Hello lovely readers! Here's another chapter for you to enjoy ;)
As soon as my brothers and I returned home, we were greeted by a very angry Master Splinter. He was even angrier at the fact that we brought a human into our home. Minus me of course, I had always been there.
"What were you thinking?" he asked in a deadly calm voice.
"Uh oh. Master Splinter has that look" Donnie said nervously.
"Gee, how could ya tell?" Raph asked sarcastically.
"Silence. We will discuss your punishment later. For now, put the young lady on the sofa. We can speak with her when she awakens".
"Aw man! Come on Sensei! We saved her life!" Mikey said as he gently put her down on the sofa.
"Mikey, you didn't have to let her see you. I could've easily erased her memory of us and she would be fine" I answered with a glare of my own. If my brothers were going to get punished for disobeying our father, then I was going to be in the same boat, regardless of whose fault it was. And I wasn't the type to get into trouble with my father in the first place.
A few hours passed with my brothers' still standing over the young woman, as if their watching would wake her up all of a sudden. Slowly but surely, she began to stir and talk to herself as if we weren't there.
"Ah man, what a dream. Turtles fighting robots...did I fall asleep watching TV again? That was the weirdest. thing. I've. ever. seen."
As soon as those words were out of her mouth, Mikey said, "Hi!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed, prompting Mikey to do the same, "AHHHHHHHHHH! Please don't do that, I almost jumped outa my shell!"
Ignoring Mikey's outburst, the young woman started trying to rationalize with herself, putting the pillow over her head.
"It has...three...fingers! I'm asleep! I'm asleep! I'm asleep! I'm asleep!"
"This isn't going very well" Donnie stated very obviously.
"What gave it away?" I asked rolling my eyes.
Mikey interjected with a statement of his own, "Hey, c'mon! We don't have much practice talking to humans. It's gonna take a little time!"
"Idiot. Do you think Gwen isn't a human?" Raph asked as he smacked Mikey on the back of his head.
"Ow! We're used to her though!" Mikey protested.
"Will you guys cut it out?"
'Sorry G" Mikey apologized.
"I'm asleep! I'm asleep! I'm so asleep" she continued.
Mikey yawned, "Man she's making me sleepy".
Raph walked over to her and started questioning her right away.
"Hey you, what do you know about those Mouser robot things?"
I face palmed at this, instead of calming her down, my hotheaded brother already started interrogating her.
She answered hesitantly, "First I thought they were for cleaning up the city's rat problem, but then I got suspicious after Stockman said… Oh no! I'm talking to it!"
"What?" Leo asked.
"Seriously. Why don't you guys move aside so I can talk to her? Your constant questioning is making her more nervous".
"To you! Okay April, you are talking to a giant three-fingered turtle. The only logical explanation is that you're dreaming. So everything is okay. Hello" she said to Leo.
"Hello April, how are you doing?" Leo asked her, hoping she wouldn't freak out again.
"Oh fine, fine. Everything is absolutely great" she answered with nervous laughter.
"But wait, who are you?" April asked pointed to me.
"My name is Gwen".
"You're not a turtle".
"No, I'm not".
"Why would a human appear in my dream with giant turtles?"
I shrugged my shoulders, if she wanted to keep on acting like this to rationalize her mind, then who was I to correct her? That was when Master Splinter made his presence known and that was when April's eyes widened.
"The perhaps you are ready to answer some questions "my father stated.
"You, you're a…." April said before she promptly passed out again.
"You sure have a way with the ladies Master Splinter" Donnie said as Leo clutched his head in disappointment.
"You know, maybe questioning her when she was trying to rationalize you guys and Master Splinter wasn't the best idea. We should calm her down when she wakes up again".
"Perhaps you are right my daughter" Master Splinter said.
"Now what do we do?" Leo aksed.
"Let's nudge her" Donnie suggested.
"I'll snap her out of it" Raph threatened.
"Guys! Stop! Leo, make her some tea. It'll calm her frazzled nerves down. And Raph, go get a blanket, it'll help her recover from the shock and make her feel secure. Maybe then she'll feel comfortable enough around us".
"Alright G, if ya say so" Raph said as he went to find some blankets.
Mikey turned and grabbed his music player so that he could listen to some tunes while we waited for April to wake up again.
'Somebody get me when she wakes up" Mikey requested as he sat down and put his headphones on.
Meanwhile on the surface, it was a sunny day like any other. The bank was bustling as usual, that is until the peace was interrupted by a sudden earthquake-like shaking. "What is that?!" a woman screamed as people began running out of the bank in a sudden panic. In the vault room, several Mousers were seen digging through the floor and coming up the entrance they had made. They tore up the security cameras, so that they obviously wouldn't be seen and linked back to Dr. Stockman. Several deposit boxes were crushed open by their powerful jaws, their contents quickly devoured by the devious robots who would in turn bring the loot to their mad master. By the time the police arrived, it was far too late. And all that was left of the caper was a large hole through which the Mousers had come through in the first place.
