Chapter 29: I Think His Name Is Baxter Stockman Part 1
Alora's POV
It was a quiet, peaceful outcome here in the Lair today; not a single sound was heard. I was in the Lab at my sewing desk hand stitching a chock-like design on a spare piece of fabric that I saved from the fabric scraps from the outfit I was wearing. I hummed a little tune to myself to keep me content as I press the needle into the cloth and took it out with the thread pulling with it. I was very calm and relax; feeling like nothing else mattered in the world. That is, until I heard a major commotion coming from outside of the Laboratory that made me stop what I was doing and perk up at the noise.
Mikey: "Guys, guys, get in your spot!"
Raph: "Alright, Mikey, but this is the last time!"
Donnie: "But don't flip me this time."
Leo: "[Sighs] Ate too much cheese."
I put my work on my desk, got up, and walked to the doors out of the Lab.
"Hey, you guys? What's with all the - ," I began to ask when I stopped dead near the top of the stairs to see something very revolting. My eyes widen and my mouth hung open in shock to see the entire Lair covered with empty pizza boxes, empty soda cans, comic book pages, pizza crusts, and three skateboards all over the place. I looked over to see Leo, Donnie, and Raph on the ground, right next to a skating rail that Mikey was on top of with a skateboard in hand.
"What the shell - ?! Guys! What're you doing?! I exclaimed.
Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey all perked up at the sound of my voice as they laid their eyes on me with surprised looks as if I just appeared out of thin air.
"Hey, Dudette! We were just doing some awesome skateboarding techniques to see who can come up with the sickest moves yet!" Mikey stated with enthusiasm, "You wanna join in?"
"Uh, thanks for the offer, Mikey, but I think I'll pass," I replied with a wave of my hand before getting back to what matters, saying, "What in the world happened in here? This place looks like a total pig sty!"
"Uhh… [chuckles sheepishly] we sort of got a little carried away on the whole 'skateboarding' thing," Donnie tried to explain.
I walked down the stairs over to get a better sight of the conspiracy before standing with my hands on my hips with a 'really' expression.
"A little? The whole Lair looks like a tornado just crashed in here and carried a dumpster that spiraled its liter everywhere! What's Master Splinter gonna say when he sees all of this?"
I knew for sure that this was the episode where Master Splinter would see the Lair in shambles and ground the Turtles to stay in the sewers for a week. Although, that wouldn't go exactly as planned, since they would disobey their Sensei's punishment and head up top only to cause more trouble than they're already into. But since now that I'm in here, I have to keep them under control and restrained if Splinter finds out about this mess.
"Alora's got a point, you guys. Maybe this isn't such a good idea," Leo admitted.
"What, are you wimping out on us already? Come on, Splinter's in the Dojo probably out and about on his meditation, so he'll never know what we're doing," Raph replied.
'If only you knew that, Raph,' I said in my thoughts with a concern tone.
Leo sighed as he turned to me with a regrettable look. "Sorry, Alora, but we'll just do this once and then will clean up before Sensei finds out, okay?"
"Come on, Dudette! Just one more time? Please, please, please, please, please, please, please…?" Mikey begged with puppy dog eyes and his hands together in a pleading way.
All the Turtles' eyes stared me down waiting for my answer. I felt a bit of pressure on whether or not to let them go on this little skateboarding trick for this one time, but I didn't want them to get in trouble when Sensei comes in and finds them like this. I seem at an entanglement at this so, leaving no other choice, I held my head down with a sigh of defeat.
"Alright, but just this once, and then we get to cleaning before Splinter catches us," I informed.
Donnie, Leo, and Raph nodded in agreement, as Mikey yelled out, "Alright!"
"Shhh!" I shushed out, hoping that Master Splinter didn't hear it as Mikey covered his mouth with a wide-eyed expression.
I then moved to the sidelines while watching Mikey getting himself ready to do his ultimate skateboard move.
