IT LIVES! MWAHAHA! AND IT'S ON TIME (SORTA)!
*CLEARS THROAT* WELL, EXCUSE THAT BREAK IN PROFESSIONALISM. HEH. I JUST GET EXCITED GIVING YOU ALL THESE CHAPTERS. SORRY THEY'RE LONG, BUT I DON'T WANNA CUT THE EPISODES OFF IN THE MIDDLE, YAH KNOW? I'M NOT THAT KINDA AUTHOR. IT'S ALL OR NOTHING. SO...
GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!
~THE LUPINE SOJOURNER
It may have taken a few solid days of work, but this place is amazing! We have the bedrooms and kitchen set up and...uh, okay, so they're not quite lit and working, but we're working on that. Right now, as a matter of fact. But, hey, we have an indoor pool that leads...well, we haven't really scoped it out yet, but it's wicked. Me and Lupa, after a hard day's work, like to see how far down we can dive before we have to resurface. (So far, she's beaten me by a whopping three inches, apparently, though I swear she just fabricated those numbers.) Then it's off to bed before another day of electrician work with Don. I'm the only mutant that comes as close as anyone else to Don's intellect. I understood the bare basics (and even that much wasn't perfect) of wiring. Even so, Donnie had to come behind me and carefully explain everything I had done wrong while correcting it. It was both training and helping get this place up and running as a fully operational home. I was fascinated by the process, if not frustrated by the electricity that now had my fur on edge when I made a mistake during the actual wiring. Ugh. OW! Another shock. Youch! What did I do wrong this time? I huff and cross my arms. These stupid wires!
"You okay?" Don asked, chuckling from his position several feet along the balcony. I sucked my finger to try and relieve the tingling. We really need to turn off the electricity before we play with the wires.
"Not really." I grumbled around my finger. Donnie shook his head and maneuvered himself over. He was smiling at me again, like 'what did she do this time?' I don't appreciate that, Donnie.
"Didn't you see that you were trying to connect a green wire and a yellow wire?" I scowled. Knew I'd messed something up, but, with my lupine eyes...sometimes, my color went a little wonky. Especially when I was utterly focused on the task at hand. Like now. Or when I was experiencing times of high stress. It used to be all the time, coming and going at random before puberty hit, before my human side apparently became a bit more prominent and the bursts were decidedly more infrequent. However, whenever they came, there was no treatment, and I was left to simply suffer through it. Now, I scratched the back of my head nervously.
"Not really." I mumbled softly, cheeks aflame and not meeting my brother's eyes. Don frowned. He was on to me. He always is. It's annoying.
"I thought you said those fits didn't come as often." I frowned, crossing my arms in a black mood. Out of all my brothers, Don was the most concerned about my lack of color, which meant testing out various prototype contact lenses that either made the colors so vivid, I got a headache, or they left me with absolutely no color at all. I gave up, telling Don I'd refuse any more lenses he tried to get me to test.
"They were—are!" I retorted, adjusting myself in my harness. "It's just...I was really focused. And besides...it looked right." Don sighed.
"I told you to tell me when they happen, Asami." I pouted.
"I just did. And...you know I hate this. It's stupid. It's just part of being mostly canine. I think you need to stop monitoring it." Don huffed as he crossed his arms moodily.
"I have a feeling you just like being independent." I sighed.
"Right. I do, and this is humiliating for me! It's just...I can't control it, and it feels akin to playing God to try and mess with your body for no reason. He gave me this new form, and this family. I don't want to change something he designed. Besides, it's not like it's a major drawback." Don blinked. I had told him all this before, and it never ceased to surprise him. He didn't seem to understand that I don't really care. Sure, I moaned and groaned about it in my youth, perhaps a bit too much...but now...I've accepted it. I've moved on in life, but Don doesn't seem to get that. I roll my eyes, and go back to wiring, noticing that, yes, those wires were indeed different colors. Frowning in concentration, I connected the wires, this time making double sure they were the right colors. Within five minutes, though, we heard a soft groan from Mikey. In sync, we chuckled. Mikey had stacked about twenty (the actual number was probably more than that) different screens to that one wall. How we were actually supposed to watch anything with that set-up in any sort of normal capacity was beyond me.