"Hey! Hey, Earth to Mikey!"
"Ow! What is it Raph?"
"She woke up. G had Leo make her some tea and she's ready to consider that we might be real".
"Awesomely radical, dude!"
"You keep talkin' like that, she's gonna pass out again."
"Hey!"
"Will you two come over here already?"
"Sorry G, we're comin".
My brothers, my father, and I all sat around April while she sipped the hot tea Leo made. She seemed a tad bit calmer than she had initially been, and was ready to talk to us.
"Sooo, you okay now?" Mikey asked her carefully.
"Yes, thanks. I've decided this is either a very long dream that I keep not waking up from, or it's the weirdest thing that ever happened to me" April answered with a small smile.
"Young woman, we have something most important to discuss" Master Splinter interrupted sternly.
"What is it?" she asked.
"We have never revealed ourselves to the upper world. You have placed us all in great danger" my father said to her, worry quite evident in his voice.
"But Master Splinter, she was in trouble. We helped her" Leo interjected, as if Splinter was the one scolding him.
"Yeah. Aren't you always teachin us to do the right thing?" Raphael also added.
My father looked at them, half angry, half stern, "As you grow older, you will learn there are many ways to do the right thing".
His look of anger faded to one of worry, I comfortingly put my hand on his shoulder and he graced me with a small smile before saying, "But there is no going back. I'm afraid we find ourselves at your mercy" he finished, giving April a look of sadness.
"Oh! I would never tell anybody. I mean, who would believe me?" she quickly answered, feeling guilty for intruding on their family.
"She's got a point" Donnie said.
"Yeah! We're un-be-liv-able" Mikey said, posing as though he was a superhero in an anime.
"Geez! Where's ya off switch?" Raph asked in annoyance.
"He doesn't have one Raph. I think we all know that by now" I joked.
"Hey!"
April interrupted with her own statement, "Seriously, I promise".
Master Splinter stood up and looked into her eyes before answering, "I believe you".
Leo, always overthinking every of our father's actions asked him, "Is this another lesson, Master Splinter? How to sense the truth?"
I face palmed while Splinter answered Leo with the utmost serious expression, "No. This is called trusting your gut".
I giggled at the bewildered expression on my oldest brother's face, while April had questions of her own.
"So if I'm keeping your secret, what exactly is it? Who are you people? Uh turtles? Whatever?" she asked our father.
He began telling April the tale of my brothers first, "I have memories. Memories of when I used to be what you might call, normal. I remember, a day that started like any other. But ended changing the course of many lives. I witnessed an accident, a young boy carried a glass jar with four pet infant turtles. An old blind man was crossing the street when he was almost run down by a large truck. As the truck swerved, a metal canister bounced out of the back. It smashed open, releasing a glowing ooze all over the turtle's bodies. I took pity, and gathered them up in an old coffee can. I took them to my burrow. The next morning, I awoke to find the four had doubled in size. The ooze had affected their growth. It changed me also, making me larger, and more intelligent. They followed me everywhere, except aboveground. I knew the people of the surface would not understand. We were so different. I was amazed by their dexterity, but even so, I was not prepared for what happened one day. They actually spoke my name. Soon, they all were speaking. Intelligence followed soon after, realizing that sometimes the world above is a dangerous place, I began teaching them Ninjitsu. The secret arts of stealth and power, and all that I knew in this world. From a battered book on Renaissance art that I fished out of the storm drain, I chose names for each of them. Leonardo. Donatello. Raphael. Michelangelo. Together they are..."
My brothers interrupted the story, "Turtles Forever!" they shouted all at once.
"Or something like that, that we all yell at once" Mikey explained to April.
"First rule, ignore Mikey. Your life will be much easier" Raph said sitting next to April.
"Okay, that explains you guys, but what about you?" April asked turning to me.
"I actually don't know. Master Splinter is the one who found me" I answered.
"I was out searching for food, when I heard a faint cry. Someone had abandoned a baby wrapped in a pink blanket in the alleyway where I was. When I picked her up, she immediately stopped crying. I decided to call her Gwendolyn. As she grew with my sons, I discovered that she was just as unique as her brothers".
"What do you mean by that?" April asked curiously
"I think this is where I come in. As long as I can remember, I can use magic to pretty much do anything, from cleaning to controlling different elements" I answered.
"Yes, you are quite powerful my daughter. I fear there are those on the surface who would seek to use her if they found out. So we have remained in secret, and that is our story" Splintered finished.
