Ch. 6
Metalhead
Eh, what can I say? Another day, another Kraang fight.
"Keep moving!" Leo shouted. "Don't let 'em surround you! Failure is not an option!"
"Technically, failure is always an option," said Donnie.
"You know what else is an option?" Raph snapped. "Slapping you!"
"Not the time, guys!" I hollered.
We all continued running, speeding left and right to avoid the lasers the Kraang were firing. I gripped my kamas as I stopped, and did a huge back flip. I landed behind a pair of Kraang-droids, raised my arms, and swung my blades at their neck, slicing their heads off.
"Nia, watch it!" I heard Raph yell.
I turned my head and saw another Kraang-droid pointing a gun at me. I yelped and jumped out of the way just as it fired the laser, hitting the spot where I had been.
"Mikey! On the right!" Donnie shouted.
"Your right, or my right?"
Mikey yelped as the Kraang fired on him. Donnie leaped forward on an occupied Kraang-droid and whacked its head with his Bo staff. But the Kraang stood there, unharmed.
"Are you kidding me?" he snapped, glaring at his weapon. "I hate this thing!"
The Kraang-droid turned, aiming its laser gun at Donnie. But Raph had thrown one of his sais, and it embedded itself in the robot's skull. Raph leaped forward and used his other sai to remove the head.
"Nice work," he said sarcastically. "When we're done here there's a marching band that needs a majorette."
I rolled my eyes before running back into the fight. I went down and slide between the legs of a Kraang-droid, holding my kamas out. They sliced through the robot's legs, and the thing went down. Another one started running towards me, but I took out a few throwing stars and threw them at the robot. Two of them struck at the bot's head and one hit its chest, and the thing went down.
I stood up and regrouped with the others. But before we could do much of anything a big, black tank-like thing rolled up into the facility.
"Everyone, stand your ground!" Leo ordered, pointing his katanas at the cannon.
The said object made a loud, powerful whirl as it powered up.
"You were saying?" I asked.
Leo stared. "On second thought, run!"
A Kraang-droid pressed a button, and a huge laser blast fired. It barley missed us as we all jumped in different directions, trying to avoid the blast. Mikey jumped over the second blast, and Raph barley dodged the third. I yelped and went down into a split to avoid a shot that came my way. As soon as I had the chance, I ran and joined Mikey behind a stack of crates. Leo jumped and leaped from the walls, dodging another blast. Donnie came really close to getting hit. He had ducked to avoid a blast aiming for his head, and the shot fired a hole into the wall. Not only that, the blast had destroyed the top half of Donnie's staff, leaving a smoking remainder behind.
"Oh, come on!" he snapped as he stomped his foot.
"Dude, your weapon just exploded!" said Mikey.
Donnie ran and dodged another big blast and jumped behind a metal support for cover.
"How am I suppose to fight advanced, alien technology with a stupid stick!?"
Next thing I knew me and the guys were backed up against the wall. The laser cannon and the Kraang-droids stood before us, waiting to fire.
"Leo? A little help?" I asked.
"I'm working on it."
"Kraang," one of the robots said. "Destroy those who call themselves 'the turtles and the girl' when that which is the signal is the signal that is given by me."
In that second, Leo pulled out a throwing star and threw it upward. It bounced around the ceiling, shot towards the forklift, and it hit the button, causing the machine to come to life. It rumbled forward and pushed both the Kraang-droids and the cannon aside. The tiny brains crawled out of their destroyed robot bodies, squalling and flailing.
As soon as we were clear we turned and jumped out of a nearby window.
"Nice shot, Leo," I said, patting said turtles shoulder.
"Dumb luck," said Raph.
"It wasn't 'luck,' my friend," Leo grinned. "And 'dumb' had nothing to do with it."
There was a strange sound, like a struggling grunt, and I turned. Donnie was just outside, apparently trying to yank something through the window.
"Hey, give me a hand with this," he said, nodding to the object he was holding.
"A hand with what?" Leo asked.
Donnie didn't answer immediately.
Turns out the thing Donnie wanted to bring home was the remains of a Kraang robot suit. Without the little alien inside, of course.
"We're carrying this because… why?" Raph asked.
Donnie rolled his eyes. "Don't you wanna understand how these things work?"
"I know how they work," Raph said simply. "You hit 'em 'til the brainy toy surprise pops out."
The two continued to drag the robot body over to the manhole as Mikey took off the cover.
"That's your problem, Raph," Donnie grunted as he lifted the body. "You never think things through."
He lowered his arms and dropped the body into the hole. Only problem; it got stuck at an awkward angle.
Raph shot Donnie an irritated look. "Was that suppose to fit?"
Donnie looked at us, looking slightly embarrassed. Then he glared down at the robot body and started kicking and stomping it repeatedly. This might take a while…
We all got to the lair after a while, and we all went off to do our own thing. Mikey was eating some pizza, Leo was watching 'Space Heroes,' Raph was sitting on the couch feeding Spike, and I was sitting next to him while playing my guitar. April was sitting in the beanbag chair with her laptop in her lap, and Donnie was right next to her, rummaging through the robotic body.
"This technology is light-years ahead of anything I've ever seen," he pulled out a small part from the exoskeleton, and waved it near April's face. "Do you know what this is?"
April, whose gaze was glued to her computer, didn't look up. "No."
"Neither do I!" Donnie beamed, drooling with excitement. "But I can't wait to find out!"
At that moment Sensei walked into the room, carrying a new Bo staff.
"Oh, look Spike," Raph petted the turtles head. "Donnie got another stick to break."
I snorted. Sensei walked up to Donnie, holding the staff out to him.
