Chapter 1 - She Was Alive

A Young boy named Michalengelo ran through the streets of the futuristic city he'd know for his short 10 years of life. He greeted all of his neighbours with a beaming smile on his face, not caring whether they were human or otherwise. Michalengelo had never once thought of how his home city had become such a melting port for different species, races and cultures, all he had known was that his home was also home to many humans and aliens.

Thud!

Michalengelo, in his deep train of thought , had failed to notice that he had slammed into his next door neighbour. "Woah! Slow down there Mikey!" His neighbour exclaimed jokingly. "Ouch! Umm, Hi Dee! S-sorry 'bout bumping into ya". "Dee" Michalengelo's neighbour was a 7 foot tall alien with deep pink skin and shiny black eyes, that was known for being a gentle soul.

"No Problem Mikey! Say, what's got you in such a rush?" Dee said as he crouched down to Mikey's eye level. "Well, I learned some new stuff in school today and I wanna tell it to my parents" Mikey said as he jumped up and down excitedly. "Well I'd best not keep you back, if you need me you need me you know were I live" Dee said as he ruffled up Michalengelo's hair. "Bye, Dee!"

Said Mikey as he ran into his home.

...

Michalengelo entered his home before closing the door behind himself. His home seemed empty at that time of the day, as it often was most days. His Father was a member of the Local Police Force and his Mother a weapons merchant, so it wasn't uncommon for either of them to work late. Michalengelo walked towards his room, when it him. A Sharp, Repugnant smell that always spelled trouble when it was around.

"Is that... Blood?" Michalengelo said trying to discern the Source of the smell. He searched all of the rooms of his home top to bottom until one room was left. The Kitchen. He walked to the door that separated his kitchen from the rest of the home, his hand hovering on the door knob shaking. "S-should I really open this door?" Michalengelo worriedly said. Perhaps his 10 year old mind had sensed that there was danger on the other and he had simply chosen to ignore it, or maybe the sharp tang of blood that could be smelt in the air was to too strong to ignore, either way Michalengelo opened the door regardless of his relentless feeling of dread telling him to do otherwise.

...

Michalengelo could not believe what his eyes were seeing. A Giant alien so tall that it reached the ceiling, had both of his parents in the grimey grasps of its three-fingered hands. Blood had stained the walls of his kitchen, sullying the decorum that had been placed around. He looked to the huge, imposing humanoid that stood before him. In its right hand it clutched the lifeless body of his Father. His face was unrecognisable, it had been crushed into a pulp of tooth, bone and flesh, the only thing that helped identify the lifeless mass as his father was the watch it bore on its left hand- the watch Michalengelo had gifted his father for his 40th birthday. In the alien's left hand was Michalengelo's mother, he was expecting to see her in a gruesome state much similar to his father, but she was different. She was bleeding from the orfices of her face, and her belly had been partially ripped open exposing the bloody flesh that laid beneath the fair skin, but she was different. SHE WAS ALIVE.

"HUH? A KID?" the alien said its voice bellowing out and echoing against the Kitchen walls. Its overbearing presence loomed heavily over Michalengelo's small frame, but the drastic difference did not worry Mikey, what worried him was his mother's state of being. "M-Mom?" Michalengelo weakly let out his voice trembling at the gruesome site his eyes bore witness to. "M-Mikey... R-run" Mikey's Mother weakly replied, choking on her own blood and saliva at each word she said.

Mikey stood there, his body frozen, would he run away in order to preserve his own life or would he let his burning desire to save his mother take over him. Mikey stood in place his thoughts clashing against each other until he decided, SHE WAS ALIVE, AND HE WAS GOING TO SAVE HER.

He sprang forward from his stationary position, his short legs carrying him further and faster than they had ever in his short life. His brain had contained almost no unique thoughts, the only existing comprising of two words, "Save Mom!". He continued running. What was merely a distance 10 meters that separated him from his goal, felt like it was a worlds away. That's when he realised it "I'm running in place!". The Alien was using 'Telekinesis' an inherently genetic 'Zantetsu Art' that most aliens had Ingraved into their bodies from birth, and it was using it to stophim from moving. "YOUR DADDY HERE HAD THE NERVE TO LOCK UP ONE OF MY BROTHERS, SO IN THE SPIRIT OF FAIRNESS HE HAD TO DIE" the alien said as it began to lift Michalengelo into the air using its Telekinesis.

Zantetsu Art: Flesh Shaping!!

With those words that the alien had spoken, a great wave of energy overcame Michalengelo's prepubescent body. "Is this what the teacher talking about? this energy, Is it Zantets-" Before Michalengelo could finish his sentence the Alien activated its ability. His Limbs began to twist and contort into thin spirals, as the unholy sound of crackling bone - Twisted from its original state - rang out in all directions. A mind numbing pain overcame Michalengelo's young body, it left him unable to form any form of an intelligible sentence, leaving him only to be able to do one thing. SCREAM.

"Aaaaaaaah! Gaaaaaaah!" Michalengelo screamed out, his cries only being directly heard by the alien and his dying mother. He knew there were people beyond the walls of his home. He knew People must have surely heard his screams, and were rushing to save his family. But still he felt alone, the most alone he had ever felt in his entire life.

...

