Author's Notes and Disclaimer: Hey, everyone. Sorry I took long with this one; there was a lot I wanted to cover and I had a brief attack of writer's block. Luckily, it was nothing some reviewing the material and some good night's sleep couldn't cure.
First, the disclaimer: I don't own Godzooky; Hanna-Barbera does, or should I say Warner Bros. and Toho do. I don't own the series TMNT 1987 either; the series belongs to Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, Inc. and Viacom, and is based off the TMNT comic book series created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. I also don't own the film "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi", which is referenced here; that's the property of Lucasfilm and Disney. I also don't own the Man of Steel AKA Superman; he's DC property. I know, I know; "Why are you throwing in all these references that have no place in the TMNT universe?" Well, the Turtles do watch a lot of TV, and Godzooky does work in Hollywood (at least, in my fanfic-verse).
Now the recap: Godzooky has come into the world of, and met, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and joins them in their mission to clear their names with Channel 6 reporter April O'Neil, who, even after having her life saved by Zooky and the heroes in a half-shell, accuses the Turtles of robbing three scientific equipment companies because the thieves were ninjas. During the course of the investigation, Godzooky battles with internal demons and with keeping them hidden from his new friends. They soon find a ninja pizzeria, and while Zooky and the Turtles have a quick bite, April goes off to do her own investigating. However, it's becoming clear that there is more going on here than meets the eye.
And now, for those of you who know the series, you know what's coming: The Turtles' first big battle scene against the Foot Soldiers! Prepare for some surprises and action! Read on…
Chapter 4
Godzooky held his tail to keep it from swishing and hitting Raphael and Michelangelo in his nervousness. His sixth sense was now going off more than ever; a sure sign that April was in over her head in trouble somewhere.
"I'm concerned about April," Leonardo spoke up, voicing Godzooky's own worry.
"Hey, don't worry; once we get outta here, we'll find her," Donatello assured both Leonardo and the juvenile kaiju.
Before Zooky could respond, his sixth sense sent a signal of "INCOMING!" to his brain as his ears caught the sound of a sharp object flying in from overhead. He held Raphael and Michelangelo back just as a knife with a piece of paper attached to it came flying in, its sharp end embedding itself in the table.
"What is it, Raphael? A threatening note?" Donatello queried the red-masked turtle, who had picked up the paper.
"Worse than that," Raphael responded in a dramatic voice as he adjusted his fedora. "It's the check!"
"Nice line delivery," Zooky complimented in a chuckle. "Now let me take a look at that," he said, turning the check around so that he could read it.
The total bill came to…$40.95. And Zooky had… Uh-oh. Well, maybe…Oh, right; April wasn't here.
"Uh…guys, I hope you carry wallets in those shells of yours, 'cause I lost mine on the way here," Zooky said in embarrassment.
Indeed, Zooky's wallet had been in his winter coat, which had been lost when he had jumped into the sewer back in Toontown and was sucked through it to New York.
"Look, without the trench coat, do I look like I have pockets?" he asked the four turtles.
"Not really" was the overall response.
"I rest my case," Zooky deadpanned.
"Relax, we can take care of it," Donatello told Zooky. "We've been collecting change that falls down the drain and adding it to our own finances."
"How else do you think we can pay for the pizzas that we make back at the lair?" Raphael added.
"We should still have enough," Leonardo said as he and the other turtles brought out what money they had on them.
I hope so; I'd hate to be stuck here working off the bill while April is in trouble somewhere, Zooky said to himself.
Luckily, what the four turtles had was enough, and all five of them exited the pizzeria, intent on finding April.
"OK, April, where're you hidin'?" Raphael called.
Immediately, Godzooky put his nose to work. Already he was sensing something was very wrong, and it was confirmed when he followed April's scent to a phone booth, where it became mixed with…evil…and…was that…?
"Zooky, watch your foot!" Donatello warned the kaiju.
The juvenile saurian halted his movements and looked down to see a brown, leathery, rectangular object…that had April's scent on it! He immediately picked it up.
"Hey, it's April's wallet!" Leonardo observed.
"And over there!" Raphael pointed.
Zooky turned around and picked up an additional scent of mint. A couple feet away, there was a small ball of chewing gum next to a plastic card with April's picture on it that resembled an ID, but had the words "Press Card" on it.
"April's press pass," Donatello deducted, picking up the item.
"Yeah, I'd know that wad of used chewing gum anywhere," Raphael said, holding the sticky substance in his fingers before shaking it off.
"Uh, y-you get the feeling April's in trouble?" Michelangelo asked uneasily.
"According to my nose, which is picking up a variety of troubling scents including April's, which is laced with fear and adrenaline, and some other scents that are sending shivers down my spine, I'd say that's an affirmative, Mikey," Zooky said.
"Your nose can pick up all that?" Leonardo queried.
"Well, my nose, plus a sense of intuition," Godzooky told the blue-masked turtle.
"You are just a bundle of surprises tonight, aren't ya?" Raphael asked the juvenile kaiju, part amazed and maybe a little envious of the winged saurian's heightened senses; Zooky could tell, but he didn't mind the latter part.
"Well, it's either that or she's got a big hole in her purse," Donatello said, also responding to Michelangelo's question.
"Speaking of which…" Zooky trailed as he ran to an abandoned, dilapidated building upon spotting something hanging from the edge of the roof.
"April's purse!" Donatello said. "Come on!"
