Munks Meet More Mutants
About This Story: While the Chipmunks are taking a spring break concert tour, they spend a few days in New York City, where they meet a group of their unlikely fans - the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Age-wise they are 11. I don't own any part of the Chipmunk franchise, just borrowing them from Nickelodeon, Janice Karman, & Ross Bagdasarian, their family, & their company. I also don't own any part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, just borrowing them also from Nickelodeon, as well as Mirage Studios (Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird & their entourage) who founded them.
About This Chapter: Rated PG-13, for some biological and anatomical stuff mentioned throughout, as well as animal birth and injury involving blood, as well as illness and medical treatment.
Pairings: Alvin/Brittany, Raph/Brittany, Raph/Alvin (Bromance)
12. Into The Archives
Ms Campbell responded to Bishop by plugging a type of flash-drive into the computer projector device. "Accessing video archives now."
Suddenly, a video image appeared on the presentation screen above.
Onscreen, Bishop and a team of Utrom in hazmat suits were carrying devices similar to Geiger counters as they walked through a forest. The location was listed near the bottom of the screen as a "Wilderness Study Area" in Southern California, listing some technical sector serial numbers. A clock was visible on the edge of the screen, keeping track of military time in various changing clips throughout the early morning. The date was eleven years and two weeks ago.
Many of the hazmat suit-clad crew members from various teams reported to Bishop. "Bishop, we have confirmation of Kraang damage in sector..." then he spouted out a string of numbers and Greek letters, as the video cut to the sector in question.
A team member called attention to a certain medium-sized oak tree, that was glowing on the infrared scanners. "Sir, this tree has been damaged by Kraang mutagen just last night... We've taken samples of its leaves and acorns to determine the extent of the damage the mutagen has caused this tree in just a few hours... Also checking the surrounding area to see if the Kraang mutagen has had time to affect any animals living nearby, especially those that have eaten any of its acorns... Deploying hovering microbots..."
Another crew member unscrewed the lid of something that looked like a stainless steel thermos, and a shimmering white cloud with silver specks escaped. These had some tiny cameras and scanners on them, since the video feed now showed various clips of what the microbots were detecting as they spread out over the sector.
One of the microbots detected a set of small paw prints leading away from the tree. It followed them twenty yards away to a small hole in the ground. Other microbots followed it, spreading out to explore each tunnel that branched off from the main one. One of these side tunnels led to a chamber used for food storage. There were piles of various foraged food items. They seemed to be organized into piles of acorns, and piles of berries, and piles of other foods like fungi. The microbots zeroed in on the pile of acorns. "Uh-oh, this doesn't look good. Some of these acorns are mutagen-enriched, and they have been eaten. See these bite marks? We must check the rest of the tunnels and chambers for animal life that has eaten these mutagen-enriched acorns."
More microbots explored other tunnels. Another found a waste chamber. "No mutagen detected in the excrement... Meaning it must still be in the living system. It has not been passed yet."
"Life form detected in another tunnel..." The video clip cut to the vantage point from another microbot. This one showed a large chipmunk standing in the tunnel, looking nervously ahead, while its whiskers twitched curiously. Did it see the microbots, or hear them? It was difficult to tell.
Bishop's voice was heard in the background. "Hopefully, our microbots are small and non-invasive enough that we can study wildlife of this size without its knowledge. Life should go on uninterrupted. Perhaps this creature is starting to get effects of the Kraang mutagen... A microbot has attached on the neck, near the jugular vein to take some vitals... This chipmunk is an adult male... Detecting low, but slowly increasing levels of mutagen in bloodstream... Blood pressure and pulse are elevated, along with his stress level... The microbot will stay in place and continue to monitor..."
A squeal was heard in the tunnel behind the wild chipmunk, causing him to glance over his shoulder. A few more microbots flew past him, and they found that he was blocking the entrance to a type of sleeping or nesting chamber. A second, darker chipmunk was in the nest. Its body appeared to be convulsing to the point where it knocked a small, damp lump of dark fur out from under it. The lump moved and made a tiny squeaking cry as it wiggled and slowly crawled, bumping into the adult male guarding the chamber's entrance. The adult male made a delightful chirping sound as he used his nose to nudge the lump back toward the nest.
"The chipmunk in this nest is an adult female..." Bishop stated. "Her stress level is elevated as well, but that's to be expected during parturition. This small lump of fur is a chipmunk pup, just five minutes after birth. Nothing like a tumble out of the nest to clear the airway and open up the lungs!"