"What's the matter, Mikey?" Don asked, as we repelled down to the ground level, unclasping from the harness as soon as our feet touched solid ground. "Can't decide what to watch?"
"Oh, the horror!" I cried in mock-despair, throwing my hand to my brow overly-dramatically, sighing to complete the picture. Mikey stuck his tongue at me.
"Haha, Asami. No. I need more power, captain." He explained in a horrid impression of that engineering guy in Star Trek. Scot? Sporty? Something like that... "The Turtle Cave must be set for maximum entertainment potential." I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Mikey then plugged it all in, and turned it on. I gasped as the wave of pure noise set me on my butt. The static noise and light of that many screens and at that high a volume was decidedly not a good idea, Mikey! I groaned inwardly, clutching my ears.
"Aw, geez! That...that hurt." I whimpered, clutching my ears. That static noise was almost like a dog whistle to me. That, and the fact that it was coming from several sources at once only made it that much worse. Mikey gasped, concern and worry plastered on his face.
"Sorry, Ami! I really didn't...I, uh, here let me..." I stood, shaking my head, waving off his offer of help up.
"Nah, it's fine, bro. Nothin' you can do. It just startled me, is all. I didn't have a warning." Don hummed.
"I should have figured that static and white noise would register more for wolves than turtles. Oops."
"It's fine, guys. Just a jump-scare. That's all. Really." Don smiled, then turned to Mikey.
"Anyway...The 'Turtle Cave'?" Donnie scoffed. "That is so lame."
"Hate to admit it, bro, but Don's got something there." I chuckled, leaning against a pillar next to our couch, watching as Sensei worked on a training dummy. I had gone with him to get the sand to fill it, and hunted burlap sacks to construct it out of for him."Nice dummy, Sensei." I noted, as Mikey scoffed.
"'The Shell-ter'?" I was the one to scoff, snorting and shaking my head. Those two could get as bad as Leo and Raph over the dumbest things.
"Cus that's so much better." I snark sarcastically, laughing as Mikey stuck his tongue at me again. Don frowned in thought. I face-palmed. Were they really doing this?
"Uh...how about 'the Sewer of Solitude'?" Don suggested, waving dramatically as I pulled a face.
"No way! Hate Superman." I replied. The boys, apparently, didn't hear me.
"'Terrapin Station'?" Mikey tried. I sighed.
"Lame. And turtles aren't the only species here."
"'The School for Gifted Reptiles'?" I blinked. Wow. How nerdy can one turtle be?
"Heck to the no." Mikey was in his element now, though.
"'The Hall of Nin-Justice'?"
"What is wrong with you two?! No!" Though I sounded annoyed and irritated, the smirk on my face betrayed my amusement. Don and Mikey were glaring at each other in a manner similar to Leo and Raph, but much less intense, much less electric. Splinter cleared his throat, putting aside the dummy and standing up. His look was both amused and slightly irritated. Mainly amused, however.
"We shall call this place 'Home'." He instructed, and the turtles' faces softened slightly.
"Catchy." Mikey noted.
"A fully operational one, to boot." I added. Mikey giggles, hand over his mouth in a vain attempt to stifle the noise.
"Til some lucky X-wing pilot shoots a laser into the main reactor."
"Egad!" I groan, throwing my hands in the air. "Is there any reference he will not make?"
"Nope!" Both turtles replied, grinning. I deadpanned.
"Figures."
"Now, what is keeping Leonardo, Raphael, and Lupa?" Dad inquired, looking around curiously. I frowned. Now that I think about it...he's right. They probably should have been back by now. I mean, as long as there are none of those mechanical menaces around...they should be fine. I hope. Maybe they ran into sewer workers and had to take the scenic route. It's been known to happen.