"Be mindful going up these steps," Zooky warned the turtles as they ran inside and ran up the flights of stairs to the roof. "This place ain't exactly safe to the public."
As they went higher, the scents got stronger, the evil one so much so that Zooky started to tremble more and cough a little from the growing intensity. Whatever this was, this was bad news. Very bad news.
Eventually, the quintet arrived on the roof, where April had been tied to a chair not five feet away. By now Godzooky's senses were on high alert, and they were telling him that, besides April, they were not alone.
"Careful, Raphael. It could be a trap," Leonardo warned.
No sooner had Leonardo said that that Zooky's brain once again sent a signal that told him a projectile was incoming, and he moved to his right just as something small, sharp, and metallic whizzed by his face and embedded itself in the wall behind him and the Turtles, which turned out to be a ninja star.
"Yep, it's a trap," Raphael confirmed, as if the ninja star thrown not a second ago wasn't indicative enough.
"You must've watched 'Star Wars', too," Zooky commented, remembering a similar line from "Episode VI-Return of the Jedi". "And frankly, you're correct!" he added as multiple human figures wearing ninja garb and carrying swords, spears, and other ninja weapons walked into view.
Godzooky looked them over and couldn't help but notice that they carried themselves oddly, like they had problems keeping proper posture. They seemed a bit bow-legged, slightly stiff, and their stare was cold and emotionless. There was something else too: A small symbol on the forehead area of their masks, but the winged saurian was currently too far away to see it clearly. He heard the whirling of Michelangelo's nunchuks, which told him the Turtles had brought out their weapons.
"Oh, there is something weird about this!" Donatello said nervously.
Zooky knew Donnie wasn't wrong about that; but in order to confirm what his senses were telling him, he'd have to engage one of those…whoever…or whatever…they were.
"Watch out, they're armed!" Leonardo warned as two of those strange men ran toward them.
Godzooky knew that warning was meant for him, as he was the only one without a weapon, and he didn't want to be left out, but Raphael got to one of them before he could, so he settled for cheering his friend on while looking for an opening to strike…and finally getting a good look at that symbol.
That's a foot! Godzooky noticed. Could that be the symbol of the Foot Clan? "Knock 'im out, Raph!" he cried out.
As Godzooky watched, the sai-wielding turtle stepped back, swung, parried a blow, pushed the strange ninja over, and…
"'Clang'?! Did you say 'clang'?!" Raphael exclaimed in surprise as Zooky gasped at the sound the ninja made when it hit the floor.
"He certainly did!" Godzooky confirmed, a surprised tone in his own voice. That means I was right! They're robots! he realized. Looking back at Leonardo's opponent, he made another realization: That means it's time to up my game. I hope the guys'll forgive me. "Watch out, fellas!" Godzooky shouted in warning, running towards Leonardo's position and throwing off his disguise in the process.
"Hey, what are you?!-Leonardo, incoming!" Zooky heard Raphael yelp.
If I get enough speed, twist myself and jump at the right moment, and use my tail strength plus my momentum to turn myself… Zooky calculated.
He was now four feet away. Three feet. Two… Now!
Here goes…!
Zooky bent down, taking three steps and spinning as he did so, laid his eyes on his target, jumped off the ground like he was going to do a butterfly twist-a variation of marital arts technique the butterfly kick-bringing his body into a horizontal position, kicked his left leg into the air, followed by a pump with his tail for extra spin power while bringing his chest up and head forward…and executed a VERY POWERFUL 360 degree kick in midair…that knocked the robot's head clean off! Yelps and shouts of surprise flew from the Turtles' mouths and sparks flew from the robot's dismembered neck; but Zooky wasn't done yet; once he landed, he executed a roundhouse kick with the same amount of power that tore through the robot's torso…and this time there was no concern about not wearing shoes. Or with how much force to kick.
"Check those dudes out!" Michelangelo cried out, having seen the sparks fly from the robot's neck before Zooky did his decimating kick.
"'Dudes', nuts! They're robots!" Godzooky shouted, trying to keep his mind clear with his battle adrenaline running high; he had to remember the Turtles were also on the battlefield, and a kick or punch in the wrong direction would result in…well, best not to think about it.
"Robots?" Michelangelo repeated. "Let's rock!" he shouted.
Zooky looked up just in time to see the surfer-dude turtle out of his disguise and up in the air, nunchuks twirling as he came down into a small gathering of those robot ninjas, knocking down two of them upon landing. The rustling of cloth told Godzooky that the other three Turtles had shed their disguises as well, and saw Donatello begin to engage a group of robot ninjas.
"Ha-ha! Show 'em some moves, Donatello!" Raphael cheered as the bō-wielding turtle swung his weapon, hitting another two robot ninjas with enough force that they were sent backwards and exploded on contact with the wall behind them.
Zooky turned to find another opponent, seeing Leonardo take out three of them in a spinning attack with his katanas and Raphael do a double-stab-into-a-spin-slash attack with his sais before locking eyes with the juvenile kaiju and getting a look on his face like he had an idea.
The red-masked turtle got down on his hands and knees and called, "Launch time!"
Zooky's own face soon mirrored the same look Raph had had a moment ago; the turtle was going to let the winged saurian use him as a launching pad this time.
"I'm coming in hot!" Zooky called back, running toward Raphael, a battle plan already in mind and a fire attack prepped in the back of his throat; and he opened his mouth to make sure his battle partner could see it.
