Chapter Four: The trouble with science

Michelangelo could barely control himself. April would be arriving at any second and he was good and ready. He'd cleaned his room and thrown out all the trash so there were no more reminants of pizza boxes and candy wrappers under his bed and it all smelt 'reasonable'. Within the lair their own space was limited but having individual bedrooms was a definite bonus especially when he wanted some private time of his own to think about girls. The only issue was the lack of lock. Donatello had installed a lock on the bathroom and the lab but all bedrooms were free from such which was more than a little annoying. Michelangelo, however, used a chair to prop the door handle and it worked pretty well. He wouldn't use it when April arrived, that would be a too creepy. The sign would have to suffice in keeping his nosy family out of the space.

The 'Keep Out Donnie & Leo & Raph' sign that he had made and was hanging pride of place on the other side of his door. Raphael hadn't seen it yet, Donatello chose not to pass comment and Leonardo just rolled his eyes before wandering over in that general direction. Apparently the little talk that Splinter had held with the youngest of the clan had allowed him to find his sunshine again but he obviously still couldn't resist the odd little dig. Leo was more than a little intrigued as to what was going on but he tried to keep it light. He tapped on the door. Michelangelo appeared and then quickly closed it behind him,

"Just what have to got hidden behind that door that you look so pleased about?" Not waiting for a response he reached down for the door handle.

Michelangelo quickly slid himself between the larger turtle and his bedroom door using his body to push Leonardo away: "Nothing that you need to worry about brother"

"And that's why I'm worried" Leonardo stepped to one side and Michelangelo mirrored his action "Is it that invention you were banging on about? Is that what you're up to?"

"Look. You aren't worried about Donnie having Kraang tech downhere so why would you be worried what goes on in my room? It's my private space for being awesome."

"You forget that I know you Mikey" Leonardo bluffed one way then chose another which enabled him to get past and get a grip on the rim of the door "And as Team Leader I have to act on any suspicious activities to keep you all safe"

"That's baloney and you know it! Hey!" Turning the handle Leonardo burst his way in only to find the smallest turtle's bedroom to be tidy. Now that was a shock in itself. He hesitated and observed the space slowly "See? All present and correct. Nothing to see... here.." Michelangelo gave him a very smug look.

"I'll be keeping my eye on you" warned Leonardo, in the sternest voice he could muster.

"Just the one?" answered Michelangelo, grinning. The wave of relief which swept over him after the eldest moved away was potent, so much so that he had to hold the door frame for a moment before slipping inside and going straight over to his bed. Underneath said bed was where the prize was - the prize which would lead to endless adoration from a certain reporter and would show his brothers that he wasn't a dim whit who knew nothing about science. It hadn't been difficult to 'borrow' the teleportation device from Donatello's lab whilst he was out of the lair; his brainy brother hadn't even bothered to lock it away so in that respect he was asking for it to be meddled with. All Don had done was put a cover over the machine and leave it in the corner of the room. So Michelangelo simply found something of similar size and shape and swapped them. There would be no way Donnie would notice for ages which would give the youngest more than enough time to run his experiment.

He placed the teleport on his bed and attached his phone to the device the way he had before. His way of using it was way better than Donnie could ever imagine. The youngest had worked out that by dialing the co-ordinates via his phone the device gave him a window to be able to see wherever he wanted. It was an idea he had seen in one of his comic books but he was being a proper scientist by trying it - he doubted Donnie would even think of it because he'd be too busy trying to over complicate the entire thing by wanting to use the teleport to transport stuff. When April got here he could show her that using the teleport this way would allow her to see straight into TCRI so she could get some really great evidence.

Michelangelo knew he was on a roll: "Oh I am just way too smart! Take that Donnie" He did a little dance by the bed and finished it with role play "What was that April? You're leaving Jones for me? Shocker!"

The pulse that shot out from the device was not something he was expecting. The loud hum it emitted suddenly had the youngest in a panic. He lifted up his duvet cover and tried to hide it whilst ordering it to shush, a finger pressed hard against his lips. The next few events seemed to happen in slow motion, first the door opened, second Leonardo and Donatello appeared and it was at that point which Mikey realised it was all over but before they could say anything a pulse of energy knocked all of the brothers backwards.