"With all due respect. Sensei, I can't keep fighting alien technology with a six foot staff," Donnie looked up hopefully. "I was hoping to upgrade my weapon."
"Hm…" Sensei gave a small smile. "A seven foot staff. Interesting…"
"No, I meant using modern technology."
"Ah… a solar powered staff."
I laughed quietly, and Donnie shook his head.
"I'm serious, Sensei."
"I know," said Splinter. "And yes, you may upgrade your weapon."
"That's totally unfair! You can't just sa-" Donnie paused, blinking. "Wait, did you say yes?"
"Ninja's have improved their arsenal for centuries," Sensei said wisely. "We are masters of adaptation."
Donnie jumped to his feet, beaming with happiness and excitement.
"That's great! 'Cause with this technology, I will be invincible!" he started bouncing with anticipation. "What should I make? Electric sais? Multi-shot shruiken? Plasma swords? Ooh… I just gave myself goosebumps!"
I stopped my playing and stared at Donnie, eyebrows raised. Then he jumped down next to April and lifted his arm up.
"You wanna feel?" he asked. "Huh?"
April glanced up at Donnie, looking slightly amused, and her eyes went back to her computer.
"Pass."
Real smooth, D.
"But, remember," Sensei warned. "Technology is a means, not an end. It is you who must prevail in battle, not your weapon. Combat is not a video game."
"That's it! I'll turn combat into a video game!" Donnie said as he picked up the robot body. "Thanks Sensei!"
Without another word, Donnie dragged the body into his lab and shut the doors.
"You sure that was wise, Sensei?" I asked. "I mean… Donnie can come up with some pretty strange things. And with Kraang tech, God knows what he'll come up with next."
"Your concern is understandable, Lavinia. But, I trust Donatello to make the right decisions with something a serious as this."
With that, he turned and headed for the dojo.
"Nia," April piped up. "You know it's like, five, right?"
I looked at the watch around my neck. "Yeah. So?"
"Didn't you say you were doing something tonight?"
My brows furrowed as I tried to remember. What was it that I had to do tonight…? And then it hit me.
"Angus!" I gasped.
At once I put my pick between my teeth and kneeled down in front of my guitar case, setting my guitar inside.
"What's up?" Raph asked.
"I'm suppose to meet Angus in Central Park!" I said through my teeth, which were still holding the pick. "I promised to meet him at 5:40."
"Ooh…" Mikey cooed. "Excited to see Angus, huh?"
I whipped my head around. All of the boys were now looking at me, large smirks on their faces. Even April had torn her eyes away from her computer screen to grin at me. I stared back at them as I snatched the guitar pick out of my mouth.
"What? I promised him, and you know I hate breaking my-"
"That's not why we're smiling," Leo interrupted.
"Oh yeah? Then why?"
"Face it, Nia," Mikey said slyly. "This is a date, and you know it."
I stared at them, my mouth hanging open. Are they really going to do this now? Out of the corner of my eye I saw Raph turn his head away, but he was probably just looking at Spike.
"C'mon Mikey, leave her alone," he said, not looking at us. "When she's ready to admit she likes him, she will."
"For the last time!" I groaned. "I don't like him that way!"
But the others continued to smirk at me. Geez, how many times do I need to say it before they get the hint? I reared my head back and let out a groan of frustration.
"You know what? Whatever," I closed the lid of my guitar case and clipped it shut. "While you guys are chilling down here, I'm gonna go out and hang with my friend. So, go ahead. Smirk and tease all you want."
I grabbed the handle of my guitar case and put the guitar pick in my pocket. I turned on my heel and headed for the exit.
"Don't forget your hoodie, young lady!" Leo called, his voice playful.
"I think I can live without my hoodie for one nigh, Leonardo," I called back. "I'll be back later."
"Have fun," said April.
"Good luck on your date!" Mikey called back to me.
I bit my lip as I slowly inhaled through my nose. Ignore him… I exhaled, and left.
I was surprised at how many people were still out at this time. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think that the park would be empty or anything. But there was still a crowd of people around "Rat Rock" by the time I got there. As planned, Angus was sitting there, waiting for me.
" 'M surprised," he said as I walked up to him. "You're pretty early."
"You're welcome," I said. "So, where do we begin?"
"Simple; open your case and pull out your guitar."
Still sitting down, Angus opened his American flag-painted guitar case. The inside was made of soft, red material. The guitar was a soft, solid red with a yellow star in the center. It was lovely, but that's not what caught my attention. In the center of it was a small photo of Angus, and there were two adults standing next to him. There was a heavyset woman with short, brown hair and small, blue eyes. She had her hand on Angus' shoulder, and was smiling at the camera. Next to her was a tall, very bulky man with black hair and green eyes. He had his arms around the woman's shoulders, smiling at her. Angus stood in front of them, a red ballcap on his head. He had his arms folded, a grin on his face. He looked younger in his photo, and his brown hair was longer and shaggier.
"Are those your parents?" I asked.
Angus paused while taking out his guitar. He bent over and looked inside the case.
"Yep," he nodded. "Took that the day before we moved here. Now, let's see your girl."
I raised my eyebrow. "My… what?"
"Your piece… Your baby…"
I shook my head.
"Your guitar."
"Oh!"
I gulped, suddenly feeling embarrassed. I walked over and sat next to Angus, setting my case down. I unclipped it and opened the case up. Angus leaned in, and wolf whistled.
"Now that is a beauty!"
"Thanks," I said. "My dad gave it to me."
"Well, your daddy's got some awesome taste," Angus put the strap around his shoulders. "Ready?"
"Yeah," I took out my guitar and put the strap over my shoulder. "So… what do I do now?"
Angus smiled. "You've never played with anyone before, have yah?"