"Uh, Zuke, when you say 'coming in hot' does that mean-OH, BOY!" Raphael yelped, finally having seen the forming oral attack. "Watch it, guys; it's gonna get a little warm up here!" he called to the others, saving Zooky the trouble.
Zooky ran forward, and, once his foot was on Raphael's shell, he bent his knees, and pushed off at the same time Raph moved to launch him with a cry of "Alley-oop!" Once Zooky was up in the air, he angled himself downward and, upon seeing the other Turtles-as well as April-were out of range, he let loose a roaring blast of fire that scorched a good number of robot ninjas. He then spread his wings and started coming down in a spiral. However, before landing, he brought his legs and feet forward, like a raptor bird about to grab its prey, and knocked down a few more with a roar on touchdown. His sixth sense then alerted him to a spear-wielder behind him, so he twisted himself, reached and grabbed the spear, and send the robot ninja flying over his head in a judo throw. Seeing that the metallic ninja was still hanging on even after contact with the ground, and a few more were surrounding his position, Zooky spun, whipping the spear-wielder around and destroying the hostiles surrounding him.
He then spotted Leonardo nearby, shouted "Cut, Leo!", threw the spear-wielding robot to Leonardo, who jumped and sliced it in half with his katanas. Once that was done, he spotted Raphael again near a vent shaped like a periscope getting a bit overwhelmed by three sword-wielders. Zooky ran in Raphael's direction, jumped and did a flying karate kick that took down one that had been knocked back and was not facing Zooky; a bad mistake. Raphael then took care of the remaining two, then turned and jumped at seeing Zooky suddenly appear.
"Friendly! Sorry, Raph!" Zooky shouted, holding up his hands in surrender as he fought his own adrenaline.
"Kid, you gotta stop scarin' me like that!" Raphael gasped, breathing hard from the fighting and from the accidental scare.
"Sorry, no promises on that," Zooky confessed.
"Michelangelo, watch out!" Donatello called from somewhere on the battlefield.
Zooky turned in time to see red energy rings shoot out from the sword of a robot ninja the surfer-dude turtle was currently engaging. Mikey leaped up and out of the way just in time, for when those rings hit the wall, an explosion ensued!
"What the heck?!" Raphael yelped in disbelief.
"I don't know what that was," Zooky started, turning around…and upon spotting another robot ninja, this time with a fan that began throwing out red rings accompanied by what sounded like a full-gale wind, finished his sentence by shouting, "But we're next!"
The "red gale rings", as Zooky mentally called them on the fly, flew past him and Raphael, the juvenile kaiju found he could barely keep his footing, and instead told the sai-wielding turtle to grab on to him, then he grabbed the vent to prevent both of them from being sucked towards the robot and possibly blown off the building.
"Don't let go!" Raphael shouted over the wind.
"Same to you!" Zooky replied.
In Zooky's mind, the only way out of this was with a projectile attack, but he didn't want to risk using a fireball with Raph being so close. Luckily, the wisecracking turtle apparently read his mind, because Zooky saw a flash of metal in the shape of one of Raphael's sais, heard said turtle shout, "Eat this!" and grunt as he threw the weapon at the cause of the attack. There was an explosion and the wind immediately died down. He felt Raphael let go so that he could retrieve his weapon and took the opportunity to get some breath back in his lungs.
"You were right; great minds do think alike," Zooky told Raphael as the turtle rejoined him. "Nice shot," he complimented, giving the turtle a high-four.
"Hey, you were kickin' some shell yourself, Zooky," Raphael grinned. "And doin' it in style, too. Any chance you can teach me that?" he asked.
The two shared a brief laugh before the juvenile saurian suggested that they find the others and regroup, then ran off to do just that.
They found Leonardo at a wall with a split ninja star on either side of him.
OK, what are those katanas made of?! Zooky wondered to himself when he saw that.
"Where're these guys gettin' their gear; Mars?!" Raphael asked as Donatello and Michelangelo soon joined them.
"I don't know, but they don't smell local," Zooky answered.
Indeed, Zooky had gotten a whiff of the fan that nearly blew him and Raph away, and it didn't smell like it came from Earth. In fact, it smelled like it didn't even come from this dimension.
"Uh…I'm gonna save the obvious question for later," Raphael stated.
"Let's show 'em that turtles know how to party!" Michelangelo declared, spinning one of his nunchuks.
Before Michelangelo could say anything that would correct the obvious error, Zooky quickly spoke up; "It's OK. I'm part of the family now, aren't I?" he asked, giving a smile.
The unspoken answer was an affirmative as the juvenile kaiju felt a feeling of camaraderie and brotherhood sweep through the group as the terrapin quartet gave smiles of their own.
"Now let's show these bolt-buckets that this family ain't pushovers!" Zooky declared, turning to the wall and getting ready to push.
"Now that's a pun I can get behind!" Raphael chuckled.
Zooky pushed hard, first using only his hands, then adding his shoulder into it. The stone in his area began to crumble.
"Hey, c'mon, guys! Zooky's almost through the wall already!" Raphael shouted, a tone of play in his voice. "You don't want the four of us to be shown up by one kaiju, do ya?!"
"Hey, not a chance!" Michelangelo answered in a tone of friendly competition.
"Then put your shells into it!" Leonardo called, grunting from the effort and chuckling in the spirit of the friendly challenge.
"I'll do you an even better one; follow my lead!" Zooky said, backing off from the wall.
