Chapter 8: The Wall

A/N: So I've hit a wall of writer's block with this story, and then it occurred to me that I could do the same thing with Leo and have him experience it, too, so then my writer's block ended. Funny how that happens! Thanks to all of those who have read and reviewed thus far. It means a lot to me that you like this story.

Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon. I only own the plot and Madison Kinney.

Leo stared in frustration at his notebook. After his fight with Donnie, he was having a hard time finishing the latest chapter of his story, and it was getting on his nerves. This wasn't supposed to happen, was it? He should have an endless amount of ideas, and yet his mind was blank. He searched around his room for some inspiration, but could find nothing to help him out. He heard a chime from his laptop and saw that he had a message from Maddie.

MaddieLuvsSpaceHeroes: Hey, Leo, you there?

Fearless Leader: Yeah, I'm here. What's up?

MaddieLuvsSpaceHeroes: Just wanted to see how the story was coming along. I haven't seen an update in a while.

Fearless Leader: Not good. I just can't think of any ideas of what to do now. My mind is blank.

MaddieLuvsSpaceHeroes: Ah, you have a serious case of writer's block.

Fearless Leader: What's that?

MaddieLuvsSpaceHeroes: It's when you run out of ideas of what to do. I like to call it the Wall of Writer's Block or The Wall for short.

Fearless Leader: Wasn't that a song by some band?

MaddieLuvsSpaceHeroes: Yeah, Pink Floyd sang that song.

Fearless Leader: Ah, that's it. Raph has their album so he listens to it sometimes. It's a pretty depressing song. So, when you get writer's block, what do you do?

MaddieLuvsSpaceHeroes: I usually try different things. Sometimes, I'll listen to music, read a book, watch TV, or work on something else to get inspiration. Maybe you should try that.

Fearless Leader: All of them?

MaddieLuvsSpaceHeroes: LOL! No, not all of them. Just whatever you want to do to get the muses back.

Fearless Leader: Okay. Sounds good. Thanks, Maddie.

MaddieLuvsSpaceHeroes: Anytime, Leo. Well, I have to go because dinner's ready. Talk to you later.

Fearless Leader: Talk to you later.

Leo thought about what Madison said, and it made sense to him. He just had to get rid of this blank he had. He grabbed the latest book he'd found in the sewers and began reading. He lost himself in the plot and the romance, but for some reason, it didn't bring him any inspiration on what to do for his story. Sighing, he decided to put on one of his Japanese CDs and see if that would work. He lay back on his bed and let the music wash over him, but it wasn't working for him. Maybe Japanese music wasn't the best way to cure writer's block so he turned on his radio and found a station he liked that played a variety of songs. But after a Fifth Harmony song, a Destiny's Child song, and even a Taylor Swift song, he still wasn't inspired.

"This won't do," he said to himself. "Maybe I'll watch some TV."

He went downstairs and found Raph watching TV by himself.

"Hey, Raph, do you mind if I watched TV by myself for a while?" he asked.

"No, wrestling's on," Raph answered.

"Okay, can I watch it with you?"

"Knock yourself out," Raph said, patting the seat beside him.

Leo joined his brother and focused on the matches. A lot of them were good, but they weren't really the type of thing that would help him get inspired.

"Hey, are you guys watching wrestling?" Mikey asked as he came out of the kitchen with some chips. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because we didn't know where you were," Raph answered.

"That's okay. My British honey is on the TV right now."

They listened as Paige did a promo about how it was her time to be Divas Champion and how she was going to face Charlotte for the title very soon.

"Yeah, Paige, you sell that win," Mikey cooed. "This is so your house, girl."

"Will you stop with the commentary?" Raph grumbled.

"But she's my British honey, Raph. I gotta cheer her on."

Leo just laughed at Mikey's antics. "So, do you have any new stories about Paige, Mikey?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. One I have is where Paige is mad because Nikki Bella stole her boyfriend from her."

"But Nikki's in a relationship with John Cena," Leo pointed out.

"Yeah, but this is fan fiction where you can do anything you want," Mikey replied. "In this story, I have Nikki dating Dolph Ziggler and Paige steals him because she likes him, too."

"And how is that going?"

"Pretty good. The fans seem to like it."

"That's good."

"How's your story goin', Leo?" Raph asked. Leo's fan fiction writing wasn't a secret anymore since Don had pretty much exploded about it and Raph found out. Luckily, he took it better than Leo thought he would and said that it was neat that Leo was getting into writing even if it was for a stupid show like Space Heroes. Coming from Raph, that was quite a compliment.