I shook my head.
"Figures. Well, it's obvious, ain't it? You just play."
Angus reached behind him and took out a tiny red pick. He brought the pick to the strings, cleared his throat, and began to sing.
"You spin my head right round- right round. When you go down, when you go down- down. You spin my head right round- right round. When you go down, when you go down-down…"
Stared at him, completely surprised. He was a really good player, and he could really sing!
"Walk out the house with my swagger, hop in the whip, yo I got places to go! People to see, time is precious, I look at my Cartier, out of control! Just like my mind where I'm going, no women, no shorties, no nothing my clothes. No stomping on my Perrerli's on froze, unlike my jewelry that's always on cold…"
I saw something drop out the corner of my eye, and I turned. But the only thing I saw was a tall man who had passed by rather closely. I glanced down inside Angus's case, and saw a 5 dollar bill in there.
"I know the storm is coming, my pockets keep telling me it's gonna shower! Call up my homies it's on and poppin' tonight, cause it's meant to be ours! We keep away shot cause we balling this platinum Patron every hour! Look momma I owe you just like the flowers, girl you the truth with all that goody sour…"
A pair of younger girls- probably about twelve- stood in front of us, giggling cutely. Then they both walked up, and both dropped a few bills into Angus' case.
"You spin my head right round- right round. When you go down, when you go down- down. You spin my head right round- right round. When you go down, when you go down- down…"
Angus strummed the last note before coming to a stop. He stopped singing, and looked up at the two girls, who were still standing there. He smiled and nodded at them.
"Ladies."
The two girls giggled, blushingly furiously before turning and hopping away. I snorted.
"Does that happen often?" I asked.
"Nah, it's just them," said Angus. "Those were the Cammy sisters. They've been acting like that for a while now."
"Hmm… Well, that was really good. You're very talented."
"Thanks," Angus grinned. "Alright, your turn."
I blinked. "Oh, um… okay."
I reached into my front pocket and pulled out my black guitar pick. I put it to the strings, but I didn't play.
"Nervous?" Angus asked.
"Yeah," I said sheepishly. "The only people I've ever played for are my brothers and my dad."
"So, pretend they're the ones listening to yah," Angus smiled. "Just imagine that you're playing for them, no one else."
I bit my lip, and nodded. Okay, sounds simple enough. I gulped as I took a deep breath, and began to play.
"So no one told you life was gonna be this way… Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A… It's like you're always stuck in second gear… When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but…
"I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too…"
As I continued playing I saw out the corner of my eye a woman stop in front of me. I couldn't see her face, but she appeared to be looking at me. A second later she dropped a bill into my guitar case, and continued on.
"You're still in bed at ten, and work began eight… You've burned your breakfast, so far things are going great… Your mother warned you there'd be days like these… But she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees, and…
"I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there four you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too…"
I was able to glance up enough to see a young couple who were holding hands walk up in front of me.
"Aw, I love this song," the girl muttered.
The boy smiled at her as he reached into his pocket. He held his hand over my case, and dropped several quarters inside. The girl reached into her pocket before reaching her hand out and dropping two or three bills into the case. The two continued to listen a little longer before moving along.
"It's like you're always stuck in second gear… When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but…
"I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too…
"I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too…"
I stopped singing, and then I stopped playing. I let out whatever breath I was holding, and I turned to look at Angus. He had a stunned, speechless look on his face.
"Honey," he said. "You've got some serious skill."
I smiled at him.
"I'm back!" I called as I walked through the coin eaters, which served as the entrance and exit.
"Hi, Nia," April called back, her eyes not leaving her laptop. "You have fun?"
I nodded. "Tons."
I walked over to the couch, setting the case on the floor.
"Hey, guys!" April called. "Check out this post I got!"
"Hang on, April!" I heard Raph's voice. "I just have to destroy Lame-O-Nardo."
I turned my head to see Leo and Raph were in the middle of playing the digital hockey game. Leo had a serious look on his face that I only ever saw when he was training. Raph, however, had a wide smirk on his face the whole time he was playing. Then he slammed his hand down on the button, and the hockey puck slammed into Leo's player, and it was destroyed. Leo gasped, then glared at his younger brother. Raph laughed before jumping from his spot and doing a little victory dance. He smirked smugly as he went over and put an elbow on Leo's shoulder. Then he smacked his older brother before walking over to April. Leo scowled, rubbing his head as he followed. I sighed.
"Boys, right?" April muttered.
"You have no idea," I whispered as I jumped down to sit next to her.
"So, what's up?" Raph asked, but he stopped when Leo smacked his head.
"I set up a message board to collect unusual sightings around New York," April said as she tapped away on her computer. "People send in pics, videos… I also get some stuff that may help us track the Kraang and find my dad."
"Anything good come up yet?" I asked as I looked at her computer screen.
"I think so. Like this video of a gas explosion."
She clicked on a clip, and a video of a Kraang-droid walking through smoke.
"A Kraang-droid," Leo said grimly.
Mikey, who had been sleeping on the tire swing, shot up and screamed.
"Where?!"
A second later he fell over and splashed into the water. I chuckled.
"We'll check it out tonight," Leo told April.
"Why not now?" she asked.
"Because it's daytime," he explained. "We can't allow anyone to see us."
"Well, I can…"
April closed her laptop and set it on the couch before standing up and walking towards the exit. Leo ran up and stood in front of her.
"April, think about this. It could be dangerous."
"You know what else could be dangerous? Standing between me and my father."
April crossed her arms, staring daggers at Leo, who stared back.
"Watch this," Raph whispered to me. "Leo's gonna wimp out."