Once Zooky saw the turtles were on either side of him, down in a runner's starting position like he was, he called, "OK, one quick question: Did Splinter teach you guys numbers in Japanese?"
"Yes, he did!" Donatello answered for the four turtles.
"Then when I reach 'one', run and throw everything you got into it!" Zooky instructed. "Ready?"
"Ready!" was the response.
Zooky then counted down from three in Japanese: "Ni! San! Ichi!"
On "one", Zooky and the TMNT ran right at the wall, throwing every ounce of their combined muscle into pushing it over, and fall it did, right onto the unlucky robots who were standing behind it. The quintet cheered over the victory, giving each other high-threes (or high-fours in Zooky's case).
"Totally righteous job, Z-man!" Michelangelo complimented Zooky.
"Right back at ya…in quadruplicate!" Zooky said, looking around at the Turtles, who took the compliment with "aws" and humble looks.
"Now let's get April!" Leonardo ordered.
"Be right there; I gotta grab something!" Zooky said as he began digging through the rubble, hoping that what he was looking for was still intact.
"Whatcha looking for?" Donatello queried.
"The uniforms those ninjas were wearing, they had a symbol on their forehead. Ah!" he exclaimed as he managed to find a mask that was still in one piece. "Get a load of this," he said, tossing the article of clothing to Donatello as he started digging through for the rest.
"It looks like a foot," he heard Donatello observe as he pulled out a robot whose uniform was still relatively intact. The brainiac turtle then gave a gasp. "Wait; Zooky, do you think…?"
"I have a feeling," Zooky admitted as he folded up the uniform, then took the mask and tied the whole thing into a bundle using the sleeves. "But the seal of authentication will have to be Master Splinter's," he pointed out. "Can you hold onto this?" he asked.
"I'll try," Donatello said, accepting the bundle.
With that taken care of, Godzooky went to join Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo where April was being untied.
"Are you OK? Sorry it got a little toasty up here," Zooky apologized. "Hope it was a good show, though."
"Yes, it was," April nodded, some vestiges of a stunned expression still lingering on her features.
"Hey, guys! Looks like we missed a few!" Donatello called.
Zooky's gaze followed where Donatello was pointing and saw the remains of the large army of strange robot ninjas bearing the symbol of the Foot Clan heading for the edge of the roof.
"They're getting away!" April shouted as the robots leaped off.
"Ha! That's what they think!" Raphael scoffed. "Come on!"
Zooky followed the Turtles to roof's edge, where he saw that the robots were now on the roof of another building some few feet away.
"What's that building over there?" the juvenile kaiju asked April.
"That looks like the building for Manhattan Security Services; they're the ones behind the robberies!" she explained.
"Of course; the best way to stage a robbery is for it to be an inside job, and what better way than to be the guys guarding the place?" Godzooky reasoned.
"How are we gonna get down there?" April asked.
"Like this," Leonardo said, bringing a rope from out of his shell and tying one end to the handle of his katana, which made Zooky wonder if hammerspaces actually existed here and he hadn't really been trying earlier.
No, no, I tried, even fell down from spinning around from trying to reach behind my back; hammerspaces are a no-go here, Godzooky disagreed with himself.
"If no-one minds, I'll glide down," Zooky said, backing up to get some running room. "And if anyone wants, I can take one passenger," he offered.
"May I?" April asked.
Zooky knelt down and waited until April was situated; arms around his neck-not too tightly-and legs wrapped around his middle.
"You set?" he asked.
"M-hm" was the reply.
"Haven't done this at this size since my family and I helped a certain silly old bear 'rescue' his friend from 'Skull'. Hee! Silly Owl," Zooky mumbled, rolling his eyes at the memory of another adventure. "Just hang on tight," he warned. "Here we go!"
Flapping his wings, Zooky managed to get himself airborne before he even got off the roof so that he had the advantage of the air currents and his descent wouldn't be so rapid with the extra weight on his back. He felt April's grip tighten a bit, so he assured her once more that she was going to be all right. By the time he had reached the edge, he was up in the air, so all he had to do then was decrease his flight angle and glide to the roof below, where the Turtles were waiting, having slid down the rope Leo had provided. Once he touched down, he stayed in a kneeling position until April got off-well, was helped up by one of the Turtles.
"That was impressive," Donatello complimented.
"Can I have a ride next?" Michelangelo asked, making Zooky chuckle.
"Are you all right?" Zooky asked April, some fear and amazement still present on her features.
"Yeah. No offense, you're a great flier, but let's not do that again," she said.
"Perfectly understandable," Zooky said, not minding at all. "Flying isn't for everyone. Where'd those metalheads go?" he then asked Leonardo.
"They went down through a door over there," Leo replied.
Godzooky followed them over, Leonardo opened the door, and they went inside.
Even before Zooky had stepped into the green-colored hallway that was inside the building, his sixth sense was going off with the message: "WARNING. ENEMY TERRITORY. KEEP ALERT", which was still keeping his battle instincts running on high.
"Where is everybody?" Michelangelo asked.
That was a good question; the place was quiet. Too quiet.
"Well, it's late. They probably went home," Raphael said.
"Highly doubtful," Godzooky disagreed seriously. "If this is the enemy stronghold, it's more likely that since they know we're coming, they're gearing up for an ambush."
"I would say he's seen one-too-many action movies, but what scares me is that the tone in his voice is telling me this kid knows what he's talkin' about," Raphael remarked nervously to the 4th wall.
"Come on, guys, let's look around," Leonardo said. "And stay on your toes," he warned.