"They just went to get the last of our old stuff from the Lair." Don explained placatingly. I scoffed, crossing my arms bitterly.
"What's left of that place." I muttered. "Those things sure did a good job over there." Don had run over to the table he had placed a relatively intact demonic robot to study. I walked over, too, frowning distrustfully at the metal pieces.
He was far too curious...that thing gives me the heebies-jeebies..."And, the way the new Sewer-Slider is performing, they should be here any minute now." Donnie said with a grin as he grabbed a screwdriver and started trying to take the foot of the mechanical thing apart. It fizzled and smoked slightly. Don blinked. I chuckled.
"Didn't expect that, did yah?" I snarked, hands on hips, smug expression evident, and sarcastic grin in place. Don frowned at me.
"Shut up, Ami." He grumbled. I laughed. Then frowned at the head that still seemed to be eying me, weighing me up. Don tapped it dejectedly.
"Give up on that thing, bro. It's never gonna work again, ever. And besides, it's creeping me out." I said, a shiver racing up my spine. Don sighed.
"Your sister is correct, my son. Even though it is inactive, that thing still makes me uneasy, Donatello." Dad mumbled, eying the robotic bits and pieces suspiciously.
"You're telling me." I groaned, frowning again. Donnie sighed.
"This is state of the art mechanics, Sensei. Brilliant work. I just gotta know what makes it tick." I slapped a hand over my face. Leave it to my brother to dissect any and everything that fascinates him. It had taken him a mere hour to take apart the first toaster Sensei and I brought home. Dad had then told Don to either fix it, or go alone to find a replacement as a lesson in taking responsibility for your mistakes. Donnie was about ten at the time. Of course, I would have shadowed Don had he needed to go get a new toaster, made sure he found his way home and all that, but it would be up to Don to fix what he had done wrong.
Thankfully, he had figured it out. He had been getting his hands on as many books on mechanics and tools as he could find after that.
"Only you..." I said, trailing off as lights flooded into the Lair. I smiled as the Sewer-Slider came in for a landing. Leo and Raph hopped out, grinning. Lupa reached into the mass of things on top of the Slider and pulled off a small cardboard box, twirling it on her fingertips.
"Hey, Mikey! Good news. Our DVD collection survived."
"Awesome!" The mutant addressed chirped, giving a wide, goofy grin, and instantly reaching for the TV remote, just as Lu-lu did the same. Mikey stuck his tongue at Lupa when he got to it first. I rolled my eyes. Those two... "Let's throw in something light on story and heavy on gory, cus the Video Monolith is ready to rock and roll!" Mikey then clicked the power button. There was a split second of that accursed white noise, but then a news channel came on, talking about some new invention being unveiled at Stocktronics. Don'll wanna hear about this. He almost never gets to hear about his role model and slight idol.
"Don! Dr. Stockman's on!" I called. I heard a thump as whatever tool Don was using clattered to the floor. Lupa and Mikey looked at each other. Then, in sync, they gagged and pretended to yawn at the display. I, however, was slightly intrigued. The TV showed a standard testing room with something large under a sheet, with another large blanket-covered lump near the white-coat-wearing genius himself. There was another scientist in the room, a young woman with red hair back in a ponytail, holding a cardboard box, smiling shyly at the camera as she nervously tucked at her hair. The reporter announced that Dr. Stockman was personally unveiling the newest invention.
