I own nothing.

Michelangelo surprisingly seemed to help immediately with cleaning up the mess. He picked up a crushed head of one of the broken machines. "Where'd these metal maniacs come from?"

Raphael turned to him with the furrow of a frown between his eyes. "Where do you think, Michelangelo?"

Donatello picked up a piece of one of the machines, a foot, and held it alongside the head Michelangelo held while studying the bottom. "Baxter Stockman Inventions." Then, he added, "What kind of idiot puts his name on a death machine?" He turned to the rest of them as if seeking an answer.

Raphael picked up another damaged head separated from the rest of the machine it had come from. "An idiot with an ego problem." His sons seemed fascinated with these machines even if they hated them. That was good in a way. One must learn of one's enemy, but not assume things about them too readily. While Splinter agreed with Raphael's assessment somewhat, he had a problem with the term 'idiot.' He doubted Saki had told this person his full intentions for these metal "death-traps" as he seemed to not share his full intentions about anything with anyone. He could be quite convincing, when he wanted to be often seeking out those kicked out by others and encouraging them only to kick them himself later.

Donatello himself kicked some of the broken machinery, displaying a dismissal of technology Splinter rarely saw from him, before adding "I don't know who Baxter Stockman is, but I can practically smell the Shredder behind all this." His eyes had narrowed, and his three-fingered hands had gone to his shell-covered hips.

Raphael's irritated voice rose, "Oh great, the guy we haven't seen a sign of all day."

Ah, so that was on reason why his students seemed so frustrated. Leonardo broke in with a voice steady and firm with confidence. That note of authority along with the words it spoke swelled his heart a bit in pride for his student. The turtle in blue dug through a pile of machine parts as he spoke. "We must find this 'Baxter Stockman' first, and through him, find the Shredder."

Michelangelo spoke next "I hope he's easier to scope out than the technodrome was." This time he leaned on a brother rather than handled a broken-off machine part.

Donatello however, kept digging through them as he added. "Yeah, all we got on him is a name."

Splinter swallowed a sigh and hardened his heart and voice while approaching the leader of his team of turtles. The world was in danger. "I feel we need April's skills as a reporter on this. I suggest you pay a visit to her at her apartment."

His blue clad turtle-student seriously replied, "You better come with us, Master Splinter."

Michelangelo added, "Yeah, we don't want any of those big-mouths putting the bite on you again."

It warmed his heart to know his students were so concerned for his safety as to first leave April to watch over him while he slept, and then take him with them on their investigation, but he feared April O'Neil would not be pleased to see all five of them, so soon again. It seemed he'd be there to witness her disappointment in person.

He made certain they traveled unseen most of the way through the sewers entering her building from them. He kept his ears up to catch the sound of a neighbor out and about that might see them as they made their way up the stairs to the door of her apartment. It was the only room he heard any noises coming from. So, once they were there, he had his students politely ring the doorbell.

April opened it wearing a lavender robe that looked nice on her, but also heavily indicated to him she had not wanted visitors. She smelled lovely quite different from the sewers. He wished they didn't have to take that smell into her home. Raphael decided to add some humor to the situation as was his want. "Can we interest you in a subscription to turtles home magazine?"

She covered her face with her hands indicating she didn't want to see them. However, she then stood aside to let them enter, which they did, him leading the way and keeping his eyes peeled for other humans. Her voice rose as she asked them questions, "What are you guys doing here? How did you get here? Did anyone see you?"

Raphael replied to her questions with his usual wit. "Any special order you want those questions answered in?"

April answered with a slight bite in her voice. "Yes, quickly."

Donatello took it upon himself to answer, for which Splinter was grateful. Out of all his students, Donatello was the one most likely to diffuse an angry situation rather than whip it up. "Looking for Baxter Stockman. By the sewers, and no." Then he pointed to her while asking with a frown, "Does that clear things up?"

April stared at him with a less angry, but more depressed looking expression, "I can't remember what I asked." Then she let herself fall into a seated position on her couch.

Michelangelo added while pulling a head from the machines that had attacked him, "We're looking for the genius who built this."

Leonardo took it from him and began passing it from hand to hand while continuing, "His name is Baxter Stockman."

April's eyes widened and voice rose, "That's all you've got to go on, a name?"

Michelangelo threw the machine head to Leonardo, who passed it from one of his hands to the other while adding, "We think he's working with the Shredder. He's our only key to tracking down the Shredder."

April, surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly considering their history with each other, "Well, I can see what my computer turns up." She walked over to where Raphael was staring at a painting of a toaster. Even Splinter found it an odd piece as an art expert, but he found it disrespectful when his student reached up and removed it from the wall it hung on. April didn't like his actions either. "Raphael put that back." Instead of doing so immediately he turned a furrowed-browed face to her. "Where do you plug this thing in at?"

Instead of replying, April continued toward a door she opened before looking to him. He walked over to her. She opened it before walking away. "Splinter, why don't you rest in the bedroom." She walked to the door of another room and opened it, entering before looking back to the turtles. "The rest of you try to stay out of trouble."

He walked into the room and closed the door behind himself. I fear she does not quite know what she is asking of them.

God Bless

ScribeofHeroes