Another squeal could be heard as a second lump of fur tumbled out of the nest. This one was slightly smaller, lighter, wetter, more active, and more vocal than the first. This pup wriggled around on its back for a few seconds like a turtle, before the adult male chirped again and used his nose to flip the pup to a more upright position to crawl back to the nest.
"Ah, the miracle of life..." Bishop's voice chuckled in the background. "Get microbots to take vitals on the mother and the pups."
The video lapsed nearly ten minutes until a third lump of fur tumbled out of the nest. This one was smaller than the other two, and the fur looked even lighter - but it was difficult to tell in the dark underground chamber. It also didn't move. The adult male nudged it and chirped at it, but there was no movement.
Bishop's voice stated sadly, "This pup may be a stillborn."
The adult male chipmunk nearly mirrored his sadness as his whiskers twitched and tickled the dead pup, with no response. He even had time to crawl away and return a few minutes later with some mutagen-enriched acorns he had stored - one for himself, and the other for the mother. As he delivered the mother's acorn to her, he left his own acorn up against the dead pup. The other two pups were already snuggled back in the nest, nursing eagerly.
"What's happening to the dead pup?" Another voice asked in the background. Sure enough, a tiny twitching nose appeared from under the previously still lump of fur. "It's alive!"
The adult male returned to get his acorn, but saw the curious nose moving and trying to sniff his acorn. As he picked up his acorn in his paws, a tiny paw appeared from under the lump of fur as well, reaching for the acorn. It let out a squeak that was just barely audible. The adult male chirped with delight and nudged the fur-ball back into the nest where it could nurse with its older siblings.
The background voice explained, "We have confirmation that pup number three is indeed alive. That pup was previously thought to be stillborn, possibly due to the mother ingesting some mutagen-enriched acorns. But apparently the same mutagen may have saved the pup. No mutagen has been detected in the placenta, which has been consumed already by the mother. She may in turn, pass it on to her pups via breastmilk. We will continue to monitor all five of these chipmunks - the mother, the father, and all three pups. Vital signs are good so far, the mother is resting as the pups nurse. Presently, all three of these pups are healthy males."
Alvin, Simon, and Theodore all gasped, as all eyes looked to them. Ms Campbell paused the video.
Simon chuckled. "I had a feeling that second little fur-ball was Alvin. He's always been spastic and dramatic."
Alvin smiled at his little brother. "And it figures that Theodore was awakened from his comatose state by the smell of food."
Dave added as he patted Simon's shoulder, "I almost didn't recognize Simon without his glasses. You do favor your mother, what little I saw of her face. And I think your biological father looks a little like Alvin, but with Theodore's eyes and light fur coloring. But it's kinda hard to tell with the lighting of the underground tunnels."
Alvin blinked, "For some reason, I vaguely remember being in a tree. I just assumed we were also born in one."
Raph sat in Alvin's lap. "Well, hey, you guys were born underground, but you live above ground - "
Leo finished for him, "While we were hatched above ground, yet we live underground."
Ms Campbell explained, "We can answer any remaining questions at the end. But feel free to ask us to pause the video if anyone needs anything. We realize all of this information may be overwhelming."
Irma brought some trays on a refreshment cart and set them out on a coffee table so that everyone could have access to snacks - mostly fruits and vegetables with some various dips. She also started passing around some cups, and poured drink orders for water, tea, or lemonade.
When everyone was served, Ms Campbell asked, "Are you ready for me to continue with the video?" When the others seemed ready, she hit "play" on the remote.
The second video clip took place that same day, but started in a different time zone. Apparently it was happening near the East Coast at the same time as the previous video. The location at the bottom of the screen was listed as the Pisgah National Forest, some fifty miles northeast of Asheville, North Carolina. This video had Ms Campbell leading a separate team of crew members in hazmat suits with more devices similar to Geiger counters. They found another tree that had been damaged by Kraang mutagen, also the previous night. They also deployed microbots just as the West Coast team had done. It was very similar to the beginning of the previous video clip, only Ms Campbell's voice narrated. Various crew members reported to her as they found anything of significance.
The microbots followed small animal paw prints down some underground tunnels. This one also found an underground chamber full of foraged food items, including a pile of mutagen-enriched acorns.
"Life form detected." Ms Campbell narrated as the microbots saw an adult chipmunk with darkish brown fur as it entered the food chamber, stuffing some food - including mutagen-enriched acorns - into its cheeks to take to another part of the underground tunnel. A microbot attached to its neck near the jugular vein to take vitals as it crawled around in the tunnel.
