Chapter 51: Invasion

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Destiny and Diaval hardly recognize the city when they arrive. Everything is in chaos. Cars are flipped over and many of them are on fire. Garbage litters the streets amongst broken pieces of the nearby buildings, and some fires still burn on the asphalt. The screams of the civilians echo from far away, loud enough for Destiny to hear it.

"Oh my god," she whispers, taking slow steps down the barren street. "What happened?"

Diaval stares into the distance, his face gaining an angry undertone that she's rarely seen. "Kraang," he mumbles.

She turns to face him. "The Kraang?" she echoes, earning a solemn nod. Her stomach plunges. "Is...is it like that giant Technodrome that showed up last year?" Again, he nods. Her fur bristles and she clenches her hands into fists. "I have to find the turtles."

She takes off, running as fast as she possibly can. Diaval starts after her, a smoky, cold wind whipping his cloak around as he does. Destiny keeps a rather noticeable lead as they race down the streets. She keeps stopping for just long enough to sniff the air, searching for any scent that hints to her family having been there, but she gets nothing except for the putrid stench of burning rubber and metal.

"I have to go to the lair," she says as Diaval finally catches up.

He puckers his lips slightly. "Turtles don't hide from the Kraang," he says, his gaze momentarily darting to the side streets near them. "Dunno...d'you think they'll be in the sewers?"

She grits her teeth as her tail lashes. "No, they wouldn't. They're probably fighting somewhere." She tilts her face to the grey sky, snowflakes nestling in her curls as she unsheathes the uchigatana at her waist. "Let's try April's house. Stay alert."

Diaval nocks an arrow into his bow and they set off again.

The chaos only gets worse as they get further into the city. The screams get louder, the cries of children are horrifyingly evident, and debris is flung everywhere amongst the tipped cars and fires. Kraang droids march through triangular portals that keep popping up every which way. It's what they saw before but noisier.

Destiny catches sight of April's home, the curtains drawn over the window. Diaval nearly stops as he notices a mewling cat trapped in a skeletal tree, but Destiny is quick to tug him away from the distressed animal.

She moves to the nearest doorway and shoves it open with her shoulder, readying her uchigatana at the shadows. Nobody comes forward, as if any other tenants within the block of homes has already fled.

Destiny goes barrelling up the stairs, sniffing rapidly and making short, doglike noises in the back of her throat as she does, the desperation getting to her head. April has to be here. If April is here then there's a good chance that the turtles and Casey are still in the city as well.

She follows the familiar scent all the way to a singular door that she wrenches open without a second thought. She races down the hall, heart pounding against her ribcage, and she nearly skids around the corner that emerges into the living room.

April's bright blue eyes fall on the wolf mutant first, closely followed by the attention of Donatello, Michelangelo, and a redheaded man whom Destiny has never met but can easily assume is April's dad.

"Destiny?" Donatello asks in disbelief.

There's a short shriek and Destiny is nearly thrown off her feet as Michelangelo engulfs her in a tight hug.

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