"How did you know martial arts?" April asked, once again curious.
"That, is a story for another time" Splinter answered.
"Hey guys! Look at this!" Mikey said pointing to his many television screens.
On the screen, a crime scene at the bank could be seen. The reporter talked about a bank robbery in broad daylight. A giant gaping hole in the vault room was shown.
"Sooo, anybody wanna take a wild guess what did this?" Mikey said as if it wasn't obvious.
"Gee Mikey, I don't think we can" Raph said sarcastically.
"This must be what I heard Dr. Stockman talking about" April said in shock as she stared at the chaos on the screen.
"He's got the Mousers robbing banks!" April said in anger.
"As if being attacked by them wasn't bad enough" I said shaking my head.
"Whaddaya know about this Stockman guy?" Raph asked her.
April sighed, "He's a genius. He's also nuts. I used to work for him. But when I got suspicious, he turned the Mousers on me. Luckily, I ran into you guys".
"He destroyed out old lair" Leo said eerily calm.
"Must've been one of his Mouser 'test' runs" April told us apologetically.
"But… that was our home" Mikey said sadly.
"Home is where your family is Mikey. We've still got each other" I said putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Now he's graduating to banks!" Donnie said in anger.
"Then, what we waitin for?! I say we shut down Mouser central, for good!" Raph said, swinging his Sai.
Mikey chuckled, "I just love those action movie lines. Did you write those yourself?"
"It won't be easy. Stocktronics is rigged with the latest up-to-the-minute security tech" April said thoughtfully.
"Pfft, bring it on! Allow me to introduce our very own secret weapon. The techno-turtle himself, Donatello! Take a bow, Don!" Mikey said with a flourish.
Donnie was beyond embarrassed, "Ah, cut it out!"
"Can we go please?" Raph asked in a mix of excitement and anger.
Back at Stocktronics Laboratories, the Mousers had returned with all of the stolen money and valuables, dumping them on the ground.
"Excellent! EXCELLENT! The world as they say is my oyster, and aren't the pearls lovely?"
Stockman's gloating was interrupted by a ringing, "What?!" he asked the called in irritation.
"Doctor Stockman" said a male voice as eerie as the night.
"Make it quick! I'm very busy". He said irritably.
"I am contacting you to verify that you are fulfilling the end of our bargain. And that you are on schedule".
"I will not stand for anymore of this idiotic interrogation! I've advanced the Mousers to the next stage and they are securing the funds from the banks as you requested. Can you grasp that simple concept?!"
"Do not presume too much Doctor Stockman! The price for failure will be quite, extreme" threatened the voice as Dr. Stockman hung up the call.
"Imbecile!" he said to himself aloud.
As soon as the sun dropped below the horizon, my brothers and I, along with April, followed her to the part of the sewers where the Mousers would come and go from. Abruptly, April stopped, pointing to some kind of alarm or perhaps it was a motion sensor. In either case, we had to be very quiet. As April and Donnie took it apart, Mike asked with a whisper, "Alarms in the sewers? Is this guy paranoid or what?"
"Will you shut it?" Raph asked angrily.
"Just saying" Mikey said shrugging his shoulders.
"Will you guys cut it out?" I asked in exasperation.
Exasperated, Donnie asked, "Could April and I have some quiet? This is some delicate work".
"Ooh, April and I. This is delicate work. Gimme a break" Mikey said mockingly.
"Mikey, for the last time, be quiet" I said pleadingly.
As soon as April and Donnie were done, we made our way into the ventilation shafts. We waited until the two guards patrolling the laboratory were gone and then we made our way inside, blending in with the shadows.
"Is this the place?" Raph asked April.
"There's a computer terminal in that lab. Get me in, and I can create blank spots in the security system to get you through to Dr. Stockman's main lab" April said pointing straight ahead.
"Don't look now, we already got a blank spot right here" Raph said smirking as he pointed to Mikey.
"Hey!" Mikey whisper-yelled.
"I honestly don't know why you pick now of all times to insult Mikey" I said rolling my eyes at my brothers.
Raph chose to ignore me as he jumped out of the vent and helped April get down so she could get to the computer. Testing the door to see if it was locked, which it was, he used one of his Sais to pick the lock, and got himself and April inside. The rest of us followed suite, remaining as deathly silent as possible.
"Okay I'm in. I'm blanking the cameras along that corridor at ten second intervals, so you've got to keep moving" April told us.
"We'll be right back" Leo promised as we left without another word.
"Good luck" she said turning around but the turtles and Gwen were gone.
"Hey, these guys are good" April said aloud to herself in shock.
My brothers and I ran down the hall so as to avoid being seen on camera. We stopped when we came to Stockman's main lab, the doors opened, and inside was dark and eerily silent.