"This chipmunk is an adult male..." Ms Campbell stated. "He's going to another deeper part of his tunnel... He seems to be in a hurry..." The microbots followed him to a sleeping and nesting chamber. "Oh, there's another chipmunk." This second one appeared significantly lighter than the first.
A microbot latched to the neck of this one to get some vitals. "For lying down in the sleeping chamber, this chipmunk is in some distress... This one is an adult female... And she may be in the process of giving birth." She moved, kicking a small, dark, damp fur-ball out from underneath her. The fur-ball slightly squeaked in distress, as the mother licked afterbirth off of its face. "This one was born just three-point-five minutes ago."
The mother yelped as she heaved again. When she turned around, a second fur-ball was seen wiggling around behind her. This one was also lighter, smaller, more active, and more vocal than the first. At first, it's vocal sounds seemed uncomfortable and distressed, but as its mother continued to lick afterbirth off its face, the sounds turned into soft cooing sounds.
"Aww, motherhood in nature." Ms Campbell chuckled. "But wait... I'm not sure if the mother chipmunk is done yet... She seems to be straining again, and she hasn't yet nursed these two pups."
Another voice added, "Ma'am, the mother's vitals are dropping significantly... No wonder - she's bleeding, and that loss of blood volume is sending her into hypovolemic shock. I wonder if that has anything to do with any of the mutagen-enriched acorns."
For a while, the mother chipmunk lay still on her side. Every few seconds, there was a small tic or spasm visible on her lower belly. It was as though a live pup stuck in the birth canal was trying to kick and scream, "Let me out!"
The adult male - now assumed to be the father - nudged the mother's cheek with his nose and twitching whiskers. He emptied his cheek pockets of the stored food so that one of the mutagen-enriched acorns rolled to the mother's face. The other two pups continued to chirp hungrily. The father tried to chew up some berries and one of the mutagen-enriched acorns into paste so that he could feed the hungry pups by regurgitation, since their mother would apparently not live to nurse them. The older pup started crying out as berry pulp got in its eyes, and the younger pup still just barely licked at the berries.
Ms Campbell sighed in the background. "I'd hate to intervene in nature, especially as we are just here to observe, monitor, and contain Kraang damage. But if those pups don't get some kind of nourishment, they may not make it. We may have to dig them out of the tunnels, and get some infant formula to feed them. And if we aren't too late, we may also have to cut that last pup out of the mother. Wait... What's happening to the mother?"
As she spoke, the mother's nose started twitching, and she licked the side of the mutagen-enriched acorn that landed next to her nose. It was as though she got a second wind, pulled herself onto all fours, and heaved again. The third pup - still alive and kicking - was smaller and had lighter fur than the other two. It nearly matched the light-colored fur of its mother.
"This one's feisty!" Ms Campbell chuckled as she watched the little family of five chipmunks.
The mother consumed the placenta and settled down on her side to rest as she nursed all three of her newborn pups. The father chirped contentedly as he snuggled so that he encircled the nursing pups, along with his sleeping mate. Some microbots attached to the pups for measuring vitals as the tiny fur-balls nursed eagerly.
"Apparently we have a happy ending for this chipmunk family." Ms Campbell stated. "The mother is fine now, and resting. We aren't one-hundred-percent sure, but possibly the mutagen revived her. No mutagen was detected in the placenta, but it may still be passed in the breastmilk. We will continue to monitor this little family further to see how the pups are affected. The pups' vital signs are going strong so far. The youngest seems to have the mother's same fighting spirit. Like the saying goes, 'It takes a strong woman to raise a strong woman-or strong women'. All three of these pups are strong, healthy females."
Jeanette, Brittany, and Eleanor all gasped as Ms Campbell paused the video again.
Jeanette giggled. "That's definitely Ellie and her 'fighting spirit' and her maternal nature."
Eleanor nudged Brittany. "And Brittany the little diva singing her first song."
Brittany smiled and looked over at the boy chipmunks. "Wow, you guys almost lost Theodore, and we almost lost our mother. It really puts things into perspective. I mean, I knew Theodore would make it, since he's sitting right there today, but for a moment there, I thought Eleanor was gonna have to be cut out from our mother, and that our mother wouldn't make it."
Mikey looked nervous. "And who's still hungry after watching the birth of some wild chipmunks, especially while the moms ate the afterbirth? Not me, that's for sure! I've lost my appetite."
Donnie rolled his eyes. "Oh, Mikey, we've seen you eat much less appetizing things than that. That's not including the edible stuff that you've dropped on the floor of the sewer and still eaten."
