Tales from the Other Side of the City

Chapter 1: Spring Cleaning

A/N: Here is another story that crosses my Tales of a Pizza Delivery Boy universe with Illusionna's The Other Side of the City universe. This one mostly will be a slice of life type series of stories that will be a side story to The Pizza Delivery Boy and the Phoenix. A bit thanks to Illusionna for being kind enough to let me do this. You are truly the best and everyone should check out her work because she is amazing at what she does! I hope you enjoy this chapter and the others to come.

Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters are property of Nickelodeon. The Phoenix, her children, and any other characters from The Other Side of the City are property of Illusionna and are used with permission from the author. I only own the plot and nothing more.

Summary: After meeting Tony Salini and becoming friends with the Hamato family, The Phoenix and her children are adjusting to a new life filled with fun, family, and adventure.

The Phoenix sighed as she came out of her room. Her children and the Turtles were out on patrol so she and Splinter had the place to themselves. She found him in the living area cleaning up various bits of mess.

"I am cleaning up this place a bit," Splinter said. "Sometimes my sons leave in a hurry and forget to clean up after themselves."

Phoenix smiled. "It seems to be a boy thing, though Arcos is definitely a bit neater than Aries when it comes to keeping things clean."

"I believe it is time for me to inspect my sons' rooms. I often do this when they are on patrol. Would you like to join me?"

She nodded as she was curious to see their rooms and what their personalities were like because of them.

Leonardo's room was first and upon entering it, Phoenix marveled at how impeccably neat it was. The only mess Leo really had was some papers that had fallen off his table filled with calligraphy and some action figures that had fallen off of one of his shelves. Posters for a show called Space Heroes lined his walls and she had to smile for she had seen his geeky side while watching the show only the other day. She helped to put things back and then they left the room.

"Leonardo is usually the neatest of my sons," Splinter told her. "I often wish the other three would be like him in terms of neatness."

"Are they really that bad?" she asked him.

"You will see," answered Splinter.

Raphael's room was next and his was a bit messier than Leo's. He had an assortment of weights that were scattered about as well as some things that were obviously thrown in a rage. Chompy Picasso, his pet turtle, was sitting on his little table and wagged his tail in greeting while giving a little chirp.

Phoenix helped to clean Raph's room though it was a bit of a chore to get the weights where they needed to be. After that was done, they each patted Chompy on the head and left to go to Donatello's room.

The purple-clad Turtle's room was mainly scattered about with books and notebooks. It was clear Donnie didn't spend a lot of time in his room and it showed with all of the mess. The two got to work cleaning it up with Splinter sighing a bit as he did so.

"Donatello spends most of his time in his lab than in here," he said.

"Are you going to clean his lab too?" Phoenix asked as she could imagine how messy that place was.

"No, he does not allow me to go in his lab for anything and usually cleans it himself when he thinks of it," answered Splinter. "However, I have threatened to go in there if he does not clean it up on time and that usually motivates him to do so."

Once Donnie's room was in order, they went to Mikey's.

"Be sure to hold your breath," Splinter advised her.

Phoenix was a bit confused at this advice until she entered the room and a horrible smell filled her nostrils. She immediately pinched it shut and held her breath as Splinter had advised.

"I told you so," Splinter said with a twinkle in his eyes.

The youngest Turtle's room was a detritus of empty and half full pizza boxes, candy wrappers, and plates of moldy food. The two of them got to work and began cleaning it up though Phoenix had to leave the room a few times due to the smell. Somehow, they got it done and left for the kitchen to have some tea.

"Well, that was quite an adventure," Phoenix commented.

"Are your boys as messy as Michelangelo?" Splinter asked.

"Not even close," she answered. "They do have some messy moments, but nothing like that. I think if they did do that, they know I would ground them for life."

"I definitely plan on having a talk with Michelangelo about it," Splinter said. "Though I have done so many times and it does not seem to sink in with him."

"Would you let me try?" she asked him. "I think I can get through to him a bit better."

"Be my guest," he said.

When the Turtles arrived home, Splinter told Mikey that Phoenix wanted to speak to him. Curious, the young Turtle followed Phoenix to the dojo.

"So, what's this about?" he asked her.

"I was helping your father clean your rooms, and I noticed the deplorable state of your own room," she said. "That smell could kill someone or make them sick."

Mikey rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I kind of forget about that sometimes."

"Well, maybe this will help you remember it better," she said and before Mikey could react, she smacked his behind with a wooden staff.

"Ouch!" he yelped.

"If you don't want more of that, then you should get better at cleaning your room," she lectured.

"Splinter always just gives me flips to do," he said. "Or sometimes randori."

"Consider this my own version of randori," she said.

Mikey nodded and saluted. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. You're dismissed."

After Mikey left, Splinter came in. "I saw Michelangelo on his way out and he said he would never forget to clean his room as long as he lived. What did you do?"

"I spanked him with a staff because I thought that would be a good reminder for him," she answered. "Looks like it worked. Haven't you ever spanked your boys?"

"I did when they were smaller, but I stopped once they became teenagers though I do tend to use other punishments such as grabbing their ear slits or giving them flips or randori to do."

"Well, I'm of the opinion that one is never too old to get spanked," she said. "That's why my children are never unruly and know that if they cross the line, they'll get spanked for it. Luckily, I haven't had to do it in a long time."

Splinter chuckled. "Well, perhaps that is what I will keep in mind then if I need to punish them," he said. "I am sure Michelangelo will not want to get punished by you in a hurry."

"No, he definitely won't," she said.

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"So, what did she do?" Raph asked him.

"She spanked me," pouted Mikey.

"Are you serious?" Raph gasped. "She totally spanked you?"

"Yes. It was only once but it hurt a lot."

"I can't believe she spanked you," Leo said.

"Yeah, Sensei stopped doing that when we were thirteen," Donnie pointed out.

"Mama's of the opinion that you're never too old to get spanked," Aries said. "Believe me, I've taken the brunt of her spankings a few times myself. My advice would be not to get on her bad side."

"But she's not our mom," Raph said.

"That doesn't matter," Aries told him. "She's still your elder and you need to respect her."

"I would listen to him, Raph," Leo warned.

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A few days later, Raph rubbed his sore shell. He had gotten on the wrong side of the Phoenix when he got in a fight with Leo and didn't apologize right away.

Aries came into the room and smirked at Raph. "I told you so," he said.

"Shut it, Wooly," Raph grumbled.

A/N: So, what did you think of this chapter? I'm the type to think that the Phoenix is not against spanking if it keeps her children in line and that she only does it when they commit pretty big offenses like not listening to her about certain things. I hope you liked it. Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.