AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Just a couple more details about the story-
I'm writing the story as though Danny is still learning to use his powers
Vlad and some ghosts will make an appearance but later on in the series
ENJOY THIS NEW CHAPTER AND THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS SO FAR GUYS :)
It was raining heavily in New York City, water was going down the road and right into the sewer. Inside everything seemed very quiet until suddenly another one of those robot things that destroyed the Turtle's and Danny's old home came stomping through the brick wall roaring.
DONNIE- it may not look like much but this tin toy can chomp his way through steel and concrete like Michelangelo through a pizza.
Leo, Donnie, Raph, Mikey and Danny were chasing after the rampaging robot through the sewers.
A bunch of these mouser robots saw fit to trash our old lair and nearly turned our sensei into robo-chow.
They lost sight of the robot as they came through some pipes. They all suddenly heard the sound of a woman screaming not far from them. Donnie pointed at a tunnel where the scream was coming from and they allstarted heading for that direction.
They ran to find a woman with red hair wearing a purple shirt that showed her midriff and brown cargo pants up against a closed off section of a sewer surrounded by five more of those robots.
I look at these incredible machines and the techno geek in me can't help thinking; awesome.
The Turtles and Danny all got their weapons out ready to fight and save this woman.
But the ninja in me can't help thinking payback.
The robots turn at the Turtles and Danny and start roaring as they snapped their metal jaws at them.
A BETTER MOUSETRAP
It had been a few days since Master Splinter, the Turtles and Danny all moved into their new home after those destructive robots attacked them and destroyed their old home. Splinter was sitting on the couch sewing a new practice dummy while Mikey was placing several small and large TV's in front of them.
"What's the matter Mikey?" Donnie asked from above as he was welding something. "Can't decide what to watch?"
He turned off the blowtorch and then lowered himself down to the ground. Mikey the answered, "I need more power captain. The Turtle Cave must be set for maximum entertainment potential"
He picked up the power cord and plugged it in causing it spark with electricity and half of New York's power to go out for a few seconds. Mikey clicked the remote but it was too loud and he quickly turned it off and groaned.
"Turtle Cave? That is so lame" Donnie said with a chuckle. "Plus you forgot Danny is human….well half human anyway"
"What would you call our new digs?" Mikey asked. "The Shell Turf?"
"Uh….how about the Sewer of Solitude?" Donnie suggested. Mikey then asked, "Supernatural Terrapin Station?"
"The School for Gifted Reptiles and Half-Ghosts?" Donnie then suggested.
"The Hall of Nin-justice" Mikey then suggested.
Splinter stopped sewing and then cleared his throat causing Donnie and Mikey to stop talking. They both looked at him as he stood up and said, "We will call this place home"
They both nodded in agreement and then Mikey said, "Catchy"
Splinter smiled back and then asked, "Now what is keeping Leonardo, Raphael and Daniel?"
"They just went to get the last of our stuff from the old lair" Mikey answered. Donnie walked over to his new work station where he had parts all laid out of one of the robots they took out. He picked up one of the feet and started tinkering with a screwdriver as he said with pride, "And the way the new Sewer Slider is performing they should be back any minute now"
The leg sparked and shorted out causing Donnie's eyes to widen a little.
Back at the old lair, Leo picked up the broken canister that Splinter had kept ever since they were mutated and walked back to the Sewer Slider and sighed as he tied it on with the other stuff, "Our home for fifteen years and this is all that's left"
Raph growled and then said, "When I find out who made those home wrecking robo roaches…."
He then punched the pillar causing the roof to rubble a little. Leo then said, "Raph come on. Let's not trash this place any more than it already is"
Raph nodded and then called out, "Hey Danny you ready?"
"Almost. Just getting some final stuff from our old room" Danny called back from inside the old lair.
He went under the old bed and pulled out a small box, he opened it and sighed in relief that none of the items were damaged. He picked up an old envelope which contained the letter from his mother that was left with him when he was found by Master Splinter when he was two years old.
A memory then came to his mind back when he was eight…
FLASHBACK 7 YEARS AGO
An eight year old Danny was sitting on the bed reading his mother's letter again. He suddenly gasped in fright as he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Master Splinter standing behind him and he sighed in relief.