"I'm with Mikey." Alvin sighed. "Not hungry. Only for me, I was done as soon as I saw the moms licking vagina-juice off the babies' - off our faces."
Simon rolled his eyes. "It's just the same amniotic fluid we've been swimming in for the past nine - er, during our gestation period, which is about..."
"Approximately a month?" Jeanette added. "Sorry to steal your thunder, Simon, but I looked it up one day. Not the first time I've been curious about that."
"It's cool, Jeanette." Simon shrugged. "So, considering the fact that the girls were born in Eastern time, while we were born in Pacific time, how does that affect our presumed age-order, Ms Campbell?"
Ms Campbell answered him, "When Bishop and I pooled our information together down to the minutes of your birth, and of course accounting for the time change over three different time zones, we found that Simon is the oldest, then Jeanette, Brittany, Alvin, Theodore, and Eleanor.
"Whoa... That's what we came up with after studying some samples of our skin cells and how they aged." Simon nodded over toward Jeanette. "It was kind of a neat project that Jeanette and I did together."
"Good times!" Jeanette giggled. "As usual, Simon and I learned a lot from each other."
Donnie added, "I've done similar studies observing the aging of our skin cells to confirm the relative age-order of my family. As Splinter observed us over the first few months and years of our life post-mutation - Leo's the oldest, then Raph, then me, and Mikey is the youngest."
"Did we actually have names at that point?" Eleanor asked.
Ms Campbell clarified, "At that point, we referred to your parents as 'Mother' or 'Father' then 'East' or 'West', depending on their location. And we called the pups things like 'Brother-One' for Simon, or 'Sister-Three' for Eleanor. We may have some later video footage of when we came up with more official names for everyone. Are you ready for me to continue?" Seeing them nod, Ms Campbell pressed "play".
In the next series of video clips, two days later, the different teams returned to check up on the chipmunk families in their respective locations. The chipmunks - pups and parents alike - had doubled in size in both locations, to where they were getting quite cramped in their nesting chambers. The fathers tried digging wider tunnels, but they were growing at a faster rate than they could dig.
Instead, the Utrom teams had to get shovels and dig up the burrows. The chipmunks had to be sedated as they were transported to bigger habitats.
The chipmunks awoke in a few hours, nestled in shoeboxes within the grounds of Utrom lab facilities. For a few minutes, they remained curled up scared and anxious in their new surroundings. The staff members at each location played some music for them, mostly classical or smooth jazzy elevator music. This seemed to calm them down.
The next day, some staff members in lab coats in the California facility were shown sitting at a desk next to a small stereo. "We've been experimenting with different kinds of music to see which is more calming for the chipmunks." One explained. "Listen to this..."
A few seconds after turning on some classical music, they could hear some coos, hums, and gurgling noises coming from ten yards away. They beckoned the camera to quietly follow them as they went behind a wall of boxes to see a larger cardboard box in a pen with sawdust scattered on the ground.
"They use the big cardboard box as a nest." The second staff member explained. "They had to get a bigger one, since they outgrew the shoebox. They are fifty percent bigger than yesterday. We provide food and water, and try to help the parents feel more comfortable, venturing out a little more each day. There they are at the water dish, this is the family with the male pups."
The darkest and longest pup - which had to be Simon - suddenly fell into the water of the water dish. He yelped as he splashed around trying to get out. This commotion frightened the rest of his family to scurry back to their nest.
The first staff member, who was wearing thick gloves, picked Simon up between two fingers and his thumb and set him in a towel. "It's alright, Little Fella. What's the matter, having trouble seeing your way around?" He explained to the camera, "Earlier this morning, this Little Fella - who we are calling 'Brother-One' for now, until we think of better names for them - was really rubbing hard at his eyes, which were pretty swollen and puffy. They diagnosed him with chlamydial conjunctivitis - an eye infection he got from afterbirth not properly cleaned from his eyes."
"Poor thing!" The second guy sighed. "He may even be going blind. But I hear that 'Sister-One' from the North Carolina facility has the same problem with trachoma. Do you think we may be able to fit these little ones with glasses in their size if needed, Ken?"
"I doubt they would actually wear them, Mark." Ken shrugged. "And it would be a pity, too. I mean, this little guy has some very beautiful deep blue eyes. And I hear 'Sister-One' has some beautiful violet eyes." He turned to talk to Simon, who had calmed down from crying as he snuggled in the towel in his arms. "Alright, Little Fella, ready to go back to your family?"