The group walked down the hallway, Zooky roving his eyes around and stretching his respective sensitive hearing and smelling abilities as far as he was able, not intent on being caught unawares. They soon came into a room where there were multiple video screens, but Zooky was checking behind them to make sure they weren't being followed, so he didn't immediately see them.
"Hey, look: An Acme Technologies Digital Video Transceiver!" Donatello said.
Acme?! Boy, apparently those people can find their way into any world, Zooky thought to himself as he continued to visually scan the hallway.
"This is big-league gear!" the brainiac turtle continued.
And I thought all Acme did was make cartoon gags, Zooky thought. Then again, ever since Marvin Acme was murdered by Baron von Rotten AKA Judge Doom in 1947, then the company turned into a big-time corporation, I guess it would make sense that they're branching out.
"Whoa, who's the dude with the metal face?" Michelangelo asked.
Godzooky turned around at that moment and gasped as his mental alarm bell kicked up to Level 100. On the screens was the image of a human male wearing a metal helmet reminiscent of a Japanese kabuto, a helmet that had been worn by samurai soldiers, a metal mask that covered his nose and mouth (which made Godzooky wonder how he breathed in that thing), what looked like a purple cloak, and was wearing shoulder pads with sharp, curved, metal scutes on them. But what really made Zooky's senses kick into high-alert mode was the human's eyes, which were filled with malice.
"I don't know, but that guy is giving me a 'major bad news' signal," Godzooky responded as he started baring his teeth and narrowing his eyes.
"OK, now I know to never get on this kid's bad side; he is scary when he's angry!" Raphael nervously remarked to the 4th wall once again.
The juvenile kaiju couldn't blame the wisecracking turtle for making that comment; he probably did look pretty terrifying in his current state. Then again, what kaiju didn't look scary when they were provoked?
The screens suddenly turned off, making Zooky tense up, ready for wherever the inevitable ambush was going to come from. It never did, though; instead, a malevolent, baritone voice ordered over the intercom system, "All Foot, return to the Technodrome at once!"
Godzooky wondered if that voice belonged to the human he had seen, but he had a more pressing question at the moment.
"'Technodrome'?" Zooky and Raphael asked simultaneously.
"Where's that?" the red-masked turtle queried.
"Somehow, I have a feeling that it can only be one way: Down!" Zooky answered, pointing to the floor.
"Then let's boogie, dudes!" Michelangelo said.
The six of them made a beeline for the nearest staircase down, but at the bottom of that flight of stairs, Zooky noticed that the pace was becoming a little much for April.
Leonardo had noticed too, for he said, "April, wait here" before Zooky and the Turtles ran off again.
"Better keep yourself hidden in case more of those robots come by!" Zooky called as a last warning before focusing his attention ahead.
The quintet eventually reached the staircase that led into the basement of the building, which looked a little more metallic and high-tech than the rest of the building above. Zooky managed to spot a couple of those robot ninjas going doing through a trapdoor in the floor.
"They must be heading for the Technodrome!" Donatello deducted.
"After them!" Leonardo commanded, running after the remaining robots.
"Stop the Turtles and that creature with them! At any cost!" the same voice Zooky had heard earlier ordered over the intercom.
"Hey! Where does that guy get off calling Zooky that?!" Raphael exclaimed angrily.
"Totally rude, dude!" Michelangelo yelled, also upset at his friend being referred to as a creature.
"Uh, guys, I think we've got bigger problems!" Zooky yelped, his ears having picked up the squeaking sound of a large wheel being turned, then the sound of rushing water overhead, followed by creaking metal as the pipes above groaned from the water pressure, then burst. The water hit the winged saurian and the Turtles with such force it reminded Godzooky of those people he saw on the news during the Birmingham Campaign back in 1963 that had their clothes torn off or were pushed over vehicles because of the amount of force the water came out of those fire hoses. Now I know what it's like, Zooky thought. The only difference, besides the circumstances, is that we're gonna be flooded right outta the building!
Despite the currents being created by the rapidly-moving water, Zooky quickly adjusted himself in time to see that they were out of the basement and back in the hallways of the main building.
"Got to get to safety! We'll drown!" Donatello cried out. Before Godzooky could even say it, Donnie saved him the trouble: "Hey, what are we worrying about? We're turtles and a kaiju. Who can swim, it looks like."
"Yeah, but April's neither of those!" Zooky said, noticing the human woman splashing about in an effort to stay above the water and swimming over to her. "Don't panic! Grab on to me!" he instructed, turning his back to her so that she would get the idea to hold on the same way she did when he flew her over to the building earlier.
Thankfully, she got the message and Zooky felt her on his back once more.
She coughed a bit and said, "Looks like I owe you another one, Zooky."
"You don't owe me a thing, Ms. O'Neil," Zooky stated honestly.
"Uh, excuse me, but I'd like to get outta here before this hall floods," Raphael cut in.
"We need to get out of here before the whole building floods!" Donatello said.
"Our best chance is to find a service stairway, that way we won't have the hassle of running down hallways," Zooky suggested.
"I think I saw a door leading to it back down that way," Donatello said, pointing in the direction opposite they had gone towards the room with the video screens.
"Then let's swim for it, guys!" Leonardo said.
"You might wanna hold your breath and hang on; this could get rough," Zooky told April.
"No problem," she said, already taking deep breaths.