[Dee's Pov]

Dee stood there on the street watching Mikey enter his home. "He's a such a good kid" Dee thought taking out a cigarette from his leather jacket and proceededing to light it. "I-I wish I was like him when I was his age." Dee thought as he let out a large puff smoke. He stood there for a moment, absorbing the sights and sounds of his near surroundings. That's when he heard it, a bone-chilling scream that sent his body into a flight-or-fight response. "What the Hell?! Where's that coming from?" Dee said surveying his immediate vincity before he found the source of the harrowing sound.

Mikey's House. "Mikey's in trouble! I've gotta save him!" With those words spoken be sprang into action, barging into his neighbours' home with the intention to save their son. He followed the sounds of the young boy's distured screams, which deeper and deeper into the home until he-

Thud!

He ran head first into a giant someone, which caused him to break his nose in the process. "Shit! My Fucking Nose! Dammit!" He shouted as he clutched his now broken nasal cavity. He looked up and saw it. A Giant alien -Not similar to him in any way- whose head reached the ceiling. It's light yellow skin, diamond shaped pupil's and rippling muscles adding to the sense of fear it evoked in Dee. "Who-" before he could even finsh his thought the giant alien smacked him into a wall with it's left hand, leaving him leaning against the it, his midnight black blood splattered behind him, where his head had met the wall. "THIS PLACE BLOWS. I'M OUT" the alien said as it made a new hole in the wall and began leave through it.

Dee laid there against the wall, his apparent failure to save Mikey weighing heavily on his mind, causing him to break down in tears. "W-WHERE'S M-MIKEEY!?" Dee shouted, heavy tears cloud his eyes. "MIKEY? OH! SO THAT'S THE RUNT'S NAME. I SHOULD PROBABLY TURN BACK HIS ARMS AND LEGS". With the Snap of a finger from the alien, Mikey's distant screams came to a grinding halt. Dee knew that Mikey was alive somewhere in the house and so he willed himself to go and find him, ignoring the pain pounding against the back of his skull. He walked deeper into the home, his mind fading in and out of consciousness, his bloodied right hand steadying him against the wall. "Mikey!" He yelled hoping to get a response from the young boy. "I-I'm here" Mikey replied, signalling to Dee where he needed to go. Dee walked into the kitchen his eyes being assaulted by a gorey scene comprised of blood, guts and Assorted Limbs all spread throughout the room. In the center of the chaotic scene sat the young boy, Michalangelo, surrounded by the mangled remains of his parents.

"Oh... Mikey" Dee said shocked by the gruesome nature of the scene his eyes bore witness to. Michalengelo ran up to Dee, hugging him tightly. "M-M-My Mom... S-She was A-Alive" Mikey said before shortly beginning to wail. "Mikey, I'm so sorry. Let's- Let's get out of here" Dee said motioning for the two of them to leave. "No! That Alien! I-I'm going to kill it myself!" Mikey said more tears pouring out from his eyelids. "M-Mikey" Dee said shocked by the amount of hatred seeping from the young boy's voice. "I'm gonna get stronger and kill it with my bare hands! I Promise!" Mikey's eyes burned with a vindictive determination as he said those words.

"Mikey, I-I don't think your parents would want-" Dee couldn't finish his sentence before he was interrupted by angry Michalengelo. "I hate you!" Mikey shouted before he turned to run away. "Mikey! I-I, I know a place where you can get strong" As soon as those words left Dee's mouth he knew they shouldn't have. He knew he shouldn't be the person to fuel a Young child's revenge fantasy. He shouldn't be the one to assist in transforming a starry eyed child into a jaded killer. he knew he shouldn't help turn a child into him- Into what HE WAS. But what could he do, he didn't want Mikey running away into the city on his own, it was on one of the most dangerous cities on the planet, children were murdered in the streets everyday and Mikey certainly could not survive out there on his own.

"Where is that place?!" Mikey demanded, his back turned away from Dee. "I'll tell you later. Nghh! For now, we have to get out of here and phone the police" Dee said extending his arm to Michalengelo "Help me get up". Mikey helped balance Dee as they both hobbled towards the entrance, Injured.

Dee thought to himself, about the gruesome scene he'd just witnessed, about his past and how Mikey was reminding him of his vengeful younger self. Gods! Mikey! Dee had essentially made a promise to help Mikey get revenge- A promise he should NOT keep. Before he could finish collecting his thoughts, Dee lost the battle to remain conscious his brain had been fighting ever since he was knocked into the wall. He fell to the ground, Passing Out.

[End of Pov]

Hours Later. Michalengelo sat atop a harness, the paramedics had arrived hours after the incident and now Healers were using their Zantetsu Arts to tend all of his cuts and bruises. He looked down to his hands, they looked normal but strangely felt "Alien". They were still his own arms but at the same time, he felt they weren't. He hated this feeling, the feeling that his body was no longer his own, the feeling that was undoable had been done unto him. His young adolescent mind looked for someone to blame, someone to pin his Misery on, and it soon found it. Himself. "None of this would have happened if i wasn't so weak, I could've saved Mom" he whispered to himself under his breath. His young mind could not fully comprehend the meaning of hatred, so in order to cope with the trauma, it made excuses. If i wasn't so Weak. If i wasn't so Late. If Dee hadn't stopped Me. In an effort to cope Mikey began to blame himself for any and every tragedy, that he felt responsible for. Perhaps in due time he would forget about the pain he was caused, Forget about his half-cooked revenge fantasies and Maybe even... forget his parents, leaving them as distant memories locked up in the depths of his adolescent psyche.

Whatever would happen to Mikey in the future was not clear. What was clear was the fact that the events that happened on that day, would change Mikey for the rest of his life.

End of Chapter 1.