Everyone watching the video made a quick glance over to the current Simon and Jeanette, as Ken on the video placed little Simon right in front of the cardboard nesting box.
"I guess that explains a lot." Jeanette comfortingly patted Simon's hand.
"Yeah...we both had an eye infection..." Simon whispered back at her. He added a smile. "We sure showed them, since we do still actually wear our glasses to this day, didn't we?"
She giggled as the video changed again. This one showed the next day, as some staff members showed that the chipmunks had grown another fifty percent.
By the morning of Day Six after the chipmunks' birthday, they had all grown just twenty percent. Their growth was starting to slow, and they were also beginning to change to a more humanoid shape. The parents were even walking around on two legs, sometimes carrying a baby or two in their front paws, which were starting to take the shape of human hands - including opposable thumbs. They still didn't speak any English words, but they seemed to chatter to themselves in their own language. Their babies still mostly crawled or slinked around on all fours at their feet.
As they watched the video clip, Alvin leaned over to Brittany and chuckled in a sing-song voice, "I see Brittany naked..."
Brittany rolled her eyes. "Alvin, the only reason I'm not slapping you is because you're still in Raph's body. But you're naked, too. Funny that the screen may be bigger, but your equipment actually looks smaller." She groaned. "Ugh! When do we get clothes? We kinda need them. With all due respect - especially our parents."
Onscreen, a week following their birthday, the chipmunks all looked even more humanoid in shape. The parents were wearing burlap bags or grass skirts, basically dressing like little island natives. They seemed to be spending more time talking with each other in their own language, keeping to themselves. They were still a little camera shy, and wary of humans and Utroms.
Their babies however, were now looking more like humanoid infants, even wearing diapers, and enjoying the attention of the staff members at the lab facilities. Their faces were more distinguishable from one another so that the viewers could tell who's-who.
Ken was bouncing 'Brother-One' - which was still his name for Simon - on his knee, even though he could fit in the palm of Ken's hand. His associate Mark was letting Theodore snuggle in his lap, while Alvin bounced around joyously on a soft mat at his feet on the floor. When they played a smooth jazz song from the stereo, the chipmunks all perked up to listen like little meerkats. They were even singing along to the music - not in any actual words, just in various gurgling and cooing noises.
Ken ruffled the hair on the back of Simon's head. "Well, you're lucky that your eye infection is gone. I'm sorry it was not resolved without some vision damage, but your eyes look just as bright as ever, Brother-One." He sighed. "Don't worry, we'll get some better names for you guys soon, I hope."
The video clip cut to another week later, at the California facility. Irma explained onscreen, "This is Irma Langinstein, I'm a local cultural liaison for the Utrom, and my job is to periodically research the human youth pop culture by walking and living among them, often for weeks at a time, so that I can use what I've learned to help the Utrom better blend into their surroundings. For my latest assignment, I've been among a group of teens as they toured Jett Records in Los Angeles. Also, while I was out, I picked up some baby clothes, toys, and supplies from secondhand places, since the others in this facility told me that they've adopted some new...humanoid chipmunk pets." She paused with a blink, as if letting that information sink in.
She continued with a smile. "For my next assignment, I will be babysitting - some here, where the boys live, and some in our Asheville location, where the girls live. A little update on these chipmunk kiddos - their parents had to be moved elsewhere in both facilities. They kinda...wanted their own space, and would even get more aggressive if we encroached on their turf. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were culture-shocked and found our Utrom facilities and civilization quite overwhelming. Apparently in their culture, their offspring should be ready to leave the nest and live fairly independently by now, but it should still be another year before they are ready to start families of their own. However, their babies are still very dependent, as they have been developing at a pace more similar to human infants instead of chipmunks. It was kinda like the mothers had a bad case of postpartum depression, but it was more like postpartum psychosis, and even the fathers exhibited symptoms."
Irma continued, "Long story short, the parents have decided to go back to the wild, where they live as feral mutants. We respect their decision, since we don't wish to force our lifestyle and culture onto anyone, or keep anyone at our facilities against their will. We're still tracking them with microbots to make sure nothing happens to them, and that they don't bother anyone." She added a chuckle. "Maybe we'll even send them a postcard at Christmas."