"Sorry sensei. I was just…reading the letter again" Danny said as put away the letter back into the envelope.
"Is something troubling you my son?" Master Splinter asked as he could sense something was wrong. Danny sighed and looked down as he answered, "I just can't help but think about her. About my mother. Why did she have to leave me? Does she even think about me?"
Master Splinter sat down next to him and said, "I'm sure she does Daniel. As she wrote in her letter, she was doing it to keep you safe from whatever reason and I'm sure wherever she is, she probably is thinking about you right now"
"Do you think….think that I may ever see her again?" Danny asked. Splinter placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and said, "I know you will my son"
Danny smiled at Master Splinter who smiled back. He then said, "Now it's time for training Daniel"
Danny chuckled a little and then placed the letter back in the box under the bed and then followed Splinter to go start his training.
Danny smiled at the memory and then placed the envelope back in the box and started heading back to the others. He placed the box on top of the other stuff and tied it off so it wouldn't fall off and then jumped in the vehicle next to Raph who took the driver's seat while Leo sat on top of the end of a surfboard.
Raph and Danny buckled up and then Raph started up the slider and it began heading down into the sewer and then its wheels retracted and it started hovering in the air. Leo then said, "Now remember, Donnie said the accelerator hasn't been calibrated yet so take it nice and….slow!"
Leo yelled at the last part as Raph activated the accelerator and cruising through the sewers at top speed. Danny and Raph shouted, "YEHAWW!'
Leo held on tightly as Raph then called out, "I call this a successful field test wouldn't you Leo?"
Leo smirked and all three of them continued to enjoy the ride back to their new home.
Back at the new lair Donnie was looking down at the robots head, examining it. Master Splinter walked over and said with a bit of uneasiness, "Even though it is inactive, that thing still makes me uneasy Donatello"
"This is state of the art robotics sensei" Donatello said as he picked up the head. "Brilliant work. I've just gotta know what makes it tick"
They all heard a noise and turned to see Raph, Leo and Danny on the Sewer Slider enter the lair and Raph landed on the ground smoothly. They jumped out of the vehicle and then Leo said as he tossed Mikey a box filled with DVD's, "Hey good news Mikey. Your DVD collection survived"
Mikey caught it and said with a smile, "Awesome! Let's throw in something light on story and heavy on gory cause the video monument is ready to rock and roll"
Mikey then turned on all the TV's, all of them showing the news recording live from StockTronics. The News reporter then said, "In a press conference today at StockTronics Incorporated New York's new leading technology firm…."
"Boring" Mikey said and he was about to switch the channels when Donnie stopped him and said, "Wait I wanna see this"
They all watched the news as the camera to an African American man wearing a lab coat and glasses as the reporter continued, "Founder and CEO Dr Baxter Stockman was on hand to unveil his latest innovation"
"A wise man once said, 'build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path leading to your door'. I say let the path beating begin" Dr Baxter Stockman said to the camera. "For I, Dr Baxter Stockman, have designed the solution to the city's ever growing rat problem. Ladies and gentlemen I give you the ultimate expression of rat terminating technology, the StockTronic Mouser"
He lifted the cloth to reveal the same robot that destroyed their old home, they all gasped in shock at the sight at the revelation of who invented the destructive robots. Donatello then said as he held up the robot's head, "I can't believe that the famous Baxter Stockman would try to pass off this killer robots as a good thing"
Mikey then took the robot's head and said, "And what's with the glasses?"
He then placed his hand inside and moved it like it was a puppet and mocked Stockman, "Nerd city"
Raph growled and with his sai he stabbed it in one of the TV screens and completely broke it. He then said, "I say we head over to StockTronics and kick some serious shell"
He was about to run off when Splinter stepped in front of him and said, "Absolutely not"
He then raised his walking stick and wacked Raph right on his head. He then said, "Your last venture to the surface was a disaster"
"Uh sensei we did manage to stop some Purple Dragons from stealing some stolen money though" Danny pointed out. Splinter then said, "That maybe so but that was because Raphael got trapped in the truck in the first place. You can ill afford to be seen by more humans"
They then turned and continued to watch the news report where the camera turned to a woman with red hair wearing a lab coat and holding a cardboard box as Stockman introduced her, "My lab assistant April O'Neil will release several rats into the simulation chamber. April proceed my dear"
April walked over to the simulation chamber and released the rats that was inside the cardboard box and allowed them to run around in the chamber. Stockman then placed the mouser inside and said as he activated it, "Now watch the shear genius of my mouser in action"
The mouser ran around and then stopped as it saw a rat and with a roar chased after it. Leo, Mikey, Danny, Raph and Splinter all cringed as they watched the robot take out each and every single rat in the simulation chamber.