"A wise man once said, 'build a better mousetrap, and the door will beat a path to your door'." I frowned as Dr. Stockman polished his glasses, then smirked at the camera. What did that mean? And who says stuff like that? "Well, I say, 'let the path-beating begin!'"As always, I was amazed that Donnie liked this guy. He was so narcissistic and egotistical. He drove me nuts. "For I, Dr. Baxter Stockman, have designed the solution to the city's ever-growing rat problem." I swallowed. Weren't those mechanical things chasing Splinter before? Hadn't they singled him, a giant rat, out when they trashed our last house? I suddenly have a very bad feeling about this...the object Stockman is unveiling is around the same size as those monsters. "Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the ultimate innovation in rodent-terminating technology; the Stocktronic MOUSER!" I blinked in shock! It...it was one of those things that ate our home! That thing is a menace, not a boon! Beside me, Raph growled, tense as a coiled spring. His fingers inched toward his sais.
"I can't believe that the famous Baxter Stockman would try to pass these things off as a good thing." Don mused, holding up the MOUSER head he brought over for no reason. I inched away from it warily, still feeling as if it may activate and attack us again. Mikey reached over and grabbed it. Turning to his younger sister, he used it as a puppet.
"Heh. And what's with those glasses?" He quipped. "Dork city." He mocked. I rolled my eyes as Don smacked Mikey over the head, Lu-Lu chuckling in the background, then leapt five feet in the air as Raph slammed a sai into one of the TVs.
"Raph! Go punch the dummy! Those TVs don't grow on trees." I groaned, watching as the now shattered screen sparked and crackled.
"I say we go over to Stocktronics and kick some serious shell!" Raph growled. I was a bit stunned. I knew Raph could get a bit testy and moody...but to go this far after all of Splinter's lectures...eesh. Raph was moving toward the door, and just as I prepared to leap and tackle my brother, Dad appeared in front of Raph out of nowhere and smacked Raph with his staff.
Dad had long since abandoned spanking. "Absolutely not!" Raph clutched his head, grimacing in pain. "Your last venture to the surface was a disaster!" He growled, blocking the door. I blinked. Geez... "You can ill afford to be seen by more humans." Dad went on. As if I needed reminding. The TV screens then distracted us again as Dr. Stockman finished explaining what the MOUSERs did. He then had his assistant, apparently called Ms. O'Neil, release the contents of the box she was holding. Rats. Dr. Stockman than set the MOUSER in front of one of the entrances to the maze on the floor.
"Now...behold the sheer genius of my MOUSER in action!" Baxter boasted. We watched, horror-struck, as the rats were eaten, one by one. I blinked. Poor rats...geez...
"Man..." Mikey whined. "I'd sure hate to be a rat in this town." He blinked, realization dawning even as Lupa smacked his head. "Ow! Sorry, Sensei." He mumbled. Father, however, makes no move to even acknowledge Mikey's insensitivity.
"And the search and retrieval functions are all ingeniously controlled by a remote mother computer." The doctor went on to explain. I flinched. Those things were programmed to wreak destruction, just to kill a few rats?! How were these things ever approved for production?! Regardless, Lupa had had enough of the unveiling, and turned the television off. We all just stood there for a few moments.
"Training." Splinter ordered after a minute or two. We all shook ourselves and obeyed. Splinter decided to repeat the earlier exercise, but with the lights on and no candle. We were all included this time, as well. I charged first, letting Splinter make the first move. I countered as we swung at each other, fairly evenly matched.
For a moment, then Splinter's tail snapped around my legs, and as I lost balance, a foot connected soundly with my chest and I went flying backwards, stumbling and collidng with the wall. Groaning, I stand and move out of the way. Donnie was next, but was sent reeling back soon after. "Do not lean with your shoulders, Donatello." He advised. Leo came at dad next, with both swords out. Dad stops the strike and before Leo can counter, Splinter sends him back with a hard palm-strike to his plastron. I wince. That looked painful. "Faster on your counter attack, Leonardo."
"Good try, though." I add, giving my brother a thumbs up. Mikey and Lupa (attacking together again) don't last two seconds, falling to essentially the same tactic as before; Splinter tripping them up.
"Mind your footwork, children." Raph just started swinging, but left himself completely open to dad's counter, knocking both sai away. I blinked.