I chuckled lowly as I watched the other two. Leo raised his hands up in surrender, and stepped aside.
"'Kay…"
With that, April left the lair.
"What'd I tell yah?" Raph smirked.
I giggled as I rolled my eyes.
"One 5," I said as I placed my card in pile.
"Two 6's," said Raph, and he placed two cards into the pile.
I bit my lip. "…Two 7's."
"BS!" Raph snapped.
"No, it's not!"
"Oh, yeah?"
Raph picked up the two cards I had dropped, and lifted them up. Neither of them had a 7 on them. I glared daggers as Raph smirked at me.
"I believe this is now yours," he set down the cards and pushed the pile towards me. "Oh! And look! I only have two cards left. Looks like I'm about to beat yah, Nia."
I snorted. "Pff! Yeah right!"
I hastily grabbed the pile of cards and shuffled them. Raph grinned at me before setting down one of his two remaining cards.
"One 8."
I was just about to call 'BS' when there was a loud bang! I snapped my head up and looked around. I didn't see anything. There was another one, and this time I felt the floor shake. There was another, and another, and another. It sounded like something huge was taking large, thunderous steps. The vibrations from the steps were even making the pizza box laying on the floor bounce. Mikey hastily grabbed the box and held it to his chest as though it were his first born child.
At that point I saw something walk out of Donnie's lab. A short, but big robot-like something. It had three fingers and toes, and on its back, acting as a shell, was what looked like a manhole cover. I looked at it for another second before I realized it looked like a metal turtle. Except, it was about half the size of any turtle I had known, and I only knew four.
"Take me to your leader!" Donnie's voice sounded through the bullhorn.
"Leo, it's for you," Mikey called.
Leo stood up and walked towards the robot. Me and Raph looked at each other, and shrugged. We both dropped our cards and walked up to Donnie's new creation.
"What is this thing?" Leo asked.
Then Donnie came out from his lab. He had an RC car remote control in his hands, and a happy, but professional look on his face.
"Lady and gentlemen… and Raphael…"
Raph blinked.
"This is the future of ninjutsu!"
Our gazes fell from him to the much smaller robot. Okay… not exactly what I expected.
"I always thought the future of ninjutsu would be taller," Raph stated bluntly.
"This is what you were working on?" I stared at Donnie. "And did you really finish it in one night?!"
"Yes, I did!" Donnie said proudly.
"Aww! He's so cute!" Mikey came up and started tickling his fingers under the robot's chin. "Koochie, koochie, koo!"
At once the robot's eyes flashed, its mouth fell, and it lifted its hands up in a threatening position. But it really became threatening once several very dangerous, heavy-duty weaponry appeared all over it. Hell, it even came with a freaking baseball bat! Mikey screamed and fell back, scooting away from the robot. Donnie chuckled, a smirk growing across his face.
"He doesn't like being tickled," he said simply.
He pressed a button on his controller, and all the weapons on the robot retracted and vanished. Mikey glared at the thing before walking up to it again. I raised my brow, then chuckled when I saw Mikey making silly faces at the robot.
"Isn't it cool?" Donnie's voice was filled with pure excitement. "I reversed engineered it from the Kraang-droid."
"Okay…" Leo looked up at his younger brother. "Why?"
"So, the drone can handle all the dangerous stuff while we stay out of harm's way!"
"Oh, I get it," Raph said sarcastically. "It's for wimps too afraid to fight."
"No, it's for wimps too smart to fight!" Donnie stated, then he realized what he had just said. "I mean…"
Mikey, who was tapping on the bot's head, suddenly gasped.
"Ooh! Let's call him Metalhead!" he said. "Why, you ask? Because its got a head, and it's made of-"
"We get it!" Leo cut across him.
"I don't need a toaster to fight my battles for me," Raph snapped.
I frowned at the angry turtle. Sure, we didn't necessarily need this thing, but it couldn't possibly be useless, right? However, it seemed as though Leo was on Raph's side.
"This is ridiculous, Donnie," he said. "It takes the whole point out of being a ninja."
"It's exactly the point of being a ninja!" Donnie explained. "We adapt! Now, watch this… Attack the drone! Give it all you got!"
"You sure?" Leo asked. "I don't wanna break your toy-"
"I do!" Raph snapped, pushing Leo aside to approach the bot.
I glanced up at Donnie, and I felt a bit uneasy with that confident smirk on his face. Thinking it would be wise to stay out of this, I folded my arms behind my back and slowly took a few steps backwards. This oughta be good…
Raph withdrew his sais and yelled as he charged forward. Then he jumped into the air, bounced off the ceiling, and dove forward, aiming his sais directly towards Metalhead's head. Donnie handled the controls, and suddenly Metalhead caught Raph's sais at the last second. The robot smacked the turtle on the ground several times before tossing him away.
Donnie suddenly jumped out of the way, and I didn't have to ask why. Both Leo and Mikey jumped and landed on either side of Metalhead and started whacking it with their weapons. But no matter how hard they hit or how much force they gave it, nothing made a scratch on the robot. Suddenly, Metalhead reached up and grabbed one of Leo's katanas, and one of Mikey's nunchucks. The robot pulled both weapons together, which caused Leo and Mikey to be pulled forward, and their heads banged together. Metalhead then stomped on Leo's foot, who screamed in pain. Then he was kicked back, and landed on top of Raph. Not long after that, Mikey was thrown on top of the pile.
"I kicked your shells!" Donnie said as he stood over them. "And I didn't even have to use the laser cannon!"
I stared at him. "A laser cannon? Is that really necessary?"
"Of course it is!" Donnie smirked at me. "You wanna test it, Nia?"
"No thanks! I'm good!"
Donnie laughed, then turned back to the others, who were all starting to get up.
