Turtles' Big Sister

Invasion of the Squirrelanoids

It was a few days since the mutagen incident, and in those few days, the ninjas had done nothing but search for the canisters. So far, they hadn't had much luck in finding many. Donnie's tracker offered a little help, but not much. With so much mutagen scattered around the city, it was hard to track down even one. But, there was more than just mutagen going through their minds: it had been 3 days since anyone had heard from April, let alone seen her.

After panicking about her new magic well into the night, Pepper had tried to call the red-head. Obviously, she hadn't picked up. Pepper had tried texting her, telling her that she was sorry and that April had done nothing wrong. She hadn't answered back since. Things had gotten a little more difficult for Pepper as of late. Since she'd found her strange new magic, she'd had a hard time trying to control it. 

As it turned out, it was elemental magic. The heat she'd felt in her palms had been a sign of her fire magic, while the cold chill had been the ice. Apart from the ice and fire, she'd also discovered she could control wind, using it almost like telekinesis, or she could connect to the earth, using it to summon rocks or stones, or feel vibrations through the earth and tell if something was approaching. She'd been practicing, but she was trying not to reveal the magic to the others. Once, she'd tried to move a cup from the kitchen with her winds, moving it a little until it had fallen off the table and shattered. She was able to clean it up before she got caught, though. Since then, she practiced out in the sewers where the others wouldn't track her down.

As she'd practiced, she'd learned how to recognize her powers, and that she'd accidentally connected to an element. Her palms turned hot or cold for fire and ice respectively. Air and earth were broader, and she had to be aware of her surroundings for them. For earth, she felt grounded, aware of the layers of rock under her feet and the vibrations shivering through it. For air, she felt light and untethered from solid ground, acutely aware of the slightest shift in the air around her. 

She'd started going to the public library for books about elemental magic to read, learning about the magic and hoping to control it. Tonight was one such night. She went out for a walk in the streets, hood up, tail concealed, making sure no one was around. She looked at her reflection in the window of an abandoned building. Frost spread across the pane, and the glass cracked and shattered, making her jump. She stared at the shards and concentrated, until she felt the still air around her shift, picking up the shards and fixing them back in the window.

She headed for an alley near the theater and waited a moment before taking out her phone and dialing Leo. 

"Pepper, are you finished with your walk?"

"Just got done. You guys out yet?"

"Just got out. Stay where you are, we'll come get you."

"Alright. See yah."

She stood there, leaning against the wall for maybe 5 minutes before she got bored and decided to test out her earth magic. She took a breath and focused until her attention was fixed on the ground under her feet. She closed her eyes and kept her focus on the ground, reaching through the layers of soil and across the city as far as she could, hoping to feel the vibrations of the approaching Shellraiser. Within a few seconds, she felt the familiar heavy vibrations of the Shellraiser, and soon enough, her ears pricked at the familiar tire squeaks. She opened her eyes as it came zooming around the corner, skidding slightly as it sped up the road and turned into an alley beside the theater.

Pepper ran to the edge of the alley to see the others filing from the van. "About time," she said. "Find any mutagen on the way here?"

"No." Raph pointed a thumb at Donnie. "Professor Dork-instein couldn't stay tracked on a single one."