"And now the kid goes for the world record! He will attempt to jump three mutant turtles!" Mikey announces.
"I can't believe he talked us into this," Raph muttered in disbelief as Donnie and Leo glances at each other with uneasiness.
"You and me both, Raph," I muttered quietly to myself.
Mikey then hops on his skateboard as he starts skateboarding on the rail while shouting out, "Ya! BOOYAKASHA!"
WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?! Master Splinter cried out angrily, making me jump and yelp in surprise to see him appear right next to me.
'How in the world did he get here so fast?!'
Leo, Donnie, and Raph all stood up quickly at the sound of their Father's voice.
"Sensei!" Leo replied in surprise and panic.
Although while facing their Master, they failed to realized that Mikey was coming full speed at them.
"Guys, WATCH OUT!" I yelled out in panic.
Mikey screamed as the others turned around and noticed their younger brother's incoming approach that made all of them widen-eyed and screamed as well.
*CRASH*
All four Turtle brothers collided into one another as they collapsed on the floor in a big pile with swirls of dizziness in their eyes and major headaches, making me wince at the sight of it. Master Splinter walks over to them with an angered look on his face that caught the Turtle's attention.
"How many times have I told you not to skateboard in the Lair?" Splinter questioned sternly.
"None, Sensei," Mikey answered while glancing down at Donnie whom he laid on top of.
"I shouldn't have to tell you!" Splinter stated in fury.
Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey all got up with guilty expressions as I stood near Master Splinter with a worried gaze.
"You're right, Sensei. We definitely should have known better," Leo informed as he, along with Raph and Donnie, looked towards Mikey, who looked away from his three brothers' narrowed stares before they all bowed their heads down in shame, "and we deserve to be punished," Leo stated before looking up with one eye open, saying, "Eh, some."
Splinter stands in front of Leo while stroking his thin beard as he bends over and stares at Leo straight in the face.
"And what do you think would be a fitting punishment?" He asked.
Leo, surprised at Splinter's question, looks over to his brothers, who then paid no thought into getting involved by distracting themselves; Raph reading a comic book, Mikey thinking yet humming in thought, and Donnie looking around the area while whistling to himself. Leo then turns his attention to me with his eyes saying 'what should I say?' while I just nodded my head towards Splinter's direction, indicating that 'say whatever you think is necessary'. Leo then glances down while placing his left hand on the side of his neck in thought.
"Well, uh, we – We should… clean up our mess?" he suggested with a sheepish smile.
Master Splinter kept quiet as he crossed his arms with a still angered look. I glance to Leo still with a worried look as he glances down again on rethinking his words carefully.
"And then… think about what we did," Leo finished off as Raph, Donnie, and Mikey looked at each other with satisfied expressions and agreeing on their Leader's idea.
While they were doing that, I turned to Master Splinter who now had his arms behind his back in a professional manner, but still look quite angry and didn't seem to agree with his son's choice of punishment.
"What about being grounded for a week?" He brought up, having all four turtles look anxiously at each other upon that remark.
Leo: "Oh, I'm not sure that's – "
Mikey: "I'm cool with the thinking."
Donnie: "Really that's not necessary."
Raph: "Maybe next time."
As they all turned back to Splinter, he glared at his sons while stating, "You're grounded for a week!"
Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey groaned in disappointment while the creaking sound of the skateboarding rail suddenly fell to its side and crashed to the ground, having all four turtles cringe at the noise before straightening up with worried yet fearful looks. I then face-palmed myself while saying to myself:
"This is gonna be harder than I thought."
After the guys and I finished cleaning up the Lair spick and span, which felt like hours to no end, we all went to do our own separate thing that involved staying put down here in the Sewers. Donnie went off saying that he had something important to work on which I technically knew what it was. Leo, Raph, Mikey, and I were in the Living area occupying ourselves; I was drawing in my sketching pad on the concrete couch while Mikey and Leo were sitting above it as Mikey was laying on his shell reading a comic book and Leo was sitting there looking miserable. Raph, on the other hand, was pacing back and forth groaning in irritation with balled-up fists before he stop finally and sighed in exasperation.
