Winded Lungs | TMNT Raph X OC Love Story

it all comes crashing down

New York was supposed to be a dream come true. That was what Crescent's parents had said, anyway.

It was a shivering December. The Wilfred family was just on the outskirts of New York City, where the roads were grand, but during this time of night, the traffic wouldn't be too terrible. In fact, one could even say they were empty. The paved concrete was easy to drive along, so the long trip had a section of smooth sailing for the family to be subtly grateful for.

Things were going well.

It was a miracle, Crescent's father thought, as he held the steering wheel with his left hand and drove the van with an even, steady ease.

And in his right hand held his wife's left hand, Crescent's mother. She was beautiful, a stunning image of transformative motherhood and grace. Her long red hair curled down her chest like a queen's curls. Although stress and age had streaked the red with silver strands, she was as perfect as the day Crescent's father met her mother. Large rosy cheeks and all her glory.

Crescent gazed upon the car window from the backseat, watching the city towers whiz by like sliding pillars. The night seemed so bright at a distance; a glowing fire of human life.

It was so cold, but Crescent's love of peppermint chewing gum could not deter her. She masticated masochistically, the ice burning her already ailing airway system. She suppressed a cough, but Crescent was currently under the weather with pneumonia, again. It was hard not to cough.

She could not risk alerting or worrying her parents during a peaceful time like this. She fished inside of her backpack and discreetly huffed her decorated inhaler. Lucky Crescent that her mother found the inhaler before the car trip had started. Otherwise Crescent's medicine would have wound up in the moving van.

The flush of medicated compressed air illicited a slight flinch across Crescent's face. Otherwise, she was fine. She instantly felt much better. The medicine cooled the itch that would have started a coughing fit.

She turned the music up on her cellphone with a purple case, allowing the wordless symphonies to bounce through both of her ears and spark cyan blue geometrical fireworks to blast inside of her mind. Crescent was relaxed and at peace.

The teenager took a look at the front side of the car. Her parents were still displaying affection as they all drove quietly. In this small family, words were not always needed, yet they were still functional and caring for one another. It was a safe and loving small family.

As of late, since Crescent had basically been an only child for a good portion of her life, she would become envious of her parents' strong relationship. She would sometimes feel lonely, a sense of longing, whenever she was around her parents. She wanted what they had, too.

Maybe a new environment was just what she needed. How lucky was Crescent? That she was able to move into her dream city with her family. She was able to experience her number one dream thanks to her family working so hard. They wanted to move here too, after all. As more lights passed by, the metallic sheen of her plastic headphones illuminated like priceless metal. It was a fiery magenta that held the reverb of instrumental music that Crescent enjoyed so dearly.

What a town... Crescent thought admiringly.

Although, that would be one of the last thoughts she would have before they would all eventually succumb to their inevitable fates. Who knew that everything good in Crescent's world would all be ripped away in an instant?

Meanwhile, in a flurry out of the block, the Shellraiser was making a run for it out of TCRI, all turtles and April in tow. Most, which included driver Leonardo, Donatello and April, had seatbelts on. Mikey was sitting at his station, though he was unbuckled. And Raph was not even in his weapons area of the vehicle. Poised strong behind Leo's seat, he shouted obscenities at the objects nearing the Shellraiser while questioning his leader's decisions.

"We were right there, Leo! We should have just busted their vans as soon as we left TCRI! I told you it was gonna end up like this! Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"All of them? You know that it was too dangerous!"

Leo was upset, and clearly stressed out. His mind was attempting to split and focus on the road, Raph's pestering and any incoming attacks that he would need to watch for. After all, those flying Kraang had showed up just the other day. Nothing could be ruled out at this point.

"Yeah, Raph. April's with us! We can't risk her getting hurt."

"Um, yeah! I don't want to be roadkill, dude!"

And there goes Donnie with his need to make the subject about his love for April again, some of Raph thought at that moment.

Leo swerved, which was becoming more frequent as of the most recent moments. Had he stumbled across a busy road? No, but a human minivan had come onto the road. It was not easy to tell, since its pale gray color blended in with the white vans chasing the turtles down. The stakes were getting too high for Leo. It was bad enough that the blasts from the Kraang laser guns were hitting the Shellraiser. What if they hit the human car?

Leo made the risky decision to attempt to divert the Kraang off of their trail, and have the humans be safe. There was an alleyway to the right from where they were. And there was a four-way just before that. He could take advantage of that, and just book it. Little did he know that these bumps and swerves were orchestrating a soon to be allegro of disaster.

"Leo!"

The reaction to the yell he had was visceral. Leo's hands jerked the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to make disgusting nails on chalkboard noise. Metal clanged against metal, everything inside starting to spin. Everyone sitting in the car jumped a foot high, and those standing hit the roof. Yells of fear and alarm broke the sound barrier. The makeshift subway car heaved, but inevitably tipped to the side as it fell perfectly inside of an alleyway.

Everyone groaned. Those who were buckled were slack against the protective belts, only mildly jostled. Those who were not suffered an aching pain on their head and body.

Leo had never lost his cool like that. Panic was already setting in as he quickly unbuckled himself. His heart rate was spiking. "Is everyone okay?" He asked worriedly.

"We're fine back here." That was April's voice.

Mikey grumbled, but from the looks of it, he was alright. "My head hurts."

The sound of flames igniting is a terrifying one to experience. It is a stagnant, followed by the whipping of fire burning in the air. It turned the Shellraiser quiet, everyone's attention snapping to the obvious sound (as well as faint smell) of burning. Hearing it from the safety of the Shellraiser stirred fear in the stomachs of everyone inside. Leo's guilt had already begun to rot and eat him up from the inside out.

"I think we just hit someone." Donnie said in the smallest voice of pure terror.