neil!" She brushes a bang away as she leaves, but April doesn't seem to care anymore. She looks at Mayhem and hugs him, as he was the only one to stand by her...besides Aina, who was carrying Jodi. And who she still needed to apologize to.
Dale approaches her. "Hey April, if you, uh, don't have a date for the next shindig, I-"
"Not now, Dale. No," April tells him.
"So..." donnie walk towards Aina as they're watching the scene. "Why don't you wanna sing?"
"I don't want to," Aina states clearly.
"Aw, come on," Donnie places an arm around her.
"What part of I don't want to do you not understand?" She asks irritably.
"What's the big deal?" Donnie wonders, "It's just singing."
"I have stage frightz alright?!" Aina clenches her fists and Donnie flails back, clutching onto him in slight fear. "So stop asking."
Donnie then smiles widely. Aina's eyes widen as she sees the look. "Oh no. You can't make me do this. No!"
-/-
"I can't believe I'm doing this."
Aina is standing on stage in the auditorium, staring at all the students. One of them coughs as it's that silent. Taylor is up at front, playing with her phone. Aina stared at all of the people, the seats are all full. So many...
I wish Jodi was doing this with me! She thought to herself.
She fidgets with her suit as she's glaring at Donnie, and April. They all give her a thumbs up as they're blocking her exits. Mayhem is on the other side, ready to teleport her back onto the stage if needed.
Donnje presses play on the stereo he has and the music starts to play. Aina knew this song very well, it was a song she knew the lyrics to, so that was a start...
Now she just had to open her mouth and sing the words.
She takes a peak at Jodi, who was carrying her bright smile and was cheering very loudly, causing people to stare at her
Aina takes a deep breath. She can do this...
You're a holiday
A glass of ocean slipping down my throat
And landed on my hopes, I'm dreaming
Off the maps no hidden grids, I'm fleeing
I worship you like holy days
Lying on my back, seeing clouds and rays
Drinking lime and bitter from my lemonade
White horses, maritime won't do
Do you remember?
The holiday slipped away
Time and place
I definitely remember
Lying on my back and seeing clouds and rays
We're dreaming
The feelings rule
Forever we're young
Pages unsung, ooh
I feel that you remember
Dreaming of a past that couldn't last
But now we're changing
Refraining
I'm thinking it's the, know that it's the
I'm thinking it's the bad, bad blood
I'm thinking it's the, know that it's the
I'm thinking it's the bad, bad
Blood
Oh
Do you remember?
The riding, the passion, the falling over
And tripping on ice
Sharing advice, taking it twice
But let us not forget the
Silent day, stripped away
Time and place
Oh, you choose not to remember
Fly away, counting days
I'm hiding from you, ooh
I'm thinking it's the, know that it's the
I'm thinking it's the bad, bad blood
I'm thinking it's the, know that it's the
I'm thinking it's the bad, bad blood
I choose
For the rain not to fall
Exposing the sun on you
I lose
Don't tell me I'm cuckoo, I know
And it's mad, we were close, oh
I choose
My head's now afloat
But my heart's drowning pulse of you
I lose
Don't tell me I'm coo-coo
Coo-coo-coo-coo-coo-coo-ooh-ooh
I'm thinking it's the, know that it's the
I'm thinking it's the bad, bad blood
I'm thinking it's the, know that it's the
I'm thinking it's the bad, bad blood
I'm thinking it's the, know that it's the
I'm thinking it's the bad, bad blood
I'm thinking it's the, know that it's the
I'm thinking it's the bad, bad
-
/-
Donnie, Aina, Jodi, April, and Mayhem burst out of the school, all cheering. "That was awesome!" Leo exclaims. "It was like I was in your soul."
"Thanks, y'all" Aina sighs in relief. After getting some encouragement from her friends, she did it. She sang a song for the dance...she was a little nervous, but after a few lines, she had gained her confidence and sang her heart out. Everyone, except Taylor, was clapping after she was finished. She had never done that before...it felt different.
"I'm sorry for not asking you first," April tells her and they both hug.
"It's fine..." Aina grins evilly.
"I owe you a video game, don't I?" April sighs knowingly.
"Heck yeah,"
"Oh, I love video games!" Jodi announces in excitement, embracing the two other girls in an embrace. " "Also I don't really hug people, but since my best friend here just sung, I'll make an exception!"
Aina squirmed her way out of the hug and gestured to her friend. "Guys, this is my best friend Jodi. We've been friend since third grade and we got kidnapped by Draxum together."
April and Donnie's faces went from resolution to shock. "You were kidnapped, too?" She said with her eyes widened.
"Yeah," she confesses, rubbing her neck. "Draxum found out I was a mutant lizard." The lean girl made sure no one else was around and tapped her cloaking device on her jacket, transforming into a chartreuse lizard which goes well with her suit. Claws poking through her shoes, a long beautiful tail with a dark green diamond stripe on the bottom. Her eyes became narrow and the scar on the side of her head becomes more visible.
"Wow, you look really good." Donnie gushed, causing the lizard to give him a soft smile.
"Thank you - at least I don't hate myself and mutants like Aina over here."
Aina waves her off playfully, rolling her eyes. "I've grown to like them a bit more. Oh, and I also met this other lizard creature! You'll love her!"
Jodi shoots her best friend a smile "I can't wait to meet her."
"I'll tell you later." Aina walked over to her violet bike, followed by the purple turtle himself.
Aina knew he was trailing behind so as soon as she got to her bike, she turned around and waited for what she was going to say.
The girl was in shock over how bashful and gentle the turtle had appeared to be in the moment. Usually he was creative and dynamic.
"You were really great out there," He confesses, rubbing his neck. Aina looks at him with a look he can't tell, and she smiles slightly at him.
"Thank you, Donnie..."
Donatello but his lip as he leans in towards her lips and she gives him a blank look. He open his eyes and backs off a few steps in embarrassment.
"Would it be possible if Jodi could hangout with us sometime, possibly even stay in the lair some nights?" Aina asked, breaking the tension.
"Uh, yeah!" He chuckles nervously. "She's welcome anytime."
-/-
The gang was back inside the gym, anticipating coursing through all of them as they were about to announce the prom King and Queen.
"Ok everyone!" A faculty member announced from the stage.
"It's time to announce the Prom King and Queen!" The woman waited for the students to start cheering and clapping.
"Ok! Let's count down!"
Aina puts her hands into Donnie's as she gives a small look to Jodi and April.
"Three!"
"Two"
"One"
"Donothello Von Ryan and Aina Johnson!" The students began clapping for the two, unaware the chosen royalty were completely confused.
Jodi was beaming at them, as April and Mayhem were cheering.
The two grinned at each other before walking up to the stage and claimed their crowns, as the students cheered them on.