Savior Of The Stars

Reaching the Emperor

You and Raphael are sucked up into the levitating tubes, your back pressed against his chest and helmets knocking together with every small movement. You stare up, waiting and watching for the top floor as Raphael looks around.

"Ugh, are you getting some static in your coms?" His voice fills your helmet as he taps his.

"No. Try messing with the frequency tuner, right here." You point to the dial on your helmet, and you can hear a soft whirring and whining with the static as Raph twists the dial.

"What the shell?" He mutters. You hear soft drums playing in his helmet and a strange voice singing something.

"What is that?" You ask, turning to look at him.

"N-nothing.." he huffs, cheeks red as he turns the dial again to let static fill his ears. You raise your silver eyebrow and step out of the tube once you both reach the top floor. He clears his throat as he follows and walks with you down the hall. You wince as loud static fills your ears and makes you disoriented, and you stumble before hitting your sore shoulder on the wall.

"Augh.." you barely feel Raph pick you up and run into a closet. As you're set down, you manage to turn off your coms and lean back on the wall.

"You alright? Hey, Y/n, can ya look at me?" Raph asks, holding your shoulders in his gloved hands. You turn your eyes to meet his, glowing in the darkness.

"I'm fine.. I'll be ok.." you look around in a daze. "Why are we in a closet?"

"Lot's of guards were coming.. I couldn't just leave you and fight 'em all off." He clears his throat softly and glances at the door. You shift your feet, practically standing on his with how small your hiding space is. Your helmets are almost touching, and your back is pressed against the wall. If the door opens, you and Raph will be trapped like kimts on Feasting Day.

"Are they gone yet?" You whisper, staring at the barely visible door.

"Why? Don't you like bein' in enclosed spaces with me?" Raph flashes an alluring grin. You blush and roll your eyes, holding back a chuckle. "I still hear them walking by."

You nod and cross your arms, staring up at the ceiling. Raphael shuffles around, his hand suddenly landing on the wall behind your head. You jolt in surprise, your hands flying up and pressing against his chest in fear he's about to fall and squish you against the wall. He shifts his feet, huffing as he stands over you, both hands on either side of your head.

"That was two right there... They must know we're close, patrolling the halls.." He mutters. You groan as you let your head lay back against the wall.

"How many were there?"

"At least 20.. I mean, we are in the Emperors tower.."

You nod, when suddenly the door opens. You gasp when Raph suddenly scoops you up and kicks the guard into the far wall and runs out. You look over his shoulder and see hundreds of guards chasing after you both, and take out your blaster and aim.

"Try not to bounce around so much!" You say, biting your lip as you shoot. Raph raises his brow and glances at you, shifting you in his arms so you can aim better. You grin as guards fall with every shot, not dead but unconscious.

"Crap." You hear him mutter. Twisting around, you see the door ahead blocked by guards. You groan and look around.

"Go that way!" You shout, pointing to the door to the right. Raph skids as he turns suddenly and bursts through the doors, dropping you and locking the door. You sigh and put your blaster away.

Raph looks at you and chuckles as he leans on the door.
"Nice shootin', Texas." He remarks, smirking.

You blush, acting extremely interested in your gloves as you fix them.
"Texas? Is that an Earth thing?"

A pause replies before his voice fills your ears, turning stoic and apathetic.
"Yeah." He puts his black mask back on his helmet, hiding his face from view. "I think we found the Emperor."

You immediately turn on your black mask and spin around, finding the Emperor sitting behind his desk, pure white, leather-like skin, and dark ink blue eyes staring at you both. A blue jewel is embedded in his forehead, between and above his eyes, and he has a large head that slopes down around his face with lines and ridges, and a long, tall, slim neck. He sits straight, a robe or dress of some sort hanging on his shoulders, and doesn't seem too surprised with your arrival.

"Emperor Oenolle, I hope we aren't interrupting anything important." You speak formally, stepping forward.

The Emperor sets down a glass of faint blue liquid and folds his hands in his lap.

"No, no. My schedule just opened up." His voice is smooth and almost angelic. You step toward his desk with Raphael following close behind. You imagine his face as amazed at the sight of the Emperor, appearing so strange and... alien.

"We have an offer for you.." You set down the contract, biting your lip as you search for words. You have no idea what you're actually offering.

"We are agents from a new trading establishment." You hear Raphael whisper into the coms. You hold back a shiver, finding it weird how he seems to be whispering right in your ear.

"We are agents from a new trading establishment, and we would like to sail our ships through your Orionis-Centauri Star System, with your approval, of course..."

~~

The team has been searching for hours now, asking thousands of aliens and barely getting anywhere with finding Raphael, Y/n or the Captain Gwendoyln. Donatello has been sending out signals to hopefully reach Raphael or you. It was a long shot, but they were desperate.

As April approaches aliens with Casey, a picture of Gwendoyln in her hand, she spies a suspicious group standing near a tall building. She elbows Casey in the ribs as she stares at them.

"Owwww, what was that for, red?" Casey whines and pouts, looking at her.

"You see that woman over there? With the dreadlocks?" April asks, glancing up at him with no care of his bruised side.

Casey squints at them and nods.
"Yeah. Looks kinda like.. HOLY SH-" He's cut off by April slapping a hand over his mouth and dragging him back to the guys.

"We found her!" April grins, turning everyone's heads.

"Where?? Did you see Raph and Y/n?" Mikey asks with wide eyes.

"Over at that big building! And nah, we didn't see them, but they gotta be nearby!" Casey replies, pointing to the tallest building in the city.

Leo smiles, feeling hopeful again.
"Alright, here's how we'll do this: Professor, Casey, Donnie and Mikey, you three sneak up behind the group while April and I distract- wait... where's Mikey and Casey?!" His eyes go wide as he looks around.

Donnie gasps as he looks in time to see Mikey's orange mask disappear into the crowd with a head of shaggy black hair, both heading towards the building.

"Oh no.."

(Emperor Oenolle:

Black mask looks like how Raph's helmet is in the suit from last chapter. The glass looks all black from the outside. Enjoy the chapter!!)