"Gah! This bites! I can't believe we're stuck down here for a whole week!" He complained.
"Oh, come on, Raph. It's not that big of a deal," I replied, having his attention turned to me, "You guys have been living down here for over the past fifteen years; staying down here for a week is not gonna kill you."
"She does have a point, Raph," Leo agreed as I smiled in appreciation.
"Well that's easy for you to say. Cause ever since we went up to the surface, everything's been way more exhilarating and eventful than it ever was down here," Raph stated sternly, "And to top it off, thanks for not sticking up for us back there with Splinter's punishment."
I took a bit offended at Raph's comment as I narrowed my eyes at him in protest. "Hey! I did try to tell you that we should clean up the mess you guys made before Splinter could catch us, but did you listen? No! You thought he was way too busy in meditation and wouldn't suspect a thing after your 'skateboarding' routine."
"Okay, I get it!" Raph replied out as he then crossed his arms and looked at me curiously, "Don't suppose you've ever been grounded since you're the respectable one?"
"Actually, I have been grounded before," I said, having all three turtles look at me surprisingly.
"You have? Seriously?" Leo questioned in shock.
I nodded in response. "Yep, only a few times. One time, I lied to my parents over something that I wasn't supposed to do and they grounded me for not using any electronics for over a month. I wasn't allowed on my cell phone, my laptop, the TV…"
Suddenly, Mikey shot up and grabbed me by the shoulders with a panic expression. "No TV?! You weren't allowed to watch any TV for a whole month?!"
With a blank expression, I just nodded my head. "Yep. Although, the last time I was grounded for not using electronics, my punishment nearly lasted for over two months."
Mikey then let go of my shoulders and grabbed the sides of his head in total fear. "[Screams]! How can anyone be so cruel for not having any TV for a month?! What if Sensei suggests that the next time if we ever do something like this again?! I wouldn't be able to live with myself, dudes! Why do they have torture us like that?! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!"
Mikey threw his head back when he yelled that out and then landed flat on his shell with his arms out to the sides, whimpering to himself fearfully and depression as I looked to Leo with a sheepish look.
"Guess I shouldn't have mentioned that?" I stated.
"Probably," Leo replied, glancing to Mikey's constant whimpering.
"Seriously, though, this is way worse than using any electronics!" Raph informed in annoyance, "We're stuck down here for an entire week with nothing else that seems exciting or fun to do!"
I rolled my eyes at that while saying, "Ugh, come off it, Raph! You can't be that bored!"
"Guys, guys!" We heard Donnie call out as he came running up to us with an excited expression on his face, "You wanna see what I made?"
"This is how bored I am," Raph informed to me before turning back towards Donnie, answering, "Yes, Donnie. I do."
"Ok, ok, ok! Remember the other day I was scrounging in that military junkyard?" Donnie asked.
"No," Leo, Raph, and Mikey simultaneously replied as I stared with a blank expression.
"Well, I found an incredibly advanced A.I. Microchip, made from – [Chuckles] get this! Self-Assembled chain-Linked copolymers!" Donnie exclaimed excitedly.
"That's my favorite kind of copolymer!" Mikey said as he then went back into reading more on his comic book as Leo and I gave him questioning looks.
I leaned over my shoulder near Mikey with a side-grin and a raised eyebrow.
"You have no idea what that is, do you?" I asked.
"Nope," he simply replied while still reading.
"But you said it just to boost up Donnie's moral?"
"Yep."
"Figures," I muttered with an eye-roll and an amused smile as I heard Leo chuckle quietly.
"Mine too! And I used it to make this," Donnie said as he brought out a small device that glowed in a light blue aura, "The most advanced music player in the world."