"Face it, guys! With this thing," he swung the remote around. "I'm invincible!"
Raph stood up. "Oh yeah?"
Then he used his sai to knock the remote out of his brother's hand. Donnie blinked, and scowled at Raph.
"You know what I mean!"
Donnie turned and went over to retrieve his remote. But as he kneeled down and reached forward, Sensei appeared in front of him. Donnie looked up, surprised.
"Sensei, I was wondering if I could take Metalhead out for a spin tonight?"
Sensei remained silent for a moment. "You may."
"That's totally unfair! You can't just-!" Donnie stopped. "Wait, what?"
"You have created this new weapon," Splinter walked over to Metalhead, and patted its head. "We must see how well it works."
"Well, that's great!" Donnie bowed his head. "Thank you, Sensei!"
"But, this is a test only," Sensei said firmly. "Do not take it into combat."
"No problem, Sensei."
Splinter looked at Donnie for a moment before turning and going into the dojo. The second he was out of sight, Raph, who was looking at a comic, spoke up.
"You're taking it into combat, aren't yah?"
"Totally!" Donnie giggled.
I sighed. "Well, this'll be good."
We were all now at the area where the gas explosion had happened. Leo and Mikey were ahead, observing the area below. Me and Raph were kneeling down, just behind them. At that moment there was a loud wiring sound, and we turned. Metalhead had jumped onto the rooftop, cracking the concrete. I groaned slightly. The robot ran over, making loud stomping sounds with each step it took. The drone stopped in front of us, and steam shot out from each side of its head, making a loud, squeaking noise.
"Should we double back?" Leo asked, clearly irritated. "I think there's a car alarm we didn't set off."
"Maybe we should make it walk around some more," I added. "I don't think we woke everyone in the building just yet."
"I kinda like it," Raph kneeled in front of the robot and patted its head. "It goes along nicely with all the sirens and cries for help."
"Oh, come on! You guys are just jealous," Donnie's voice issued from Metalhead's speakers. "'Cause you're out in the cold, and I'm here eating Mikey's last slice of pizza."
"Hey!" Mikey punched the drone, and then yelped in pain. "Ow!"
I sighed. "Not trying to say that this thing can't be useful, Donnie," I said. "But, would it have killed you to install a stealth mode or something."
"It's a working progress, Nia," Donnie explained. "It's gonna take some time to install something like that into Metalhead's system."
"Hello?" a voice whispered.
"Guys, quiet," Leo ordered. "Somebody's coming."
At once we all dropped to our knees. Metalhead did too, but he did it very noisily.
"Guys, it's me," the voice said, and this time we recognized it.
"April!" said Leo.
At that moment we all jumped over the edge and landed into the alley below. In front of us was, in fact, April.
"Guys!" she said happily. "I was just looking for you!"
But as she spoke something large landed in the dumpster right behind her. It tipped over and felt on its side, loud noises issuing from inside. Then the lid swung open, and Metalhead stepped out. It stood in front of April, looking up at her. We all stared at it for a moment.
"Still, it's stealthier than the real Donatello," Raph said simply.
"What the heck is that?" April asked.
"It's Donnie's latest, brilliant creation," said Leo. "Metalhead."
"Catchy name, huh?" Mikey leaned his elbow on the robot's head. "My idea."
Suddenly Metalhead's mouth dropped, and Donnie's voice sounded loudly from the bullhorn instead of the speakers.
"Oh, sorry April!"
We all winced and covered our ears to block out the whining feedback.
"I'm still getting used to the controls…"
"Donnie! The bullhorn!" I yelled.
"Uh? Oh… whoops," Metalhead's mouth closed over the bullhorn. "Megaphone button got stuck."
"Guys, we gotta do something!" April said quickly. "The Kraang are gonna poison the city's water supply with mutagen!"
"What?" I gasped.
"The whole city will become a disaster area!" he said.
"There'll be mutants everywhere!" said Donnie.
"Wow, think of all the friends we could make!" Mikey said, hugging Metalhead's head with excitement.
We all turned our heads to stare at him. Metalhead tilted his head up to look at Mikey, too.
"Well, excuse me for being a glass half full kinda guy."
"No offense, Mikey," I said. "But the last couple of mutants we've had weren't exactly friendly to us. I'm pretty sure others wouldn't treat us any better."
"Which is why we have to stop them," said Leo. "Let's go!"
He started running, and we all turned and followed him.
"Yeah! The Kraang don't stand a chance!" Donnie said excitedly.
Leo stopped running, and we stopped too. He then held out hand, stopping the bot in its tracks.
"What?"
"Donnie, I need you to hang back," Leo told him. "Metalhead is just too clumsy, it'll get in our way."
"Clumsy?"
Metalhead threw his arms out in exaggeration, but accidentally knocked over a couple of trashcans in the process.
"I did that on purpose to emphasize my point," Donnie said quickly.
"You're not coming, Donnie," Leo said firmly.
He turned to leave, and Mikey and Raph followed. I bent over so I was eyelevel with Metalhead, and I patted his head.
"Sorry, Donnie."
"It's fine," he sighed. "Go on. I'll catch you guys later."
I gave the bot a sad smile before turning around to follow my bros.
"Looks like a Kraang picnic down there," Leo said softly.
"That doesn't sound very appetizing," I commented.
"Ready to bash some bots?" Raph asked, smirking.
"Destroy some droids?" Leo said, punching his fist into his palm.
"Slice some cyborgs?" I added slyly.
"Clean some closets!"
I blinked, and me and the other two turned to stare at the younger turtle, who stared back.
"Uhh… I meant to say 'crush some Kraang?'"