Once he was sure April was ready, Zooky followed the Turtles toward the door, battling against the currents as they went. When they reached the door, they found it underwater, but that was no problem for Godzooky, who kicked the door open to save time. The group then swam for the stairs, grabbed the railing and pulled themselves up onto it, then ran up them as fast as their legs could carry them, once April had gotten off Zooky's back, that is.
"I don't know if I can take much more of this!" April panted after a few flights of steps.
"Hey, look on the bright side; at least it's not raining," Raphael said.
"Nope; it's flooding!" Zooky pointed out. "Which means I don't think we wanna see what the water bill's gonna come to!"
"Look out!" Donatello cried out.
The water had gained on them and there was no time to go up another staircase, so Zooky smashed down another door that led into another of the hallways, this one having desks and a water dispenser there.
"Grab on to something!" Zooky told the others, pointing to the desks.
"Whaddya think this is, a cartoon?" Raphael questioned sarcastically, going over to one of the desks anyway.
Frankly, I'm not sure what kind of world this is, Zooky answered mentally.
"What about you?" April asked in concern.
"I can swim; I'll ride it out," Zooky said. "See you guys at the next staircase!" he called, running ahead.
The juvenile kaiju felt the water wash over him once it caught up, but he was prepared to deal with it and just let the current carry him, adjusting his angle and direction when needed. From under the water, he could see the desks that April and three of the Turtles were on float by-Wait a second, "three"? It was then Zooky spotted a particularly large swell above him…and there was Michelangelo, riding the wave on the water dispenser as if it was a surfboard!
Zooky couldn't help but laugh to himself, Now what does that dude think he's doing?
"Cowabunga!" Michelangelo exclaimed just as Zooky joined the others at the next staircase, the exclamation putting a smile on the winged saurian's face.
Something tells me that's gonna become one of my favorite words, Zooky thought to himself.
"Where to now?" April asked once everyone was present.
"The roof!" the surfer-dude turtle answered, pointing upward.
"We shouldn't be too far! Come on!" Zooky beckoned, running for the next flight of stairs.
Luckily, that was the very stairway that led to the roof via the trap door, and they made it, just as the water sprayed out like a fountain, soaking them all.
"We've got to get out of here!" April exclaimed, the water quickly collecting on the roof.
"The rope! Hurry!" Leonardo called.
Zooky followed the Turtles and April as they made their way to the rope that was still tied to one of Leo's katanas. April and the TMNT used the rope to make their getaway, but Zooky opted to use his flight ability. Seeing how fast they were swinging towards the dilapidated building they had come from hours ago, Zooky flew toward and grabbed the rope, steadying it so that the five beings who were on it didn't crash into the building's side. He hovered down to them and asked if they were all right, but then his ears picked up more troubling sounds: more creaking metal…and cracking glass.
Oh no! The water pressure inside the building is too much! It'll explode! Zooky panicked.
The amount of debris flying would be enormous, and April and the Turtles were right in the path of the upcoming explosion!
"Climb up and take cover! I'll cover you!" Zooky ordered.
The juvenile kaiju understood the concern and confusion on their faces, but there was no time; the building was going to burst any second, so, with a forceful roar, he commanded, "GO!"
That was enough to get them moving as a spooked Raphael yelped, "Y-You heard the kid! Move it!"
Godzooky then turned to face the about-to-explode building. Considering how far the debris was going to fly, and wanting to save as much of the city as possible, he knew there was only one choice. Quickly reaching for the crown on his watch, he pressed it before gliding towards the flooded building. As he did, he could feel himself growing back to his normal size, for you see, the crown on his watch was the control for the device's shrink/growth circuit, which is what enabled Zooky to be human-sized. Without it, Godzooky would remain at his now-real height of 31.7 meters.
Once his feet were completely on the ground, Godzooky stepped towards the building, encircled his arms around it so that his wings were like a curtain around it, and closed his eyes, not wanting any of the debris to get into them.
I hope the streets below are clear, Zooky hoped, not wanting anyone to get hurt by the explosion, or by him when had grown to normal size.
Just then, he heard the crashing of glass as the building blew apart from the water pressure inside reaching maximum. He winced as felt shards of glass, metal, and wood embed themselves in his hide and wings, but he stood firm. Soon, he felt nothing but water on him and he flinched as it stung on the cuts given by the debris, which he started pulling out, then carefully laying down on the ground in an area far from the water. Once he got the bigger pieces out, he turned around, activated his watch's growth/shrink circuit, and stood near the massive water spout.
It's a good thing there's this nearby, otherwise it would be a long flight back up, Zooky thought as he felt himself shrink back down to 5 feet, 5.6 inches and get carried up on his back by the upward force of the water.
He then "swam" off the top of the water spout and, using the air currents, flew up to the roof of the building where the Turtles and April were waiting.
"That was AWESOME, DUDE!" Michelangelo hollered in excitement as Godzooky touched down on the roof.
"Unbelievable!" Donatello exclaimed.
"Well, I think you can finally understand why I asked you not to take my watch off in the sewers, Donnie," Zooky said.
The bō-wielding turtle chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his masked head. "Yeah, I think that pretty much did it for me," he agreed.
"Well done!" Leonardo complimented.
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I never would've believed it!" Raphael said. "And thanks to us, I'd say the ninja crime wave is a washout."
Zooky then shook himself to get rid of the excess water on himself and added with a smile, "You might say, they're all wet."
"Oh, that's nice; soak me, then try to one-up me," Raphael grumbled, having to do some shaking of his own after getting slightly soaked.