Raph, Leo, Mikey, and I all gathered around the small invention Donnie held and stared at its interesting glory.
"Whoa," Leo, Raph, and Mikey all awed in unison.
Although, as cool and amazing Donnie's latest invention is, I knew for a fact this small music box was going to cause a lot of trouble for us through this episode.
"Um, Donnie?" I called out, turning everyone's eyes on me, "I'm really amazed that you were able to create something this advance, but… did you test this thing out first just to make sure it's safe to use? Cause we no little to nothing about how powerful that device could really be."
"Don't worry, Alora, I've doubled checked on everything this little baby runs on and believe me, nothing could be more safer without my supervision on working the few kinks and damages activating this sucker," He stated with the utmost confidence.
I didn't know what else to say during that point as I just let out a stressful sigh. "Alright then. I'll take your word for it, Donnie."
Donnie nodded in appreciation as I then stood back with a sickening feeling in my stomach.
"So who wants to try it?" Donnie asks while pressing a button on the device to activate it.
"I do!" Mikey called out with a hand up, "Toss me the Tpod."
"The – Tpod?" Donnie questions in confusion.
"Turtle. Pod. Tpod," Mikey points out before letting out a chuckle, "I am so good at naming stuff."
Donnie then hands Mikey the 'Tpod' as Mikey places his earbuds into each ear. While Mikey was setting up, Leo, Raph, and I went next to Donnie with concern expressions about this.
"You're really gonna plug an advanced piece of military technology directly into Mikey's head?" Raph asks while poking the side of his own head, "What if it melts his brain?"
"It won't. And even if it did, who'd know the difference?" Donnie replies rhetorically.
"That's what I'm worried about," I brought up in a worried tone.
As we watched, Mikey had a tongue sticking up the side of his upper lip expression as he held his right index finger up, ready to press the play button. I could hear the faint beeping and buzzing of the Tpod as Mikey actually pressed the button and when he did, he started screaming his head off, alarming the rest of us.
"What?! What's wrong?! Donnie asked fearfully.
Mikey was on his knees with his head up in a crying fit manner as he told us the reason that made us all calm down and a bit annoyed at it.
"It's polka! Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!"
While pleading out, Donnie walks over, presses a button to change the polka music, having Mikey stop his dramatic acting, and looks to the device in surprise.
"Thanks", Mikey says to Donnie as the purple-clad turtle walks away with a hopelessness expression.
Mikey's eyes went wide at the sound of the music he was now listening to before he smiled and hummed to himself in pleasure. He then got back on his feet and started moving around to the rhythm of the beat, dancing and swaying to the music. While he kept on dancing, Leo, Donnie, Raph, and I stared at Mikey with our different expressional opinions; Leo and Donnie with weird blank looks, Raph with a deadpan look, and me with an amused grin with a raised eyebrow and my arms cross over my chest.
"That's it. I gotta get out of here," Raph announces as he heads towards the entrance.
"Where are you going? We're grounded," Leo reminded, following his hotheaded brother as I followed as well.
"Master Splinter strictly told us to stay in the Lair," I added.
"I don't care. I gotta do something or I'm gonna go nuts!" Raph states as he stomps on the end of a skateboard that spiraled into the air as the red-clad turtle grabs it as he points out, "Let's find a skate spot!"
"Skate spot?! I'm totally in!" Mikey yells out while still listening to the music and pumping his right fist in the air.
"Mikey, shhh! Keep it down!" I whispered out with my right index finger near my lips in motioning to 'keep quiet'.
"But what's Splinter gonna say?" Leo questions.
" "I don't know what's going on, because they snuck out while I was asleep"," Raph replies, imitating Splinter's voice as Leo and I gave 'really' looks.
"Seriously, Raph? That's ridiculous," I said with my hands on my hips.
"Heh. Real mature. But I'm your Leader. And as your Leader, I say nobody's going," Leo orders with arms crossed with a narrowed expression.