"This is too quiet" Leo said worriedly.
"I'm sensing something or rather someone is in there" I said.
Mikey followed that up with, "Uh guys… my turtle sense is tingling".
The doors slammed closed behind us, and we all turned around as Dr. Stockman's loud voice came through the intercom, "Intruders! Here to steal my secrets?! You'll leave here with nothing, not even your lives!"
"What on earth are you?!" he said in shock as he saw four animal-like silhouettes, one human shaped silhouette in the midst of them.
"Hmm, I suppose I'll have to dissect you" he said as lasers were pointed towards us, firing, we dodged, narrowly avoiding being hit. I threw my tessen, guided with a burst of my magic, and focused my energy towards the tessen bringing down the lasers. My years of practice with my powers paid off because my weapon cut down the all the lasers.
"Nice save G!" my brother Raph said.
"Don't thank me yet, we're nowhere near out of danger" I replied as we ran towards Dr. Stockman who began firing yet another laser towards us.
"Mikey, slingshot!" Raph said as he hoisted Mikey up, and in turn, Mikey broke into the control tower from where Stockman had been firing upon us.
In complete shock, Stockman fell over when Mikey climbed in through the broken glass, even more so shocked to see all of us.
"Your reign of terror is over, Stockman!" Leo said, pointing a katana at the man.
"You been practicin' that?" Mikey asked.
"You like it?"
"What are you?! Who is she?!" Stockman said in shock and apparent disgust while pointing at me and my brothers. We kept our weapons trained on him, in case he decided to book it.
"They're with me!" April said suddenly appearing behind Stockman.
"April?! You're alive?!" he said in even more shock.
"And kicking, I've got enough evidence to put you away for years, Dr. Stockman!"
In the midst of all this, Stockman pushed a button, Raph, seeing this, grabbed him by the front of his lab coat. "That's enough!"
"Ha! Too late! I've recalled the Mouser horde from their latest mission! They'll be here any second! They'll tear you to pieces!" he said laughing evilly.
"April?" Donnie said turning to her worriedly
"I'll have to shut the whole system down" she said as she sat down and began furiously typing on the computer.
"I'll help" Donnie said as he sat down next to her.
"You're too late. Listen" Stockman said smirking as hundreds and thousands of Mousers came marching in, like an army hungry for war.
"Uh, April, now's the time!" Leo said worriedly.
"Ugh! The system isn't responding!" she said in a panic.
The Mousers began climbing up the ladder, and we readied our weapons for the fight of our lives.
Mikey noticed Stockman running away, "He's getting away!"
"Let him go. We've got bigger problems" Raph replied as the Mousers surrounded us.
"This doesn't look good at all" I said as Mousers began pouring in from every which way. Through the glass and the elevators, they came in.
"At least we'll go out fightin" Raph said as if this would be our last fight together.
"Actually, I don't wanna go out at all!" Mikey protested.
"This is a terrible time to be making jokes" I said.
"It's not working!" April said in panicked frustration.
"Keep trying!" Donnie encouraged her.
"This is it. It's been fun guys. G, I'm gonna miss ya the most".
"Hey! What about me Raph?" Mikey protested.
"Even you Mikey, though, ya ain't my favorite" he said for perhaps what was the last time.
Just before the Mousers could carry out their attack, they stopped, seemingly shut down. My brothers started celebrating and high-fiving, but judging from April's expression, it was too good to be true.
"Great work, April. I've never seen anything like it" Donnie said congratulating her.
"Guys! Guys, I wasn't able to shut them down!"
"They look pretty shut down to me" Mikey said picking one up as its headlight blinked red.
"The only way I could stop them was by initiating an overload sequence" she said as the Mousers began smoking.
Shockingly, Mikey picked up on April's words, "In other words... Let's get out of here!"
We all leapt out of the control tower, Donnie carrying April as we all ran out. Behind us, Stockman's lab catching on fire and exploding.
We all safely made it home, and gathered around the television to watch the news about Stocktronics collapsing and the sudden disappearance of Baxter Stockman.
'What will you do now Ms. O'Neil? You are most definitely out of a job" Master Splinter asked and informed her.
"I'm…not exactly sure" she answered hesitantly.
"We'll help you get back on your feet" Donnie said in a love-struck tone.
"I never imagined Donnie would have a crush" I whispered to my father.
"Yes my daughter, Donatello is most certainly in love".
"You guys…you've all been great. And by guys, I mean four giant talking turtles, a human girl, and a giant talking rat" she said with a smile.
"Here's to the new team!" Leo said raising his tea cup in a toast as we all clinked out cups together, awaiting the next time where we would have to go on another crazy adventure.