Zooky giggled. "Sorry," he apologized, mostly for soaking Raphael and the others.
"Well, at least we're all safe," April started, going towards Zooky, then got a look of shock on her face and gasped, "Oh my goodness!"
Oops. Thought I forgot something, Zooky mumbled to himself as he looked himself over; there were still small shards of glass and wooden splinters scattered all over his body that he hadn't been able to get earlier. Not to mention still a few open cuts.
The Turtles came over quickly and they soon had the same expression April had.
"You're hurt!" Leonardo observed.
"With all due respect, you do realize you're stating the obvious?" Zooky asked the blue-masked turtle. "I mean, you can't expect someone not to get hurt from blocking an explosion of debris."
"This is serious! You're not as tall as a skyscraper anymore! Who knows how it's affecting you!" Raphael exclaimed.
"Raph, this is nothing new for me," Zooky told the concerned turtle patiently.
"You sure?" queried Michelangelo.
"I'm perfectly fine; these'll all be closed up by the time we get back to your lair," Zooky told them.
"Well, I still say we'd better get those taken care of," April said. "We'll stop at a pharmacy for some anti-septic and bandages on the way back."
Godzooky wanted to tell them again that there really was no need, but then he remembered that he was going to be going back through the sewers; maybe it was best he had something covering his cuts.
"If it makes you guys feel better, I'll get let you treat these," Zooky conceded.
From the relieved expressions, the juvenile saurian could tell it did.
"We'd better get going then; I still want to show Master Splinter what we found," Zooky said as the group started heading for the door and the staircase down.
"What were you getting, anyway?" Leonardo queried.
"Zooky was getting a uniform off of one of those robots," Donatello explained. "And get this: There was a symbol on the forehead of the mask it was wearing."
"A foot," Zooky clarified.
"'A foot'?" Michelangelo echoed.
"Wait; as in…the Foot Clan?" Leonardo inquired.
"You mean that ninja clan our sensei was banished from?" Raphael asked, suddenly interested.
"That voice in the building did mention something about that," April pointed out.
"It's a theory, but the only way to confirm it is to show the uniform to Master Splinter," Zooky said as they started going down the stairs to the ground floor.
"Hey, uh, Zooky? Can you clear something up for me?" Donatello asked after a few minutes of quiet.
"Sure. What is it?" the young, winged saurian responded.
There was a moment of hesitation from the brainiac of the TMNT before he finally forced out the question: "I've been thinking: The way you fought those robots versus when you fought those punks back in the sewers. Back there…you were holding back, weren't you?" he asked, referring to the latter-mentioned fight.
Now it was Zooky's turn to hesitate. Before that battle on the roof, the guys had only seen him fight the way he did when he assisted them in beating the punks. Now they had seen him fight in a totally different way; one that had scared the near daylights out of them if the reactions he had heard were anything to go by.
After a minute, the contrite admission came: "Yes, I was."
The next thing Zooky knew, he was stopped short when he collided with the shell of the turtle in front of him, which made his cuts act up a little, then was bumped into from behind by another turtle, who turned out to be Michelangelo who exclaimed, "What?!"
"Hey, what gives?" April demanded, apparently having bumped into Michelangelo.
It's a good thing we're on a landing at the moment, otherwise we would've fallen down the stairs, Zooky remarked to himself.
"Why'd everybody stop?" Leonardo queried.
The obvious answer became Raphael, who was the one that made April bump into Michelangelo, who bumped into Zooky, who bumped into him. Said turtle whirled around to face Zooky, looking shocked this time.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa! Hold-it! Waitaminnit! You mean to say that if you had used your full strength on the punks like you did on those robots…?" Raphael trailed, his voice telling Zooky loud and clear that he wasn't looking forward to the answer, but he had to ask.
"Then that scene would've been a lot uglier, Raphael," Zooky told him bluntly.
An uneasy quiet settled on the group as Godzooky allowed the others to process that information before continuing, "It's one of the things I have to be mindful of when I'm this size. I may be only five feet, but that just means all that power is now in one condensed package, so I have to mind my strength. The other members of my family who wear these have to deal with the same thing. And…in my case, and my uncle's, we have to be careful that we don't let our tempers get the better of us, either. That's why I gave you guys all those warnings during the battle; if any of you are standing in the wrong place when I let loose my fire breath or when I use my fists at full strength…you'd get seriously hurt. Or worse," he said in a sad tone.
"You mean to say you've got enough strength to do all that, whether you're 20 stories high or five feet high?" Raphael questioned, visibly unnerved.
Godzooky nodded sadly. "I'm sorry, but I warned you I couldn't make any promises about not scaring you any further," he reminded Raphael.
"I know, and the realization is hitting me as hard as that brick wall hit those robots," the sai-wielding turtle said.
"Zooky, that thing about minding your strength, I get the feeling it applies to human opponents, doesn't it?" Donatello guessed.
"Primarily, yes," Zooky nodded. "It's one of the rules of combat we made when we started going on adventures that required us to be this size. We kaiju may be considered forces of nature, but the Alpha of Monster Island-my uncle's grandfather-made it clear that we kaiju don't pass judgment on humans; we leave that to whatever judgment system the humans in a particular country live by. We'll only resort to using full strength against kaiju opponents or opponents that we pick up as unnatural, or if there's no other way to take them down."
"And those robot dudes were as unnatural as you could get, right?" Michelangelo asked.