"Not good," Leo answered. "I just can't seem to think about what else I want to do. I talked to Maddie about it, and she told me about certain things she does to counter her writer's block, so I'm trying that, too."

"And you think watching wrestling will help you with writer's block?" Raph asked him.

Leo nodded. "It's worth a try anyway. I've tried everything else, and nothing else is working for me."

"Well, maybe this is the time to get inspiration bro," Mikey said. His eyes lit up. "Hey, maybe we can collaborate and write a story together using Athena and Paige. We can make Athena a wrestler, too, and she and Paige can wrestle together and be best friends."

"That sounds cool, Mikey, but right now I want to work on my own story first," Leo said.

"Suit yourself. Hey, you do NOT attack my British honey, Charlotte. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Well, Paige did talk smack about Charlotte's dead brother, so it makes sense she'd attack her," Raph pointed out. "I can't believe they stooped that low."

"They've done stuff like that before though," Leo reminded him. "Remember the storyline with Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton where they used Eddie's death? Lots of fans were mad about that one."

"True, but it made for good TV," said Raph. "I don't know if they'll keep up with this one."

"Who knows? All I know is I want my British honey to take the title away from Charlotte."

"Are you getting inspired yet, Leo?" Raph asked him.

Leo shook his head. "No, I haven't, and now it's over. What am I going to do?"

"How about if you just free write," Mikey suggested. "I do that sometimes when I can't think of anything to do. I just write what comes into my head and fix it later."

"Maybe I will try that," Leo said. "Thanks, Mikey."

"No problem, bro. Always glad to help out."

Leo left his brothers and retreated to his room. He booted up his computer and accessed Microsoft Word. After he set it up the way he wanted, he just kept staring at the blank page and the blinking cursor. Why wasn't anything coming to him? Why was he so stuck on what to say and do? He just kept staring and his thoughts turned to the wrestling segment he'd been watching. He thought about it for a bit and then inspiration struck him like a bolt of lightning! Feeling excited, he immediately began typing at a rapid pace.

The Dauntless was going along smoothly until they were attacked by some unknown aliens. Even Captain Ryan didn't know what they were called and was very worried about it.

"Captain, the aliens are attacking at full force!" Crankshaw gasped. "What are we going to dooo?"

Captain Ryan immediately smacked Crankshaw hard across the face, causing Athena to giggle. "We are going to fight like we always do! Crew members, to your battle stations!"

The crew immediately followed his orders and began firing lasers and other things to get rid of the aliens, but the aliens kept on striking. Suddenly, a laser hit the ship and an explosion rocked the ship hard.

"Captain, our rockets have been hit!" Crankshaw yelled. "We're doomed!"

"We are not doomed, Commander," Captain Ryan contradicted. "There is always a way to fight back. Keep going!"

The crew kept on firing, but the ship was going down at an enormous rate, and there was nothing they could do about it. The ship crashed on an unknown planet, and the crew exited the ship, thankful to be alive.

"Where are we, Captain?" Crankshaw asked.

"I have no idea, but we had better see if there is anyone who can help us," Captain Ryan answered.

The crew began walking but were accosted by some aliens with guns. The aliens pointed their guns at the crew, getting ready to shoot them.

"Halt!" one of the aliens said. "Who dares to trespass upon the planet of Zebron?"

"Please don't shoot," Captain Ryan begged. "We have crashed here after an exhausting battle, and we need help to repair our ship. Would you know of a place where we can get food and lodging for the night?"

"We will take you to our queen, and she will decide what to do with you," one of the aliens said. "Now, march!"

The crew began marching ahead of the Zebronians who had their guns trained on them and wondered what awaited them next.

"These guys are nuts," Athena whispered to Captain Ryan. "Maybe I can take them out."

"I wouldn't advise it, Athena. From what I've heard, the Zebronians are very dangerous and could kill you. I have also heard their queen is very strict, but we shall see if that is true."

Not long after, they arrived at a castle that towered above everything else. They entered the castle and were led to the throne room where a regal woman sat. She had green skin and pale blue hair. Her eyes were a crystal blue as well and rested on the crew of the Dauntless.

"Gorlak, who are these people?" she asked.

"They are strangers, Your Majesty," Gorlak replied.

Captain Ryan stepped forward. "I am Captain Quinelus Ryan of the Dauntless and this is my crew. We have crash landed here after a battle with some aliens of unknown origin. All we ask is for some lodging for the night and if we may repair our ship."