"You okay, Raph?" I ask. He gruffly turns away, but is halted by dad pinning him to a pillar with his stick.
"You are distracted, Raphael." He notes. Raph grunts, not even trying to get out of dad's hold. "You must learn to focus your attacks."
"Yeah? I'd like to 'focus My attacks' on that Stockman guy." Dad walked away, the lesson over. but Raph wasn't done. "Why can't we go topside and show him a little mean'n'green?"
"Because I forbid it." Was the grim reply. Raph groans. However, dad is only interested in going to his room. "We will resume your training in the morning." He calls as the automatic doors close behind him. Mikey chuckles and nudges Lupa to get her attention.
"'We will resume your training in the morning'." He repeats in a slightly mocking voice.
"I heard that." Splinter calls from his room. I can't help but laugh.
"Busted." Don quips. Raph growls, grinding his fist into his palm.
"I'd like to bust a few heads!" He growled. I rolled my eyes.
"That's out of the question, and you know it." Raph grunted and turned his back on me. Mikey shrugged.
"Chill, bro. We don't need no sticking surface world." He said in a placating tone that was anything but placating to Raph. "We got late movies, top video countdown, BMX highlights, some really weird Korean soap opera-"
"Or," Don interjected, slipping his goggles on and firing up his blowtorch. "you could give me a hand with these MOUSER parts. If I can get one working, I can trace it back to its source and find out what Stockman's really using them for." I sighed heavily.
"If it means tearing those things apart...I guess I'll do it." I say and head over. As I'm putting a second pair of goggles on, I hear Raph yawn wearily.
"Y'all go ahead. I'm beat. I'm gonna wreck." I frowned.
"Since when does Raph turn in so early?" Leo and I asked.
"He probably just wanted to get out of playing with Don's freaky science project." Lupa replied. Don frowns, but makes no comment as I nod in agreement. We worked for two hours before I decided to hit the hay. I called out a goodnight to Mike and Lupa, who were watching a horror movie marathon or something of that nature.
=#=#=#=#=
Leo woke me a little while later with a hand on my shoulder, gesturing for me to follow him. We left the Lair, but halted only a short distance away.
"Leo, what-" He put a hand over my mouth and a finger to his. Soon enough, we heard a soft thud as someone landed a flip from the top floor. Raph, I realize, as he passed the entertainment center. I stood off in the shadows at Leo's direction. I suppose I'm the back-up if things go south here.
"Midnight stroll?" Leo asked tersely, knowing full well what Raph was up to.
"Outta my way, Leo." Raph growled. I decided, Leo's blessing or not, to come and try to reason with Raph.
"Cool it, Raph." I growl. "Listen to me. This is a suicide mission, going off alone like this, and you know. We all want a piece of Stockman, but storming over to Stocktronics won't get us anywhere but a grave yard. So what, we go there? So what, we get in undetected? We're going along, just fine, when, oh, no, there are invisible tripwires that raise the silent alarm. And then, we're swamped in MOUSERs and the others would have no idea what happened to us. Is that really how you want to go?" To My shock, Raph actually hesitated for a second. Then, he frowned, growling low in his throat.
"I gotta go." He says after a moment. I cross My arms.
"Then I suppose I've gotta stop you." I reply.
"Master Splinter said we stay put." Leo growled. Raph got into a ready stance.
"Look, I'll go through the both of you if I have to."
"Just go inside, Raph." I try, one last time, to reason with him as I get into a stance myself. "Please. Don's cookin' up that MOUSER so we can track it back to Stocktronics. It might even deactivate security when it arrives, so let's just cool off and head back to bed." Raph just sinks deeper into the stance as Leo readies himself.
"I dunno. I kinda want to see him try to get through us, the hothead." Leo growls. I roll my eyes. There goes any slim chance I might have had of convincing my hot-head of a brother to go inside.