"Man I sure hate to be a rat in this town" Mikey said. He then realised his mistake and apologised to Splinter, "Oh sorry sensei"
Stockman then finished his interview, "And the mousers' search and retrieval functions are all ingeniously controlled by a remote mother computer"
In StockTronics April and Stockman were watching the news report on the computer. April then said, "Oh this is so great! My friends and my family will finally see that I really do work with the Baxter Stockman"
Baxter smiled in pride and said, "You flatter me Miss O'Neil. I like that"
The computer beeped and then April said in confusion as she checked out the computer of the mouser robots, "That's strange. I was running a routine diagnostic check and half the mouser prototypes aren't even transmitting. It's like they just vanished"
Baxter cleared his throat and said with slight nervousness, "It's probably nothing April. Probably just a computer glitch, I'll have a systems tech go over it in the morning"
"But what if the mousers have been tampered with? We should go over all their transmission backups" April suggested and was about to do that when Stockman placed a hand on her shoulder and pressed, "That won't be necessary April"
He then took a deep breath and walked away to his office as he said, "Now if you'll excuse me. I'm expecting an important call from a very significant financial benefactor"
That show of behaviour made April only more suspicious and although he was her boss, she was going to look further into this.
Down in the lair, the Turtles and Danny were in the middle of a training session. Master Splinter stood ready, Donnie then made the first move and jumped up in the air and slammed his staff down for a frontal attack, but Splinter blocked the strike with his walking stick and then wacked him to the other side right on his back.
"Do not lean with your shoulders Donatello" Splinter advised.
Leo saw his chance for a sneak attack and was about to strike Splinter with his katana blades, but Splinter sensed it and wacked him back with a powerful strike from his walking stick. Splinter then instructed, "Faster on your counter attack Leonardo"
Mikey then tried but Splinter tripped him over by swiping at his feet and sent him straight to the ground. He then instructed, "Mind your footwork Michelangelo"
Danny then tried attacking with his blade, Splinter blocked the strike and then Danny flipped over Splinter before he could trip him over with his walking stick and then tried firing an ecto blast from his foot by a roundhouse kick but Splinter leapt in the air and dodged the blast and then landed swiftly behind Danny and kicked him in the back sending him straight to the ground next to Mikey.
"Be a little quicker with your attacks Daniel" Splinter instructed.
Raph then and tried to strike at Splinter with his sais but Splinter flipped over with a backflip but then he managed to swipe Raph's sais out of his hands very easily because he didn't seem to be focusing on the training. Splinter then pinned him to a pillar.
"You are distracted Raphael. You must learn to focus your attacks" Splinter said as he let Raph go.
"I'd like to focus my attacks on that Stockman guy" Raph said bitterly. He then asked Splinter, "Why can't we just go topside and show him a little mean and green?"
"Because I forbid it" Splinter pressed.
Raph sighed with a groan. Splinter then walked away to his room and said, "We will resume your training in the morning"
He closed his doors to his room. Mikey then smirked and imitated Splinter, "We will resume your training in the morning"
"I heard that!" Splinter called out from his room.
"Busted!" Donnie and Danny teased causing everyone to laugh at Mikey except Raph who cracked his knuckles and said, "Man I'd like to bust a few heads"
"Chill bro we don't need no stinking surface world" Mikey said as he sat down on the couch and clicked on the TV. "We got late night movies, top ten video count down, BMX sport highlights and some really weird Korean language soap opera"
Donnie walked over to his work station and said as he put on his welding goggles and suggested, "Or you could give me a hand with these mouser parts. If I can get one working, we can trace it back to its source and find out what Stockman's really using them for"
"I'll give you a hand Don. Anyone else?" Danny said as he walked over to help Donatello.