I rolled my eyes.
Suddenly, Leo and Raph both jumped down, landing on top of two droids. Leo sliced and stabbed with his katanas, and Raph stabbed it a couple times before using his sai to take its head off.
I saw a Kraang droid right underneath me, and I leaped down as I took out my right kama. I landed on the bots shoulders, raised my hands, and swung it down. The curved blade sunk into the robot's head, and I leaped up just as the thing fell to the ground.
"Booyakasha!"
I turned in time to see Mikey fall down on a pair of droids. He smashed them to the ground before mercilessly pounding them into pieces. Raph grabbed him by his shell and pulled him back, but not before Mikey got a few more kicks in.
We went over to the side and peeked around the corner. All clear. We ran forward, one at a time, towards crate and kneeled behind it. Leo rolled over to another crate, and Raph followed him. I rolled to a barrel next to them, and Mikey followed me. We all looked around and saw many more droids were there, pacing around, all armed.
Clang! I whipped my head around, and so did the guys. A remaining droid from before was laying there on the ground. It had managed to get the Kraang's attention, and pointed at us before falling to the ground. Mikey whimpered as we all turned around, and the rest of the Kraang were now aiming at us.
The second they started firing I stood and leaped up from my hiding spot. I jumped everywhere, trying to avoid being hit.
Donnie's P.O.V.
Well, this is just great, I thought as I stared at the TV screen. I'm not even part of the mission. I'm just sitting behind, stuck on the roof with… I gasped. I was with April! Well, not physically of course, but I could still see her and everything. Okay, don't freak out or anything, Donnie, I told myself. You two are probably gonna be here for a while, so… try to talk to her.
I turned the controller keys, and turned Metalhead's head so that I could see April on the TV screen. She was sitting on the ledge, looking down below. I zoomed in on her face a little more to get a closer look at her beautiful. Suddenly she looked up at me, and I snapped Metalhead's head forward. A few seconds later I turned the controller back so I could look at her again. Come on, Donatello! Say something!
"So, heheh…" I chuckled nervously. "Yah like heavy metal?"
She raised her eyebrow, and I cleared my throat. Stupid!
Then, to my surprise, she chuckled.
"You mean, like the music genre?"
"Oh! Um… yes?"
She laughed again. "Not really. I prefer pop, actually."
I smiled at the image on the screen. Okay! Now we're getting somewhere!
"Just pop? Don't you listen to anything else?"
April shrugged. "I like dubstep and rock, but that's pretty much it," she faced me a little more. "Been meaning to ask, what kind of music does Nia actually like. She seems like more of a music expert than you guys. What's her style?"
I paused for a moment to think about my answer.
"Well, she loves all music in general," I said simply. "But, there are certain genres that she listens to more than others. Like, she used to listen to a lot of Jazz when we were little, and she still listens to it now. She started listening to a bit of country when she was eleven, that's when she started learning how to play guitar, and she's amazing at it. She started listening to soft rock when she was thirteen, and she pretty much went on to listen to everything after that. She'll listen to anything if it makes her happy, really."
It took me a second to realize that I had been rambling on about a simple question. I suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. But, what else could I say? Everything I had said was true. Nia had always been attracted to music, even when we were little. I just felt like I needed to specify that.
I glanced up at the screen, and was surprised to see April staring at me. She looked shocked and, if I wasn't mistaking it, a little happy.
"What?" I asked.
She didn't answer immediately.
"You really know a lot about her, huh?" she suddenly smiled. "I know kids at my school who don't know or care what their siblings do… or anything. But, you guys know Nia like the back of your hands."
"Of course we do," I said. "She was our best friend before she became our sister. We had to get to know her. Heck, we wanted to! She was the first human we had ever met, and the first one to accept us for who and what we are, and…"
I gazed at the screen and saw that April's smile had sweetened.
"You really care about her, huh?"
Though she couldn't see it, I smile at her.
"She's our sister, and we'll always love her."
April smiled at me, and I smiled back, my expression still unknown to her. Suddenly I heard laser blasts, and I messed with the controller to see the building. From the windows I could see bright, flashing pink lights. The others must've gotten into a fight already. Oh well, nothing my bros and sis can't handle.
I looked at the building for a few more seconds. Then I moved the controller, and I turned Metalhead's head to look at April. She had her head point down, and she was looking at the building. Despite the situation, I could still see that the smile she had given me before was on her face, just barley still there. I pressed a button, and the camera zoomed in on her face. I could see all of her adorable freckles under her gorgeous blue eyes.
"Look at her… She's so beautiful…" I sighed as I slowly crawled up to the screen. "On this monitor she can't tell I'm staring…"
"You do know that's not muted, right?"
"DAH!"
I yelled and suddenly flung myself back, landing on my shell, my arms held out. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I quickly sat up, grabbed the controller, and adjusted my headset so that I could speak into it.
"O-oh! O-of course!" I laughed nervously. "If it was muted you couldn't hear me joking!"
I groaned as I face palmed myself with the controller. I gulped as I pressed what I hoped was the mute button.
"Man, I hope she bought that."
"That's the megaphone."
"I know!" I quickly pressed the button that turned the megaphone off, and I turned to the building again. "So, how do you think the fight's going?"
Before she could answer there was a large, pink laser blast. It went right between us, and the forced knocked us back on the roof. I quickly got Metalhead to his feet and made him walk over to the ledge.
"Ahh! They're everywhere!" I heard Mikey shout. "Run!"
"Not great," April said bluntly.
Nia's P.O.V.
"Can this mission get any worse?" I groaned as the Kraang advanced on us.
"We're trapped!" Leo yelled.
"Or maybe, they're the ones who are trapped? Hm?" Mikey asked.