"Careful what you wish for, Splinter Jr!" Raph roars, leaping at Leo. I can only try to pull Raph and Leo apart, which does nothing.
"Stoppit!" I growl, continuing to fail at getting these two off each other. Then suddenly, a MOUSER comes racing past us. I flinch back, fear overriding reason. "What the heck?!" Don follows close behind the metal monster, with our other two siblings hot on his heels.
"Hey, guys, I got one working!" Don chirps. I exhale slowly.
"A little warning next time, bro. You scared the crap outta me!" I reply. He merely shrugs.
"Come on!" Mikey cries.
"He's faster than he looks!" Lupa adds, matching Mikey's look of concentration. Leo gulps. It's clear he's unsure of what to do.
"So..." Raph starts. Neither turtle had moved, even as I start off after the others. "You just gonna let that MOUSER roam free?" I only hear snatches of Leo's reply as they get up and come after us. We chase it for what feels like hours before it goes out over a drainage junction, the whirlpool giving me vertigo. I focused on Leo's shell directly ahead of me and it helps a little.
"Watch your step here, guys. Don't want to end up as turtle soup." Leo notes.
"Or wolf flambe." Lupa adds. I face-palm.
"That isn't even close to the same thing, sis. Just keep going." I reply. She shrugs. Just up ahead, I watch in fascinated frustration as the MOUSER literally walks up the wall. I groan.
"Resourceful little...critter." Don growls, frowning.
"I'll say." Lupa and I agree.
"So, what do we do now?" Raph asks. Leo thinks for a moment.
"Like Master Splinter says, a ninja is always prepared." Leo replies, reaching into his belt for shuko spikes even as I'm slipping mine on.
"I thought that was the boy scouts." Mikey quips. He and Lupa high-five, but then cry out in alarm. Their spikes have gotten stuck together. I groan, separating them in a second.
"Focus, you two. Come on!" I start climbing, followed by the rest of my siblings. We climb higher and higher, following the tracks the MOUSER left behind. It seems to go on forever.
"Ugh! Next time, let's leave the wall-crawling to the dude in the red and blue tights." I hang my head in frustration.
"You mean Spiderman?" Lupa asks. I feel my right eye twitch in irritation. Honestly, those two can be the worst nerds sometimes.
"Just keep climbing, guys." I order, and they do.
"You two read way too many comic books." Leo growls.
"Tell me about it." I reply. Soon enough, the MOUSER heads into a tunnel and we all breath a sigh of relief. Climbing walls was as fun to me as the next mutant, but that was ridiculous! We take off running again, and I feel my legs start to burn.
"Just curious, Don. What's to stop ole Turbo-Jaws from chewing up another 6.2 on the Richter scale?" Mike asks after a moment. I hum.
"Good question." Lupa and I add. Don smirks.
"I shut down it's jaw servos. It couldn't even chew through a stick of gum." He replies. It then promptly began to chew through the wall! I flinched back, shocked. I trusted that Don at least thought he had shut down those servos, but...apparently, it didn't take. Don deflated slightly.
"You were saying?" Raph snarked. I rolled my eyes.
"But I—I'm sure I shut them down." Mikey put a hand on his brother's shoulder, which was slumped slightly in his depression.
"Don's finally lost his techno-mojo. Sad, really."
"Yeah. Oh, well." Lupa added, grinning.
"Guys, knock it off." I retort, rolling my eyes again. Don gripped his chin, minding his spikes, and frowned in thought.
"It must have some kind of security override routine." He muttered.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro." Lupa said placatingly. I glare at her and she shrugs.
"Come on!" Don calls as he takes off. Only to stop seconds later because he, and I, noticed the gaping hole in the support structure of the pipes above us! "Oh, no."
"What is it, Don?"
"Bad. Very, very bad." I whimper. Lupa notices it, too, and shrugs.
"Pipes leak all the time."
"Shut it, Lu. This is serious."