"Well, as your followers," Raph began as Donnie and Mikey walked on over right next to him near the entrance, "we're going anyway."
"Well, as your Leader," Leo starts while thinking on what he should say next, "I'm going with you. To lead you. Away from… bad stuff."
I silently groaned while face palming myself then lolled my head towards Leo, saying, "Way to order around the Team, Leo."
Leo gave a sheepish look at me when Mikey threw his head back screaming while grabbing his head and collapsed to the floor like he was in pain.
"What's wrong?!" Leo asked in worry.
"It's back to polka! We've gotta get some more tunes on this!" Mikey informed with annoyance.
I chuckled to myself as Leo and I helped Mikey up.
"Well, since you guys are gonna take a major risk with this, I think I'm gonna stay down here," I stated.
All four brothers stared at me with surprising expressions as I made that unannounced statement.
"You sure? You don't wanna come along with us this time?" Leo asks with uncertainty.
I nodded in assurance. "I'm sure. No offense, but – I don't wanna get into more trouble if Splinter finds out and, of course, you guys can take care of yourselves without me for just this once."
"You know what? That's not such a bad idea," Raph replies with a smug expression as he walks over and slings his right arm around me in a side-hug, "Since you'll be staying down here, you can be our secret look-out."
I gave a perplexed look as I gazed at him. "What do you mean by 'secret look-out'?"
Raph lets go of me as he then explains. "You can hold off the fort down here during the night and make sure that Master Splinter doesn't know what we're up to."
"So wait, you want me to watch out and lie to Sensei on the fact that you guys are sneaking out of the Lair without his consent?" I questioned in utter bewilderment as the red-clad turtle nodded with a smug grin, "That's absolutely crazy! I can't do that!"
"Too late; you've already volunteered for it. So…good luck," Raph chuckles out as he starts walking away towards the entrance while waving his hand.
I groaned with my head down and my arms lolled on both my sides. When I said 'stay down here', I didn't mean as in 'stay down here and make sure Splinter doesn't know'. I sighed as I felt a hand on my shoulder that made me pull my head back up to see Leo, Donnie, and Mikey with small smiles.
"It's alright, Alora. Just don't listen to Raph; he's just being an idiot right now," Leo reassured gently with his right hand lightly squeezing my left shoulder.
"Yeah, and don't worry on watching Master Splinter. He won't be a problem since he's in his room fast asleep," Donnie added in with confidence.
"If you want, Dudette, I can leave you the Tpod if you wanna listen to some music?" Mikey offered as he held out the small device over to me, waiting for me to take it.
I smiled softly on Mikey's offer as I grabbed the bottom of his hand with my right while with my left, I pushed Mikey's fingers with my palm to close them over the Tpod to hold onto it.
"Thanks, Mikey, but you keep it," I said.
Mikey looked at me with a surprised expression before he grinned happily at me and enveloped me into a massive hug.
"Thanks, Dudette!"
"Your welcome, Mikey," I replied, hugging the orange-clad turtle back as we pulled away, "Now go, and be careful you guys."
All three Ninja Turtles nodded as they each said their goodbyes as they left.
Leo: "We'll see ya later, Alora!"
Donnie: "We'll be back soon!"
Mikey: "Catch ya later, Dudette!"
One by one, all four mutants were out and gone, leaving me alone in the calm, quiet Lair. I stood silently as I kept staring at the front entrance while I said to myself within my mind:
"Stay safe, you guys."
Uh-oh! The Turtles have been grounded for a week, and yet they disobey their Sensei's punishment! With them out and about of the Lair, Alora remains behind to respect Splinter's wishes, becoming their 'secret look-out' in case their Master gets curious. But with Donnie's latest invention, the Tpod, with them, things are about to take a turn for the worse! Will things remain secretively or will both Alora and the Turtles get caught? Find out next time!
Stay tuned and thanks for reading!