He then sat on his knees and peeked his head up over the old barrel me and him were hiding behind. A second later he yelled and came back down as a laser just barley missed his head.
"No! It's us!" he yelled.
"What do we do?" I asked.
CRASH! The sound of glass smashing rang throughout the building. I looked around the barrel, and I saw Metalhead standing on a pile of Kraang, its arms stuck out at awkward angles.
"What are you doing?" Leo snapped. "What's wrong with your arms?"
"My hands aren't on my hips?"
"No!" me and Leo hissed.
"Sorry…" Donnie chuckled sheepishly. "Forgot to press B."
The arms whirled around for a moment before they landed on the robot's hips. The Kraang powered up their weapons, aimed them at the little drone, and then fired. The lasers hit Metalhead with brutal force, but they didn't seem to have any effect of the robot. The droids continued to fire until they realized that their weapons were doing no good, and stopped.
"Now it's my turn!"
Metalhead's left hand retracted into its arm, and a large gun barrel replaced it.
"Eat hot laser!"
Suddenly, large, blue lasers shot out of the gun. Within seconds it took down most of the Kraang. Over the blasting noise, I could hear Donnie laughing excitedly.
"Hahaha! You want some o' this?! WHOO! Hahahaha…! Yeah, baby!"
"Dude, he's acting laughing like a crazy gamer!" I yelled.
Metalhead aimed its right hand out at the Kraang, and the fist detached itself from the arm and started flying around the room, punching down every Kraang-droid that got in the way.
"That is so cool!" I said to the others.
The hand punched a few more Kraang before coming back to the end of Metalhead's right arm. Then the drone turned its head towards us.
"Hey, Raph! How does it feel to be shown up by a toaster?"
"Oh!" I jeered as Raph glared at the little bot.
"Burn!" Mikey shouted.
"Yeah! I thought that was a good one."
"No! Burn!" Mikey yelled as he pointed outward.
I looked up, and gasped. There were several more Kraang-droids coming up behind Metalhead.
"Oh! Right!"
Metalhead turned around, and suddenly huge flames shot out from its right arm, scorching the Kraang-droids. Once those Kraang were down Metalhead retracted the flamethrower and replaced it with the laser gun from before. The drone started firing everywhere at all the Kraang-droids. It turned, and we all yelped as we ducked behind our hiding spots to avoid being shot.
"Dude!" Mikey snapped.
"Oops! Sorry, Mikey."
"Donnie, watch the friendly fire!" Leo ordered.
But Donnie wasn't listening. He was too busy having the time of his life with shooting the Kraang.
"Here's some for you! And some for you!" Donnie's gamer-crazed voice issued from the bot. "Oh yeah! I save a little for you, too! How'd that taste!"
Donnie fired at what appeared to be the last droid in the place. The thing fell to the floor, and a couple of Donnie's lasers hit a couple of gas barrels.
BOOM!
The barrels exploded into a mass of fire, and the force sent us everywhere. I went through the air for a moment before I landed on something hard. I looked down to see I landed right on Raph's shell. I groaned as I slid off of him.
"Sorry, Raph…"
"It's cool. You okay?"
"Yeah."
I rubbed my head and looked around, searching for Metalhead until I found it. The drone had slammed into a large, metal supporter and had slid to the ground. From here I could see tiny sparks shooting from the corner of its head, and I saw the silver antenna fall to the floor with a loud tink!
"No! I lost the control signal!" Donnie's voice cried.
Suddenly, a Kraang alien crawled up to Metalhead and went up to the top of its head. It was electrocuted, but it didn't last long. The alien wrapped its arms around Metalhead's head, closing its eyes. A few surging noises told me that Metalhead was powering back up. The drone tilted its head up, and its once blue, light bulb eyes had gone Kraang pink.
"Uh-oh… Guys!" Donnie yelled. "If you can hear me, you might wanna run!"
"Guys…!" I yelled.
They all looked up in time to see Metalhead standing before us, the Kraang still attached to his head.
"The ones that which are called 'turtles and girl' will now be called 'turtles and girl that are…" Metalhead's mouth dropped open to expose the bullhorn. "Destroyed."
I took a step back, slightly intimidated by the once non-evil bot.
"Phew!" Mikey sighed. "I was really afraid at the beginning of the sentence, but then I sorta just lost interest towards-"
There was the sound of shifting metal, and we all turned our heads to see that Metalhead's left hand was replaced with the laser gun.
"Okay! Now I'm afraid again!"
Mikey yelled as he jumped away to avoid being shot at.
"Mikey!" I yelled.
Mikey spun one of his nunchucks and tossed it at Metalhead. The weapon caught the drone's gunned hand and held it out of the way. Leo and Raph landed on either side of Metalhead, and I ran up to stand behind the bot.
"Give him everything you've got!" Leo ordered.
At once we all ran forward. We stood before Metalhead and started swining and slicing our weapons as much as we possibly could. But we couldn't make so much as a scratch on the thing.
"He's gotta have a weak spot!" Leo yelled.
"This always works!" Mikey reared his leg back, and kicked Metalhead between his metal legs. "Ow! Well, usually…"
Bam! Metalhead punched Mikey with such force that he went flying and his shell slammed into a metal support. The drone punched Leo, who was knocked over. He punched Raph, who landed by Mikey. I barley had time to breath before the drone kicked me square in the chest, sending me backwards. I landed in the pile with my bros, groaning in pain.
I sat up and looked in front of me. Metalhead stood before us, along with several more Kraang-droids. We all quickly got to our feet, weapons in hand.
"Now Kraang will destroy you" the Kraang's voice issued from Metalhead. "Which one wants to be first to be destroyed by Kraang?"