Raph suddenly yawned and said as he headed for his room, "Nah I'm beat. I'm gonna rack"
Leo eyed him suspiciously and then asked, "Since when does Raph turn in so early?"
"He doesn't" Danny answered sharing the same suspicion as Leo as he started working on a mouser robot leg.
Meanwhile back at StockTronics Baxter Stockman was in his office speaking to his 'important client' on a video call. He then said, "The mousers will be ready when I decide they are ready. The first field test was…"
"A complete failure!" The client snapped. A shadow covered his face. "I do not tolerate failure"
"Which is why you'd make a lousy scientist" Stockman retorted back. "The test was supposed to expose any design flaws. As a result, I have already upgraded the mousers for greater durability and I assure you they will perform flawlessly for the next phase of the plan"
He was unaware that on the other side of his office door, April was listening in on their conversation. She gasped quietly as she heard the client say the last part, "They had better Dr Stockman for your sake"
Mikey snored as he was sleeping soundly on the couch while the TV's kept going. Raphael walked out of his room as quietly as he could be and leapt down to the ground and started running out the entrance to their home hoping to not be caught by Master Splinter or the others. His hopes were trashed when he saw Leo standing in his way, blocking his path.
"Midnight stroll?" Leo asked sarcastically.
"Out of my way Leo" Raph demanded.
"Master Splinter said we stay put" Leo repeated but Raph took a fighting position and challenged, "Look I'll go through you if I have to"
"I'd like to see you try hothead!" Leo retorted back as he too got into a fighting stance ready to stop Raph from getting past him.
"Careful what you wish for Splinter junior!" Raph retaliated and then tackled Leo right to the ground.
The two wrestled each other but then stopped as they saw the mouser robot Donnie and Danny were working on run right past them. Donnie then called out as he, Mikey and Danny started chasing after it, "Hey guys I got one working!"
"Come on! He's faster than he looks!" Mikey called out as the three ran past Leo and Raph.
"So are you just gonna let that mouser roam free?" Raph asked.
Leo sighed in agitation as he got off Raph and muttered, "Master Splinter is so gonna kill us"
He ran a bit and then turned back and asked Raph, "Well are you coming or what?"
He then ran off after Mikey, Donnie and Danny. Raph then said sarcastically as he got up and followed him, "If you insist"
Meanwhile back at StockTronics April was working hard on the computer. Stockman then came out of his office and said as he headed out, "Good night April dear. Try not to work too late, you know I don't like to pay overtime"
"Goodnight Dr Stockman" April said.
As soon as he left the room and the doors closed, April went inside his office and sat down at his desk. She then started typing on the computer hacking into it in hopes of finding out what exactly he was up to with the mouser robots.
She stopped typing as she found an icon symbol of a red three pronged foot. She then muttered in suspicion, "I've never seen that icon before"
She clicked on it and then suddenly the book shelves on the wall opened up to reveal a hidden elevator.
The Turtles and Danny continued to follow after the mouser bot through the pipes and where heaps of water was being drained into a whirlpool below. They walked across the pipes and then Leo cautioned, "Watch your step here guys. Don't wanna end up as Turtle or human soup"
The mouser reached a dead end at the wall but it didn't stop it as it then started climbing up the wall with its own metal feet, creating small prints into the wall. Donnie then said, "Resourceful little critter"
"So what do we do now?" Raph asked. "Not all of us can fly like Danny-boy here"
"As Master Splinter says; a ninja is always prepared" Leo answered as he pulled out some shuko spikes and placed them on his hands.
Danny changed into his ghost form and then joked, "I thought that was the boy scouts"
April walked inside the elevator and pushed the button, she then held onto the bar as the doors closed and the elevator started going down at a surprisingly fast rate.
As Danny flew up, the Turtles climbed up the wall. Mikey then groaned and said, "Next time let's leave the wall crawling to the dude in the blue and red tights"
"You read way too many comic books" Leo said.
The mouser climbed into the large pipe and continued walking as Danny landed inside on the edge, he then helped Mikey and the others in and they continued to follow after the mouser robot. Mikey then asked, "Just curious Don, what's to stop old turbo jaws from munching up another 6.2 on the Richter scale?"