"Asami's right." Don adds. "If I'm not mistaken, that's a serious water main hanging over our heads." Raph didn't get it.
"Dude, look at it!" I retort. Raph takes a glance upward.
"So?" I huff in frustration. Being an observant wolf among turtles can be exhausting.
"'So'?!" Don snaps. "Our little MOUSER friend just ate through the pipe's support!"
"And without it..." I add as the pipe's groaning becomes louder and it begins to shake and tremble.
"Incoming!" Leo screams, too late. We are washed down the tunnel by a flood of water so powerful, it knocks the wind out of me. Thinking quickly as we fell toward the swirling vortex of high-pressure water below, Don takes his staff out, and uses it to hang like laundry from a pipe that goes across the circular room.
"Grab on!" He cries, and we all, naturally, do just that. Don grunts under the weight. I feel bad for him, but can't move, as I am hanging from Leo's legs and Lupa is hanging from mine. Mikey looks around. Or so I assume, judging by the way the line of mutants swings slightly.
"Ow!" Raph yelps. "Watch where you point those shuko spikes, Mike!" He growls.
"Oh, keep your shell on, Raph. I got an idea!" Mikey calls back, and starts swinging the line violently.
"Mikey, stop!" I yell. Lupa's spike dig painfully into my ankles and I know it's the same for everyone, as we all protest. But, we are left with no other choice, letting go and falling at an angle through the waterfall nearest us. Spiking the wall, I pant and spit out water.
"That was insane, Mike!" Lupa cries. "Don't ever do anything like that again." She growls.
"Agreed." I add.
"Guys, you okay?" Don asks. Raph spits out a small fountain of water before replying.
"Peachy." He growls sarcastically.
"At least we aren't hanging by each other's ankles anymore." I muse.
"Don't make it right." Raph snaps. I roll my eyes.
"No point arguing now. Just climb. We gotta catch up to that stupid metal butt-head." I reply tersely, climbing with no small amount of irritation at my siblings. Once we got back to the area we were washed back from, we tore off the spike and put them back in our belts.
"When I find that metal menace, I'm gonna grind it into little bot-burgers." Raph growls.
"Take it easy, Raph." Don replies. "We still gotta keep him in one piece." Mikey frowns.
"What makes you think we'll even find the little blender-butt?" He grumbles. Lupa face-palms.
"Uh, Mike..."
"I think he left us a few clues." Leo muses sarcastically, turning his littlest brother toward the munched-through wall behind him. We head down the tunnel eaten through the walls, and it seems to stretch for an eternity before we finally come out onto abandoned train tracks. Or, at least, we thought they were abandoned. "Look out!" Leo exclaims, drawing Raph back just in time as a train rips past, just inches away from the boys.
"You two okay?" I ask worriedly as Leo all but tosses Raph back when the train passes. They nod, pale and slightly shaky with shock.
"Yeah...yeah, I think we're good, sis." Raph replies. When the train has passed, the MOUSER was nowhere to be seen.
"Whoa!" Mikey cries. "Robo-Houdini!" Leo and I take a closer look...and find the MOUSER, hooked by its jaws to the back of the train!
"Wrong!" We reply in sync. "Robo-hitch-hiker!" Mikey runs a few steps forward.
"We'll never catch him now!" He groans. Raph turns.
"Two can play at that game." My eyes widened. No way. There was a train coming, and it might be a good way to catch up, but...no.
"Raph, don't you—Raph!" I scream as my idiotic brother leaps onto a moving train! Leo gasps.
"What a maniac!"
"I know!" Lupa says with a grin. "He's awesome!"
"Yeah." Don agrees. "Wait for us!" He calls, pointlessly, since it's not like Raph can stop the train. I gulp thickly, but leap out, anyway. I barely catch a car's roof, swinging onto it and collapsing, shock and adrenaline coursing through my veins. Beside me, Lupa laughs.
"This is awesome!" She screams over the noise of the train.