She continued with a more serious tone. "Another quirky biological thing that happened post-mutation to the chipmunk mothers is that they started with eight...mammary glands, but as they became more and more humanoid, the more inferior six of them...just vanished, like scars that heal so well that they cannot be found. And they were down to just two mammary glands, like humans. Well, the runts of each litter - the boy on the West Coast, and the girl on the East Coast - were still hungry, and they had to wait until their older siblings were done eating before they could get a turn to feed. By then, Mom was done and didn't want to nurse anymore. They were very reluctant to nurse just one more baby, and the wells were...kinda running dry by then. Since supply could not keep up with demand, the youngest siblings have developed different eating habits, and had to be bottle-fed sooner than their older siblings, so they also kinda evolved...a different metabolism because of it."
Everyone watching the movie glanced over at Theodore and Eleanor.
"That explains it." Theodore winced.
Eleanor agreed. "Yeah...'runts of the litter' - that's us, Theo."
On the video, Irma continued with her monologue. "Well, in other news, I also picked out some new music for the pups. I got some new CDs from Jett Records, and these kiddos really like the music. They like to sing and dance along to it, sometimes in actual words! They even wear the baby clothes I got secondhand for them, once I resized them a bit. Once the parents left, they were starting to get cold and shiver. So I also got blankets for them." She glanced behind her shoulder at a high-pitched cooing sound. "Just a moment, I'm coming..."
The camera followed her into an office room that housed some nursery equipment, where she stooped next to an open crate used as a makeshift playpen. "What's the matter?" She asked in a baby voice as she used one hand to pick up a small, sandy-blonde fur-ball in a green footie-onesie, who held onto a green plaid blanket. "Are you still cold? Not letting go of your 'special blanket'?" Even though he was so tiny that he could fit into the palm of one hand, she put her free hand behind him for some extra security.
"Hung-y..." The baby mumbled.
"Oh, are you hungry, Theodore?" Irma asked as she also picked up a bottle with her other hand, and fed the baby. As the baby eagerly fed from his bottle, Irma explained to the camera, "This is the youngest of this family. He used to be called 'Brother-Three', but now I call him Theodore, after one of the people at Jett Records I befriended, Ted Keep." To Theodore, she said, "Take it easy. If you eat too fast, you'll get a tummy ache."
Irma looked back into the playpen as she heard more stirring. She set Theodore back in the playpen to finish his bottle in peace, while she picked up another baby. This one had dark brown hair and was wearing a blue footie-onesie. "Hey, Simon! You wanna read your book? Here, let me turn on a light and get your glasses so you can see better to read to me." She looked back at the camera. "And this little guy used to be 'Brother-One', but now I call him Simon, after another guy at Jett Records named Si Waronker. He can even read, he's so smart for being just two weeks old! I hear he got over his eye infection last week and had some vision damage because of that. So he joins me in 'Club Four-Eyes'..." She looked at Simon as she adjusted the nosepiece of his glasses with round black wire frames, "Don't ya, Buddy?"
"Affirmative!" Baby Simon smiled and shared a high-five with Irma.
She laughed as she set him back in the playpen, giving him a book as she turned on a lamp above his head. She heard a high-pitched crying sound from under another blanket. Pulling back the blanket, she picked up another baby with auburn hair, wearing a red footie-onesie. "Hey, Mister Alvin! How ya doing? Does your ear still hurt?"
"Uh-huh." Baby Alvin nodded with a whimper as he tried rubbing and scratching with his left hand at a big wad of gauze bandaged to his left ear.
"Well, hey, just leave the bandage alone, OK?" Irma kissed his forehead as she intercepted his left hand. "Or else we'll have to get one of those neck cones for you that they put on doggies. You don't wanna wear one of those, do ya? You'd look pretty funny in it, wouldn't ya?"
The baby started giggling. "You're silly!"
"No, you're silly!" Irma tickled under his chin. She pointed to the camera. "Hey, Big Al, wanna say hi to the camera?"
Baby Alvin turned to the camera, waving and smiling enthusiastically. "Hi! I'm Alvin! I'm awesome!"
"Yes, you are!" Irma laughed. "Hey, Alvin, wanna tell what happened to your ear? Scary stories make you laugh, and you gave me quite a scare when that happened yesterday."
"OK!" Alvin giggled. "I fight im-biz-able bad guys with a sword, and I want to wear pretty ear bling like Ma. I surprise Ma. I get big sharp thing, cut my ear, give me 'owwie'. I spill lots of red slime all over place. I hurt. Scared Ma. Ma kiss it all better."
