It's been a couple days now. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact my Charmander took on a Pokemon three times his size. I was so proud of my little nugget.

The boys were getting ready to go out on their evening patrol, and I was gonna do my own thing, bond with Charmander, and right before I got to the turnstiles, Splinter stops them. Not me, but them. "Where are you going?" He asks them. "Heading out for our evening patrol." Leonardo answers. I'm getting a bad feeling about this.

"There will be no patrol," Splinter replies. Did I miss something? The strange thing is, he didn't notice me leaving. "Last time you fought the Shredder, you barely escaped with your lives." Splinter explains. Oh, I see. He's worried he might lose them. I know how he feels. Big time.

"Next time, we'll be ready," Raphael replies, walking up to Splinter. "Yes, because you will stay down here until you are ready," Splinter said. My eyes widen. What? "No patrol, no games, no rest. There is only training, starting now!" Splinter pushes Raphael to the boys.

Oh, come on! That's being a little too hard on them.

...

Okay, you wanna hear unfair? Splinter let me go up to the surface, but he's keeping the turtles cooped up in the lair! How's that for hypocritical? It's probably because he's aware that I'm immortal. And I have a bit of business to attend to. Business with, hopefully, my soon to be Charmeleon.

But my thoughts were interrupted.

An enormous, tan-colored mutant dog with one muscular arm bigger than the other was stomping straight toward me. "Whoa. Today's not your day, is it?" I asked Bradford. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

Charmander made a huffing sound that sounded like a grunt was mixed in. "Rude." I mutter. "Where are your turtle buddies?" Bradford asked. "And why should I tell you? Unless you just wanted an excuse to scare me the way you did."

"Tell me where they are is or else." He said, grabbing me by the neck. "Or else what? This?" I bit Bradford's hand. Yelling out in pain, Bradford throws me against the wall. I wince.

With a roar, Charmander jumped up from the rooftop and used the small flame on his tail to set Bradford's tail on fire. Smelling the smoke, he puts the fire out. "I knew you'd come here to save your tiger." Bradford said. Sheesh. He sounds different, too.

"Where are your little turtle buddies?" He asks me. My brain shuts down for a split second before I come up with a response. "It's just me right now, so back off." I hiss. I jump up and slam my balled up hands down on his nose. Bradford hold his nose in pain.

"Now get outta here before that punch turns into a scratch mark." I growl, showing my claws. "Fine. You're not worth the trouble." Bradford leaves without another word. Charmander helped me up. "Thank you." I said gratefully.

The next time I see Bradford, I'll give him a beating like he's never gotten one in his life! I'll... I'll...!

I wasn't watching my step. I fell off of the rooftop and landed on my stomach. Oh, everything hurt. Donatello helps me up. "You okay?" He asks me. "Yeah, I'm good." I said. Charmander chirps, saying hi to the boys.

"Okay, listen, keep your eyes peeled. I just had a run in with—" Stomps strong enough to shake the ground cut me off. I turn to see an eight foot tall humanoid Akita with jagged spikes. Bradford.

"Look what I found, four soon-to-be-ex turtles, the lizard, and the tabby cat," He replies. I groan. "How many times am I gonna run into you?" I asked, annoyed.

I think the boys are a little in over their heads. Charmander just avoided him like he was about to kill him at any given moment. He was terrified of Bradford. "I'm so glad it's okay to be scared." Michelangelo said in a shaky voice. "You and me both." Donatello said in the same tone. I hiss at the large dog mutant. "I'm not scared of you."

"You will be." Bradford starts walking towards us. It's like he's getting bigger with every step. But he can't scare me even if he tried. An idea hits me. I sneak behind Bradford and wait. Leonardo dashes forward to attack Bradford, but he dodges his attacks and throws him away. Luckily, he lands on his feet. "This is hopeless." Donatello said. "Keep your head in the game." Leonardo tells him.

Bradford slams his larger fist into the ground. The boys avoid the attack. "I just wanna keep my head on my body." Donatello said. "Nice comeback." I whispered, hiding behind Bradford. I jump up and cover Bradford's eyes. He moves his hand around, trying to find a place to grab me.

He finally grabs me from his head and slams me into the nearest wall. Yeah, that hurt. "What're we retreating for?" Raphael asks. He charges to attack Bradford, who throws him into the nearest dumpster. "That's a good reason."

After many cowardly seconds of trying to use a smoke bomb, they vanished in a smoke gray and purple cloud of smoke. Swerving, I kick him in the stomach, sending him on his back. "Now, you listen, and you listen good. Stay away from the turtles. Stay away from my girlfriend. Or I'll tear you limb from limb. Got it?" Bradford tries to be a wiseacre and kick me in the crotch. He barely misses. "I'm not taking orders from you." He said. Just before he leaves, I said to him, "This isn't over!"

The boys and I returned to the Lair, but we were ashamed of how the battle went. Bradford was too strong for them to handle. Splinter entered the lounge and looked at us. "We couldn't take him." Leonardo answered. "Dogpound was just too powerful." Michelangelo said, giving Bradford a new nickname. It was better than 'Rad-Brad'. "'Dogpound'?" Leonardo asked. "What? 'Cause he's a dog, and he pounded us into the-" Michelangelo asked, then explained, but I cut him off. "I got you." I told him.