"I shut down its jaw servos while Danny and I were putting it back together" Donnie answered. "They couldn't even chew through a stick of gum"
The mouser robot then stopped and roared as it started chewing through a few pipes on the walls making the other stop in their tracks. Raph then asked sarcastically, "You were saying?"
"But…I'm sure I shut it down" Donnie said and then looked down in disappointment.
Mikey patted him on the shoulder and said with a slight smirk, "Oh Don's finally lost his techno mojo. Sad really"
"It must have some kind of security override routine" Donnie guessed. "Come on"
They were about to continue when Donnie suddenly stopped at the pipes where the mouser chewed through and said, "Oh no"
"What is it Don?" Danny asked.
"If I'm not mistaking that's a serious water main hanging right over our heads" Donnie pointed out to the large pipe above their heads which was leaking water.
"So?" Raph asked not getting it. Donnie then answered as the water got faster, "So our little mouser robot just ate through the pipe's support!"
Before they could do anything, the pipe broke and Danny and the Turtles screamed as they were swept away by the huge flowing sewer water and fell right out of the pipe heading for the whirlpool below.
Donnie thought quickly and pulled out his bow staff and grabbed onto a nearby pipe with it. He then called out, "GRAB ON!"
Leo grabbed his legs, followed by Raph who grabbed onto his legs, Mikey grabbed onto Raph's legs and then Danny grabbed onto Mikey's legs saving them all from falling into the whirlpool below.
"OW! Watch where you point those shuko spikes Mikey!" Raph yelled as he felt one of the spikes in his leg.
"Guys hang on a sec!" Danny called out.
He then let go of Mikey's legs and then flew up and grabbed Donnie by his arms and called out, "EVERYONE HANG ON TIGHT!"
Danny groaned as he lifted all four of them through some water and back through the pipe and placed them back down onto the walkway part of the sewer pipe. Danny panted, "Are you guys okay?"
Raph spat out some water and muttered sarcastically, "Peachy"
April continued to hang on as the elevator continued to go down for what seemed like ten minutes and then finally it stopped. The doors opened and she walked down the small hallway and looked through the window to see machines making dozens more of the mouser robots. It was a whole army of them down below.
"I don't care how bad the city's rodent problem is. This is serious overkill" April said in shock and then continued to walk down the hallway, unaware she tripped a silent alarm that was on the wall.
"When I get my hands on that metal menace, I'm gonna grind him into bot burgers" Raph said as he took of his shuko spikes.
"Easy Raph" Donnie said as he and the others took off their shuko spikes. "We still gotta keep it one piece"
"What makes you even think we'll find the little blender bot?" Mikey asked.
Leo smirked and then pointed to the large hole in the wall and said, "I think he left us a few clues"
April was hacking into computer as she said, "Rat problem my eye! What are you really up to Stockman?"
"Now, now Miss O'Neil. That would be telling" A voice said behind her. She gasped as she turned and saw Baxter Stockman walking towards her with a grin on his face.
"Sufficed to say my army of mousers will make me a very rich and powerful man" He then added.
"But aren't you already a rich and powerful man?" April asked unaware that the window behind her was opening. Stockman continued to grin and then said, "Ah Miss O'Neil so brilliant yet so naïve. I will truly miss working with you"
"What?! You mean I'm fired?!" April asked in shock.
"In a manner of speaking" Stockman answered as he pressed a button on a remote that he was hiding behind his back.
Before April could do anything, she was grabbed by a claw and dropped down in the middle of some mouser robots. Stockman then said as he started typing on the control panel, "I'm afraid I can't let you live Miss O'Neil. You've seen far too much already and let's just say I have trust issues"
The mouser robots suddenly activated and roared as they got ready to attack April as she removed her now ripped up lab coat.
The Turtles and Danny came out of the hole and found themselves now in the subway. Donnie then called out as he pointed in front of them, "There!"
They all turned and saw the mouser robot getting away. They all began to chase after it but then Leo pulled Danny and Raph back by their shoulders as he shouted, "Look out!"
He pulled them out of the way in time just as a subway train came speeding past them.
"Thanks for the save Leo" Danny said and then they looked to see that the mouser was gone. Mikey then said, "Woah! Robo Houdini"
Leo then saw the mouser on the back of the train and said as pointed at it, "Wrong! Robo hitchhiker"
"We'll never catch him now" Mikey said.