The Queen looked haughtily at him. "Oh, is that all?" she asked.

"Yes, that is all," he answered.

"I am afraid your request is denied," she said. "You are strangers and are not welcome here on our planet. I am giving you one chance to leave here or we will imprison you."

Athena grew outraged and marched up to the Queen. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she snarled. "We just landed here and politely asked for help, and all you can do is deny us? What the hell gives you that right? You don't even know who we are!"

The Queen bristled at Athena's words. "How dare you question Queen Solamena of the planet Zebron? I am the ruler of this planet, and I will decide who is welcome here and who is not. And since you have challenged me, you shall be punished by competing in a tournament of my choosing."

"All by myself?" Athena asked her.

The Queen nodded. "Yes, by yourself," she answered. "I will teach you a lesson in challenging those who are above you. Take them to the dungeons!"

The crew was taken to the dungeons and locked in a cell. Crankshaw was frantic and kept trying to find a way out.

"We're doomed!" he cried. "There's no way we're getting out of here! Oh, why does this have to happen to us?"

Captain Ryan slapped him yet again. "Be brave, Commander. We must not act cowardly, even in the face of destruction."

"I want to take that Queen and strangle her!" threatened Athena. "How dare she do this to us and to me? Who does she think she is?"

"She is the ruler of the Zebronians and has always been like this," said Captain Ryan. "We must be brave and face what is to come."

A determined look crossed Athena's face. "I can do that, Captain. I know I can win this."

"But, Athena, you don't even know what's going to happen!" Crankshaw pointed out. "How can you prepare for something when you don't know what you're facing?"

"It doesn't matter, Commander," she said. "I was trained in combat, and I can do anything I set my mind to. That Queen won't know what hit her."

Crankshaw doubted this and continued to lament about how Athena was doomed until she wanted to beat him up. She refrained though since he was Captain Ryan's right hand man and the Captain would need him. They only needed to wait for a few minutes before the guards came to take Athena away. The other crew members were sent to a room where they could watch the action live on television.

Athena was led out and was a little nervous, though she tried not to show it. After all, she was a fighter, and she wasn't going to go down like some weakling no matter how tough the opponent was.

The Queen came out amidst cheers from her loyal subjects. "This girl has done a great dishonor by challenging my rules," she said. "Therefore, she will be put through a series of opponents and must try to defeat them. If she does, she and her crew will go free. If she doesn't, then she and her crew will die. And now for her first opponents. Bring out the Zaleks!"

Athena braced herself as a group of robots came out of a door across from her. They didn't look like much, so she figured she would be able to get rid of them easily enough.

One of the robots eyed her. "Enemy target acquired," it said in a monotone voice. "Obliterate! Obliterate!"

The other robots took up the cry and began advancing on Athena. She grew worried because she wasn't sure what to make of them or what they would do to her. One of them fired a laser, and she dodged it. The others kept doing the same thing, and all she could do was keep dodging them. She had no weapons with her, so it wasn't like she could fight back. That Queen sure did play dirty.

"Think, Athena, think!" she ordered herself. "What can you do to these Zaleks?" Then she remembered her psychic powers. Yes, she could use those against the robots. She closed her eyes and concentrated with all of her might, willing her powers to work. At once, the robots stopped advancing toward her and turned on each other, firing lasers. This caused chaos, and the robots were defeated.

"Yes!" Athena cheered. "I did it!"

Back in the viewing room, the crew cheered as Athena defeated the robots. Now they wondered what she'd face next.

Athena waited as the door opened and her next opponent came out.

Leo smiled and decided to end the chapter there. After all, he wanted to build some suspense for the next chapter so reviewers would keep reading. Then he called Mikey in to look at his work.

Mikey smiled as he read the chapter over. "Is it just me, or do those robots seem familiar?" he asked.

"They are," answered Leo. "I used the Daleks from Doctor Who and just renamed them and changed their battle cry. It's sort of an homage to them, and I think it would be cool if others caught the reference too."

Mikey gave his brother a high three. "Awesome work, bro! That's genius! I didn't catch any mistakes, so I think you're good to go, but you can always look it over yourself if you want to."

"I did look it over and saw everything was good. I'm glad you liked it, Mikey. Now I'm going to post it." He got on the site and immediately posted his chapter. Now all he had to do was wait for the reviews to come.

A/N: And that's the end of another chapter. I've got at least two more chapters planned for this story, so there will definitely be updates coming soon for this one. As you can see, I used a Doctor Who reference because I thought it would be funny. Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.