"Me!"
I gasped. We all looked up in time to see a familiar, purple-banded turtle jump down from the hole in the ceiling. Donnie landed in front of Metalhead, and he had his Bo staff in his hand.
"Donnie!" Mikey yelled. "Bangin' entrance, dude!"
"You guys deal with the droids!" Donnie told us. "I'll handle Metalhead."
I grinned. "Whatever you say, bro."
Holding my arms at my sides, I followed my bros as we advanced on the Kraang-droids. I ran up to one and jumped up, landing on its head.
"Yoohoo!"
The droid glanced up as I swung my kamas down and shoved them into the robot's eye sockets. I leaped up as the droid fell down, and I landed on another one. A Kraang infornt of us saw me and tried to fire at me. But I jumped, and the droid ended up shooting his buddy instead.
"That's not very nice!"
I threw my kama at the droid, and the blade sung into its chest, making sparks fly. I landed on top of the thing, making it fall to the ground. I used my other kama to slice off its head. I grabbed both of my kamas and stood up.
I looked around in time to see Donnie being cornered by Metalhead. The drone was firing at him without mercy. Donnie ducked, and one of the shots hit his staff, causing it to snap.
"Not again!" he groaned.
"You got this, Don!" I yelled at him.
I quickly swung my kamas up and they stuck through the arms of the Kraang-droid who was standing behind me. I pulled my arms forward and forced the droid to the ground in front of me. I stabbed its head with my kama, and the alien inside scurried out.
"Just come get me!"
I whipped my head around in time to see Metalhead firing tiny, but deadly bullets at Donnie. Said turtle ran forward, dodging all of the bullets as they exploded when they hit the metal supporters and crates. Metalhead fired its laser, but Donnie managed to jumped over the drone, avoiding the shots. Metalhead continued to fire though, his lasers going up and hitting ceiling. Donnie landed behind Metalhead, but the drone turned to face him. Suddenly, the supporter from the other side of the room started coming down towards Metalhead, and…
"Donnie!" I screamed.
But Donnie held his staff up just as the supporter fell down on him. The strength of the staff was enough to keep the metal from falling and crushing the turtle. And that's not all. As the dust cleared, ping sparks seemed to be shooting out from the other end of Donnie's staff. When all the dust was gone, the truth could be seen. Metalhead was crouched in front of Donnie, forced down by the metal supporter, and the wooden staff was shoved into his metal chest.
"Booyahkasha!" Donnie yelled.
I giggled. "That a' boy, D!"
"Sounds weird when he says it," Mikey commented.
"Sounds weird when you say it," Raph told him.
"That which is the revenge will be had on those who call themselves 'the turtles and the girl…'"
Finally, Metalhead powered down. The Kraang alien then jumped off and landed on Donnie's face. Donnie yelled, and the alien hopped off and scrambled away. We all walked up to Donnie.
"Thanks a bunch, D," I said as I helped him to his feet.
"Nice job, bro!" said Mikey.
"Way to go, Donnie!" said Leo.
"Yeah, not bad," said Raph, then he frowned. "Except for that part where you built that thing in the first place. And the part where it broke. And the part where it tried to kill us. And the part-"
"Okay! I get it!" Donnie snapped.
"Guys, please," I groaned. "No fighting. Lets just go home, 'kay?"
They agreed, and we left the building.
Man, it felt so good to be home. The others clearly thought so, too. Well, I assume so. They were currently having a lot of fun playing one of our old arcade games. Raph was apparently trying and failing to beat Leo's high score. I wasn't in the mood for games, so I was sitting on the couch watching an episode of 'Impractical Jokers'. It was about to get to the part where one of the guys was going to be punished when I noticed someone sulking on the other end of the pit.
Donnie was sitting on the couch, a glum look on his face. I paused the TV and walked over to him.
"You okay, bro?" I asked him as I sat next to him.
He shrugged. "I've been better…"
He didn't look up at me. And I didn't look away. I grabbed him by his plastron and made him look at me.
"It wasn't your fault, Donnie," I told him. "You hear me? Don't start sulking just because you made a mistake."
"How can I not? You guys were almost killed, and it was because of something I made!"
Donnie looked sad and hurt. I moved my hand from his plastron and placed it around his shoulders, rubbing his arm gently. I heard footsteps, and I glanced up to see Sensei standing behind us.
"What troubles you, Donatello?"
Donnie looked up at him, and sighed. "This was all my fault, Sensei."
"You are responsible, yes," said Sensei, and I stared at him.
"Yeah…" Donnie groaned.
"Responsible for destroying the mutagen," Sensei continued. "Responsible for saving the people of this city; responsible for defeating advanced technology using only ingenuity, bravery… and a stick."
I smiled up at Sensei, then down at Donnie.
"See?" I hugged him a little tighter. "Now quite being so glum!"
Donnie giggled as he hugged me back. Then he lowered his arms and stood up to look at Splinter.
"Thanks, Sensei," he said. "Maybe you're right."
"I am!"
I chuckled as I grabbed the remote and pressed play.
"I guess with proper training there's nothing better than a wooden stick," Donnie continued, and Sensei nodded.
Finally, things can calm down for a bit.
"...Except a laser guided missile launching wooden stick!"
"Huh?"
I snapped my head up to see Donnie holding a wooden stick that had a missile attached to it. Donnie slammed the stick to the ground, and suddenly a loud beeping started sounding from it.
"It's not suppose to do that…!" Donnie yelled. "RUN…!"
At once the boys ran away from their game, and I jumped from the couch, abandoning the remote.
"DAMN IT, DONNIE!" I screamed as I ran towards the safety of my bedroom.