"I don't see how we're gonna get close to that meeting now." Leonardo said with a sulk. "What do we do now?" I asked in wonder. "Well, maybe we just need to find a new place to hide." Donatello replied, showing up a postcard of Miami, "I hear the sewers in Florida are nice this time of year." April closed his laptop, "No. I'm not letting you guys give up." She stood up and looked at us, "I'll spy on the meeting."

"No way!" Raphael shouted. "Nuh-uh." Mikey protested. "You can't." Donatello argued. "Forget it." Leonardo disagreed. "Absolutely not!" Splinter sternly told April. "I can do this." April defended, she looked at Splinter, "You've been training me to be a Kunoichi."

"For a few weeks." He pointed out. "What choice do we have? Shredder's gonna attack your home, and we need to find out how, and I'm the only one who can do it." April summarized then pointed out. The boys and I looked at each other. I have to admit it, she is the only one of us that's still human.

Next thing I knew, I hear a loud buzzing noise on the streets. The weirdest looking go cart speeds down the road. Hold on, that's not a go cart, I think it's the patrol buggy Donatello was working on. I highly doubt it was ready yet. Right before I notice what they were chasing. Some sort of... It looked like a gas truck. "Chlorosulfonic acid? What's with that?" I asked, having a hard time pronouncing the one word. "It reacts terribly with water. Wait a second! It could incinerate the entire sewer system, including the lair!" I said loud enough for the boys to hear.

I jump off when I see Bradford, headbutting him in the stomach. He slams his fist down on the ground, but I jump and kick his nose. Bradford back away in pain, holding his nose. He turns to attack Leonardo and Michelangelo. With my best aim, I summon a large, black ball with cracks of lava. I throw it at Bradford, but it misses, breaking into pieces.

Leonardo accidentally stabs the tanker truck with his katana blade. A streak of green liquid shoots out. Bradford, satisfied, walks away. Then an idea hit me.

"Michelangelo! Throw the water balloon!" I said to him. He had a hand behind his back. "Uh, what water balloon?" He said sheepishly. I give him a 'You can't fool me' look. "The one you were gonna hit me with?" Leonardo asks him. I look over his shoulder and see a yellow water balloon in his hand. Charmander points to it. "That one." I said.

"Guys, you are good." Michelangelo throws the water balloon. "Take cover!" I yelled as we hit the deck. The tanker truck explodes. Charmander and I poke our heads up. "Nice shot, Mi-" Leonardo gets hit with a water balloon. "Dr. Prankenstein for the win!" Michelangelo said. "You have two? Where do you keep them?" Leonardo asks. "I think you're better off not knowing." I said. Leonardo smirks. "You didn't get Marcel and Charmander." He said.

Why that little stinker!

Michelangelo throws two water balloons at me and Charmander, but he misses Charmander and hits me. I'm soaking wet. "Why me?" I said dramatically. Raphael and Donatello meet up with us. "Looks like we missed the fireworks," Raphael replies. "I guess you can said that." I purred.

"That patrol buggy worked like a charm, Donatello." I said, giving him a thumbs up. "Thanks, Marcel."

...

"Nothing says victory life the sweet taste of pizza," I heard Raphael say, each of them taking a slice of pizza from a box on the floor. An odd smell catches my nose. "What's that smell?" I asked, my nose in the air.

"Michelangelo, where did you get that pizza?" I ask Michelangelo. "It's the one April threw out," he answers. The boys' eyes widen in disgust and shock as they spit the pizza out. "What? We live in a sewer. Now you're clean freaks? More for me," Michelangelo devours the rest of the pizza.

Splinter walks up to us. "My children. I owe you my gratitude and an apology," he said. "An apology?" Donatello asks. "Fear clouded your minds. However, it was not the Shredder who fueled that fear, but me. You overcame that fear, and performed admirably. No training today," Splinter explains.

"Yes!

"Yeah!"

Splinter turns to walk away, then stops. "Unless Michelangelo throws that water balloon," he said before leaving. I look behind me to see that Michelangelo, indeed, had a water balloon in his hand. I smirk and crouch, ready to pounce Michelangelo. "This is payback for earlier."

Michelangelo throws the water balloon in the air. Once I get Michelangelo pinned, I catch the water balloon in my hand. "Don't do it," he begged. "Sorry. This is payback." I smash the water balloon in Michelangelo's face.

"You deserve it." Leonardo said to Michelangelo. I slowly shift my paws to the sides of his shell. A playful grin is on my face. "What are you doing?"

"Something that should have been done a long time ago."

I start scratching at the sides of his shell, and he bursts out laughing. He keeps begging for me to stop, but I'm not stopping until I'm satisfied. "Are you gonna throw another water balloon?" I ask. "N- no!" He manages to say through his giggling. I stop tickling him so he could breathe.

I like to call that tickle torture. "I do enjoy getting wet every now and then, but not twice in a day. Kay?"

"Kay." He said. I rub my nose against his. "You're despicable." He said.

"You know you love me."