"That's right." Irma smiled at him. "Hey, Alvin, are you hungry?" When she saw him smiling and nodding enthusiastically, she gave him a bottle and let him eat as he relaxed back among his nest of blankets in the playpen. She looked back up at the camera. "That is Alvin, who used to be just 'Brother-Two'. I got his name from another guy at Jett Records named Alvin Bennett. As you can see, he's very talkative and outgoing. He knows no fear. He scared me pretty bad yesterday, when I turned my head on him for just fifteen seconds. I looked up, and there he was thirty feet away with some huge scissor-like clamping laser from an Utrom guard's toolbox, trying to pierce his own ear - or play 'Jedi' with it and pretend it was a light saber - I wasn't sure. I felt like I was moving in slow-motion to try to get it out of his hand. I guess it was heavier than he expected, so he dropped it, and it almost cut off his ear. He's pretty fast like that, and keeps us on our toes! But he was a trooper. I think I was screaming more than he was when he started bleeding, and part of his ear was barely hanging on. Of course, he had to get a tetanus shot, and he was not happy. He screamed from that and had to be held down." She chuckled. "It was almost like he'd rather cut his other ear completely off than get a shot! He likes to be held and hugged, but he does not like being restrained. He can tell the difference, too. That's why I keep these little guys in an open playpen and not a cage. They don't like being treated like pets or caged animals. I mean, they're our boys. Since their mom left - they're my babies, now. It just melts my heart when I hear them call me 'Ma'. Sure, it may be short for 'Irma', but for now, for all practical purposes...I'm their surrogate mother."
Alvin blinked as he watched the video. "So that's how I got that scar on my ear..." He tried touching his left ear, but when he felt nothing but the fabric of the mask, he remembered he was still in Raph's body. He glanced at Raph sitting on his lap in his chipmunk body. He reached out and traced his left finger along the outside of his left ear until he felt the dent left by the scarred tissue.
Raph slightly jumped back. But he felt relieved when he saw who was checking out his ear. "Oh yeah, it's your ear. I never noticed that."
Alvin chuckled. "Sorry, I always wondered how it felt to someone else. I forgot that I even have that scar. Dave used to ask me what happened for the first few months, but I didn't really know, so we both just forgot about it."
The video feed changed locations. Irma was still narrating, but at the Utrom facility in Asheville. "Irma Langinstein again, this time I'm at the Utrom facility in Asheville, North Carolina. I traveled via the Utrom portal room so I could come directly here, from Los Angeles in less than a second. Same day, no long layovers or lost luggage." She chuckled. "While Mark and Ken watch my boys in Los Angeles, I'm gonna check on my girls in Asheville."
The camera followed her to another office-turned-nursery with a playpen near the center of the room. "Hey, girls, whatcha doin'?"
"Ma!" Came the delightful squeal from the playpen.
She picked up a baby in a purple and white striped footie-onesie with a purple headband with a lavender bow in her dark brown curly hair. She carried a book in one hand. "Hey, Jeanette! Whatcha readin'?"
When the baby girl turned around so that her face was visible, she was also wearing some glasses with round black wire frames. She held out the book. "Other book, please. I finish reading this."
"You finished that one already?" Irma blinked at her in surprise. "Wow! Look at you, Jeanette!" She replaced the book in Jeanette's hand with another book. "Here's one. You can read it to yourself now, then read it to me later. But don't tell me how this one ends, OK?"
"OK, Ma!" Baby Jeanette smiled as Irma set her back in the playpen.
Irma explained to the camera, "That was Miss Jeanette, formerly known as 'Sister-One'. I named her after one of the college girls who interned at Jett Records, Jeannie Williams. She got over an eye infection last week, so she also joins 'Club Four-Eyes'. Glasses make her look very classy and stylish, as well as very intelligent, which she is. She's very quiet and shy most of the time, but when she does talk, she's so sweet and polite. Others say that she looks like a younger version of myself, but I just don't see it. I'm flattered, but I don't see it."
As the group watching the videos laughed, the onscreen Irma turned and picked up another baby. This one had platinum-blonde hair pulled back with two aqua bows. She wore an aqua footie-onesie with pink and white flowers printed all over it, and she snuggled in the lap of a beige teddy bear that was wearing light blue overalls. Irma smiled at the baby. "Hi, Miss Eleanor! Am I interrupting your tea party with Mister Bear?"
Baby Eleanor giggled. "Not at all, Ma! You came at a great time. I was just about to make some desserts before I put Mister Teddy Huxtable down for a nap. Oh, I'm so excited you're joining us for our tea party!"