"MIKEY! TURN IT OFF!" Under the loud buzzing, Donatello's voice sounded more high pitched than usual.

"It was! It IS!" He'd only touched it that one time after sneaking into the lab...just to see if it worked. Sharing it with April was going to be the second time he'd used it.

"MIKEY!"

"WHAT THE..." Raphael surveyed the scene and put two and two together "You Goddamn idiot Mikey!" He grabbed the teleport from the bed and with one brisk move slammed it into the floor: upon impact it split apart and shattered across the stonework.

Michelangelo slowly sat up. His head hurt.

From the distance they all heard: "My sons, what was that?"

Splinter.

Donatello crawled forwards on hands and knees and looked at the remainants of the teleport in despair as Raphael held out a hand and pulled Leonardo to his feet.

"You have got some serious explaining to do!" They were both sending out death stares.

"What's going on?" April suddenly appeared in the door way "Did you guys feel that wierd energy pulse?"

Eric Sacks sat in his large leather chair and looked out of the window across Manhattan. At the sound of a familiar voice he spun his chair round to look at the television - channel six were advertising their 'star' reporter. Apparently April O'Neil had the highest ratings again this week. He found himself switching the set to it's mute function.

He knew that April O'Neil was trying to get herself inside TCRI.

She cost him enough last time and knowing her she was still involved with those turtles whose presence across the City led to reports of super heroes or such like.

He'd long since abandonned the chase for them because now he had access to something much better and he would be creating something much better, stronger, faster, darker.

Besides, with a traditional mutant you always had an unknown quantity. He'd been to the prison where criminals Bebop and Rocksteady were being held and realised within two seconds of contact that they were ridiculously stupid.

Mutagen was such old news.

After her boss left her that morning Leeanne didn't really know what to do so she just stood there and watched everyone else getting on with things. There had to be at least one hundred bodies in this room and they all looked like they knew exactly what they were here for. She looked at the refridgeration unit before cautiously heading over there. Inside there was only one item - a sealed tube of black liquid. She stared at it.

"Leeanne" The voice from no-where made her jump. She shut the fridge door and attempted to find the source of said voice "Don't alarm yourself - I was merely checking that you had settled into our little facility down there" Now she recognised the voice: Eric Sacks. Why on earth would he be contacting her directly - surely he had people that did that for him?

"Mr Sacks...what a surprise...I'm just finding my feet as it were" She knew she was stumbling over her words but a man of that calibre was more than a little intimidating. Plus she didn't exactly know where the voice was coming from since there were no obvious places on the counter in front of her.

"I'm not checking up on you so please don't worry yourself" At those words Leeanne found herself staring directly at a camera in the corner of the room before clocking a further two behind her. It certainly looked like somebody was watching "Do you have everything you need?"

She was about to say she didn't really know what she needed but then stopped herself, realising that it was not something you said to TCRI's top investor.

"Yes thank you"

"Good. That's what I like to hear"

Leeanne wanted to say 'help' - or perhaps even 'I've changed my mind'.

"I'll leave you to it but please ensure you follow all safety procedures when handling that particular material"

And there it was: the thing which made her nervous.

"The usual safety procedures or are there different ones?" Silence "Mr Sacks?..."

She tried to remember if there was a safety section on the agreement she'd signed but she didn't think so.

A laminated piece of paper appeared in front of her "It's nothing new really - but least you can say you've read it" A tall skinny man was standing in front of her - she recognised him from earlier "Sorry; couldn't help but overhear.." He took a quick breath, almost jumped forward and held out a hand "I'm Ben by the way" She looked at the hand but didn't shake it "We err didn't get introduced - damn place is so big you never really get to know anyone anyway" He lowered his hand and immediatedly looked awkward "We both started in this at the same time..though I've been here two years over in the biogen department; you err been here long?"

Oh Lord help me. Leeanne did not want to be having this conversation now, not ever. Chit chat wasn't her thing. She shifted her body and turned towards the fridge: "I have to get on..." His dissapointment was tangible "Thanks though. For the safety card"

He shrugged and scurried away. She was sure he would be unlikely to try the whole conversation thing again, and for that she was grateful.