"Exactly," Zooky answered.
"A wise rule," Leonardo said. "I have a feeling your uncle's grandfather would find much in common with our sensei."
"I have a feeling he would," Zooky agreed. "I'm really sorry, guys. I would've told you, not shown you, but…" he trailed, apologizing once again for scaring his friends with his full strength.
"Hey, Z-dude, don't apologize," Michelangelo said. "Do you realize what we've got here?" he asked the others.
"A cartoon star who can pack a punch in more ways than one?" Raphael asked.
"Even better; we got ourselves a real super-dude!" Michelangelo said, smiling widely.
"Wha?" Zooky asked, getting a feeling he knew what the dude turtle was saying, but wanted clarification anyway.
"You know, like in those superhero comics: Faster than a speedin' pizza truck, more powerful than a locomotive-A real super-kaiju!"
"Hey, he's a got a point there," Raphael realized, a smile coming over his face.
"I don't think I can argue with that," Leonardo said.
"Me neither," Donatello corroborated.
Zooky felt warm in the face and was thankful that the lighting in the building wasn't so good; he was sure he was blushing redder than Raphael's mask. This had to be the first time anyone outside Hollywood likened him to the Man of Steel; well, not directly, but still.
"Aw, Mikey…" was all the juvenile kaiju could get out amidst his embarrassed giggles.
The laughter was contagious and lasted for a minute before everyone calmed down.
"Hey, speaking of Master Splinter," Donatello spoke up, "we need to make turtle tracks so that we can show him that uniform."
"Right; let's go, guys!" Leonardo said as they started moving down the stairs again.
"After we make that pharmacy stop," April pointed out, which was met with agreement. "Are you sure you're going to be all right going back down into the sewers?" she whispered to Godzooky.
"Yes. I'll be fine; let's just take care of one thing at a time," Zooky told the human woman. And it looks like time may be something I don't have, he realized. Whether I want it to or not, San Francisco will certainly slip into conversation at some point. And then…oh, who knows?
Who knows, indeed (well, I do and you could probably guess, but I'm not going to spoil it). All right, dudes and dudettes; this is the second-to-last chapter done! Now all we need is the final scene in the sewer and we're done for this episode.
Well, to sum up what's been going on in terms of the Turtles learning more about their new friend, I think Raphael pretty much summed it all up when he said: "You are just a bundle of surprises tonight, aren't ya?" And surprises is certainly what the TMNT got; first with an explanation of just how powerful the juvenile saurian's naturally-heightened senses are, then, in addition to finding out the beings who kidnapped April are nothing but robots (LOVED Rob Paulsen's line delivery after Raphael knocked that Foot Soldier down, and if you didn't read that line-as well as the line regarding the check-in his voice, well, you've missed out on a lot), they get to see Godzooky cut loose, using his full strength, flight ability, and fire breath against the Foot Soldiers.
About the move Zooky used on that Foot Soldier, I was having trouble figuring out which martial arts move to use until I found a move called the "Illusion Twist", which is one of the many variations of a martial arts technique called the "Butterfly Kick". I picked it because I wanted him to do a move that would first kick the Foot Soldier's head off (and effectively startle the Turtles) before doing a kick that would take care of the rest of it, so I wanted both his feet to land on the ground at the same time, which is what occurs after the move is complete.
And, of course, for the coup de grâce (at least in this chapter), in order to save the TMNT, April, and a good portion of the city from the fallout of the Manhattan Security Services building when it explodes from all the water flooding inside it, Godzooky deactivates the shrink circuit in his watch, which enables him to grow to his normal kaiju size. He…kind of underwent a growth spurt, in case you're wondering.
After all that's done, Zooky is forced to explain the change in his fighting style. To put it simply, it's pretty much like a situation where the title character in Disney's "Hercules" has godlike strength, being half-mortal and all. I have a feeling those of you who are pros at writing this stuff will tell me that's not the case, but Godzooky wouldn't be much of a kaiju without that crazy strength of his.
Now, for the stuff left out: Shredder still has the group under surveillance from his control room inside the Technodrome, which finally gets mentioned. And you can pretty much guess he is figuring out his old enemy, Hamato Yoshi, is still alive. And, in the context of this fanfic, he's also pretty much wondering what a kaiju is doing with the Turtles, let alone one that knows martial arts and can speak.
I also added a bit where Zooky and Donatello grab a uniform off of one of the defeated Foot Soldiers, just so that a scene in the next chapter makes sense, as it wasn't shown in the original episode.
Also, anyone notice that Donnie called the screens that showed Shredder's face "Acme Technologies Digital Video Transceivers"? Considering Godzooky got to NYC from Toontown, where Acme is pretty much a big label on every cartoon gag, I think you can see the connection.
There's also a reference Zooky makes to an adventure he's been on; for those of you who are Disney buffs, I think you'll know what he's talking about. I also threw in something for the history buffs: The Birmingham Campaigns of 1963, specifically the use of fire hoses during those campaigns.
But, there you have it; the first appearance of the Foot Soldiers, the first awesome fight scene of the series, the Turtles and Godzooky see Shredder for the first time (via computer screen), the first mention of the Technodrome, the first "Cowabunga!" of the series, and the decimation of Manhattan Security Services. Now it's back to the sewers for one last surprise from Godzooky and one more scene.
Until then, read and review. Oh, and if anyone has any further questions, please leave them in the comments and I will answer them to the best of my ability. Thank you, and cowabunga!