Irma hugged her before setting her back down in the playpen. "OK, Eleanor, you can make the rest of those desserts for our tea party. I'll bring some here in a minute, too. OK?" Once she heard Eleanor squeak a quick "OK", Irma faced the camera again. "And that used to be 'Sister-Three', but now I call her Eleanor, after Jett Records college intern, Elena Ford. She's such a happy little thing - so sweet and obviously talkative. And apparently, it's a universal thing that all little girls on this planet know how to play 'Tea Party'. I guess it comes on that extra part of the X-chromosome."
"Ma!" Another voice called out from within the playpen. "Pick me up!"
"OK, Miss Brittany." Irma picked up a little girl with golden strawberry-blonde hair in a pink hairband tied into a bow. She was wearing a solid pink footie-onesie. As Irma took her out of the playpen, a bright yellow washcloth fell to the floor.
"My pretty princess dress!" Baby Brittany reached for it, looking like she might want to cry.
Irma picked up the washcloth and handed it back to Brittany. "Oh, this is your dress - your pretty princess dress? Wanna show me how you wear it? Wanna model it for me?"
Brittany started smiling as Irma set her down. "You wear it like this..." She wrapped it around herself like the toga of a Greek goddess. Brittany struck a modeling pose, with her left hand on her hip and her right hand behind her head.
"Ooooh, pretty!" Irma marveled. "Work it, girl!"
Even though the hem of the "dress" dragged the floor, Brittany walked along, swinging her hips and shoulders like a supermodel on the catwalk. "Pretty yellow princess dresses are in this season." She stopped about five feet away from Irma, took out a fragment of a red crayon, and started dabbing it at her open mouth.
Irma looked worried for a moment as she intercepted the baby girl chipmunk. "No, Brittany! Don't eat the crayons, you don't know where they've been."
Brittany whined, "I wasn't gonna eat my lipstick!"
Irma gasped with an idea. "How about I get you some cherry-flavored chapstick? Huh? That tastes better than nasty ol' crayons, any day."
Brittany's face lit up. "Really? I can start wearing makeup?"
Irma blinked as she set Brittany back in the playpen. "Sure... But not that you need it - you're naturally beautiful!"
Brittany giggled as she tossed her head from side to side. "I know - I mean, thank you, Ma!"
When she went off to play some more, Irma laughed as she explained to the camera, "And that was Brittany, who used to be 'Sister-Two', named for Jett Records college intern, Brittany Walters. She's so precious and outgoing, with her little diva streak. She's got a creative flair for fashion and a keen sense of style, too. Watch out, 'Project Runway'!"
Ms Campbell paused the video. Everyone else snickered while glancing sideways at Brittany. Brittany just rolled her eyes and laughed along with them. Ms Campbell cleared her throat to get their attention, "Is anyone up for a fifteen-minute break?"
A/N: I realize that in the 1980s Chipmunks cartoon, they say that the Chipettes are from Australia (in the episode "The Chipettes' Story"). I made them from North Carolina in my stories, since chipmunks aren't ("marsupial" enough to be) native to Australia. I also don't hear an Australian accent when the Chipettes talk in the current Nickelodeon cartoon. Information about how chipmunks live in the wild was found on Wikipedia.
I use the age-order for the Chipmunks and Chipettes that is written on their jerseys in the Nickelodeon cartoon episode "Mutiny". The canonical age-order for the Ninja Turtles has been assumed throughout fandom for years, as Eastman and Laird never actually mentioned it directly.
Ken and Mark are OCs named after some of my cousins. Irma's last name, Langinstein, is not actually mentioned in the Nickelodeon cartoon, but she is listed in the credits with that as her last name in IMDB (Internet Movie Database). Also on the IMDB website, under "The Alvin Show" (1961-1962), in the "Trivia" section it mentions the namesakes for the Chipmunks (executives at Liberty Records - Alvin Bennett, Si Waronker, and Ted Keep). Since I haven't found anything like that mentioned for the Chipettes, I made up names of college interns at Jett Records for them. (What? Was anyone else expecting names of Renaissance artists, like with the Ninja Turtles?)
Theodore's "special blanket" is mentioned in the Nickelodeon cartoon episode "Warbie". In the episode "Li'l T", Theodore has a teddy bear with him he calls "Mr Teddy Huxtable". In my fanfic "Chip-ergarten", Mr Teddy Huxtable starts out with Eleanor, until she takes him to and leaves him at the Seville home, as her gift to Theodore (and he occasionally shares Mr Teddy Huxtable with her, like they share "joint custody" of him). Maybe someday, Mr Teddy Huxtable will be passed on as an heirloom gift to their kiddos.