"Never say never Mikey" Danny said as he floated in the air. "You guys get on the next train and I'll fly ahead and catch up with the bot"
Danny then flew ahead while the others followed Raph's lead and jumped on the next train holding on tightly. The robot jumped off the train and Danny landed right where the robot had chomped his way through a wall. The Turtles jumped off the train and landed next to Danny and then they all headed through the hole after the mouser.
April thought quickly and grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and then threatened the robots, "Keep back! I know how to use this!"
The mouser roared and then she sprayed the smoky substance from the extinguisher all over the mousers, but it had no affect and one of them roared as he it came right at her to attack. She slammed the fire extinguisher right on it and destroyed it.
More of them then ran up to attack her, she slammed the can again but the mouser grabbed it within its jaws and then destroyed it causing smoke everywhere. April screamed as she used the smoke to run and around them and try to escape.
"You can run Miss O'Neil but you cannot hide from my mousers" Stockman said through the mic.
April pulled the lever which opened a wall leading to the sewers and she started running hoping to not get away from the mouser robots that were on the hunt for her.
She kept running and then stopped in the middle of four tunnel entrances. She then panicked, "Which way out?! Which way out?!"
She then just ran like mad down one of them hoping it would lead her to safety. The mouse robots chasing after her however knew which way she had gone and continued to hunt her down.
The Turtles and Danny continued to follow after the mouser, they all then stopped at the sight of another mouser robot. Mikey then said, "Woah! Who invited him?"
The mouser saw them and roared. Raph then said, "I got this"
Raph then threw a shuriken star and sliced it right through its head and it fell to the ground. Raph and Mikey then high fived each other in victory but it was short lived when the mouser got back up again and roared at them.
"This is not good guys" Leo said.
More than started coming and then Donnie said, "Neither is that! These chrome domes are a lot tougher than the last batch"
They all pulled out their weapons as they were surrounded by them as Raph added, "Yeah and there's a lot more of them too"
With a battle cry they all charged and started taking them out, destroying them with strikes of their weapons and Danny blasting some of them with ecto blasts. Raph stomped on them as he took them out with his Sais and Mikey started destroying their heads with his nun chucks.
"These mousers are incredible!" Donnie called out as he continued to take them out with his staff. "The servo-mechanics! The circuitry! The articulation!"
"Geeze Donnie why don't you just marry one already?" Raph said sarcastically as he stabbed another mouser in its head and then tossed it away into a wall.
Leo then called out as he sliced the robots heads off, "Guys! The only way to take these things out is to slice their heads off!"
"Well isn't that good news? For the turtle and the half ghost with the blades" Mikey said sarcastically.
"Just throw them over here and we'll slice them and dice them!" Danny called out.
Raph and Mikey then began whacking them over to Leo and Danny and as promised they started slicing their heads off with their swords.
The five of them continued to slice, dice, blast, wack and destroy the mousers until finally there were none left. Donnie then said, "Great job guys. Just make sure we leave one…."
But Raph ignored and destroyed the last one standing with his sais. Donnie then finished with a frown, "Intact"
"So much for tracing them back to the source" Leo said sarcastically as he put his swords away.
April panted heavily as she continued to run through the sewers like mad to get away from the robots. She then stopped dead in her tracks as a couple of mousers blocked her path, she then turned around and ran back only to stop and find herself surrounded by more mousers. She then ran down another tunnel and tripped over, she turned and started backing up until her back hit the wooden boards closing off another section of the sewer.
She screamed in fright as she realised she was now trapped with nowhere to go, she closed her eyes as the mousers pounced but no attack came as they were suddenly taken out by weapons and blasts. April opened her eyes to see the mousers were destroyed and her saviours were five shadow figures standing in front of her.
They started walking towards her and she started saying, "Oh! Thank you! Thank you so much! You saved my…"
She then stopped as the light revealed the Turtles and Danny floating in the air. Her eyes widened in shock but Mikey smiled and said, "How you doing?"
Her eyes rolled back and with one last groan she fainted. Mikey picked her up bridal style and asked as he turned around, "Hey so can I keep her?"
TO BE CONTINUED