"No, it is not!" I reply, clinging for dear life to the roof. Up ahead, through slightly streaming eyes, I see a blurry silver object roll on the tracks before walking away. We leap off, as well, sending a jolt up my knees. I shake it off and keep running, though. Once this tunnel has run it's course, we arrive at a crossroad of sorts, with the MOUSER just across the way. We move forward, only to spot another MOUSER right in front of us. Looking between the twin MOUSERS, I blink.
"Uh...didn't you only get one running, D?" I ask timidly, fearing I already knew the answer.
"Yeah. Who invited him?" Mike replies, cocking a thumb at the extra MOUSER.
"I got it!" Raph calls, throwing a shuriken at the offending MOUSER, slicing neatly through it's head. It falls with a clunk to the ground. Raph and Mike high-five, oblivious to the fact that the MOUSER got right back up!
"That's not good, guys." Leo groans.
"Yah think?!" I retort, drawing my tomahawks.
"Neither is that!" Don squeaks, pointing to where a miniature army of the little demons are coming right for us. "These chrome-domes are a lot tougher than the last batch!" He adds. Soon, we're surrounded.
"Yeah? And there's a lot more of them, too." Raph moans. We are all standing in a circle, weapons at the ready. "Great. Just great." He snaps sarcastically as the MOUSERs charge and we are swept up in the heat of battle.
"These MOUSERs are amazing!" Don cries, batting more away. "The servo-mechanics! The circuitry, the articulation!"
"Save it, D! Just smash 'em!" I growl, slicing another MOUSER neatly in half.
"Yeah, Don. Why doncha jes' marry one already?!" Raph snaps. I snort.
"Such a burn, Raph." I retort derisively. He merely grunts and destroys more MOUSERs. I notice one about to take a chunk out of Lupa's back, so I threw a shuriken to get it back and alert Lupa to its presence. It lays in shreds seconds later.
"Thanks." Lupa calls. I nod and slice deep into another MOUSER.
"Guys, the only way to defeat them is to slice their heads off." Leo notes during a slightl lull in MOUSERs.
"What'd yah think we were doing?!" Lupa retorts and suddenly we're up to our eyeballs in MOUSERs again. We have to separate a little just to have enough room to swing our weapons. "This is fun!" Lupa suddenly chirps. "I feel like a Grim Reaper here." I roll my eyes.
"A scythe does not make you a Reaper, sis. Just keep these things from chomping you to pieces." I reply. She blows a raspberry at me.
"Great job, guys!" Don chirps. "Just make sure we leave one-" Raph was in the air even as Don orders one to remain "Intact."
"So much for tracing it back to the source." Leo grumbles sourly, sheathing his swords grumpily. Suddenly, I pick up the distinct sound of MOUSERs from a few tunnels away.
"Shh, guys. You hear that?" I ask. Only Lupa nods. "Come on! There's more MOUSERs, just a little ways away." We take off, and soon I hear gasps and cries of shock, coming from a fairly young female, if I'm not mistaken. Soon enough, I smell small traces of perfume and fear, leading into a nearby tunnel. We come down, only to find a red-haired woman in a purple crop-top and tan pants cornered by three MOUSERs. The woman screams again and covers her face with her arm, giving us the opportunity to slice the robots to bits and melt into the shadows before she realized that she wasn't robo-food. We turn to leave, but then she speaks, and we halt.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" She cried. "You saved my...my...m-my..." Mikey, I realized too late, was too close to the young woman for us to remain hidden in the shadows. To top it all off, he leaned out, completely exposing himself to the woman before us.
"Mikey!" I hiss, but it's too late. Her eyes widen and she gives a soft gasp before fainting. I face-palm.
"Hey. Soo, can I keep her?" Mikey asks cheerily, picking her up easily bridal style. I smack him upside the head.
"Mikey, she's not a pet!" I bark.
Oh, man...What do we do now?