Chapter 4: SAFEty First
At an apartment complex, Pikachu was enjoying a bath as April played with him. She wore a white t-shirt with a bra strap exposed over her right shoulder and denim shorts. The bubble bath had Mudkip watching in delight. "You like?" she asked. Pikachu slapped his tail on the water, splashing April in the face. She laughed while covering her face from the water. "HEY!" A grin formed her face. "So, you wanna play that way, huh?" She scooped and splashed water back at Pikachu as April and Mudkip laughed. Pikachu enjoyed the fun when there was a knock on the door. April instantly became concerned. "Uh oh… It better not be the landlady." She left the bathroom, leaving the Pokémon to wonder.
("Hide!") whispered Pikachu. Mudkip hid behind the bathroom door as April opened the apartment door. Who she saw, April sighed in relief. It was a young brunette girl wearing red square-rimmed glasses. She had her dark brown hair in a messy bun while wearing a lilac turtleneck shirt and purple skirt.
"Irma?" she realized.
"Sorry to stop by, April," Irma apologized. "I wanted to tell you that I was leaving town for a week." She noticed her arms and face being soaked. "Uh, are you in the middle of a shower? Do you have a date tonight?" April giggled before she waived her in.
"Wait until you see him." Entering, Irma became skeptical.
"This should be good…" April closed the door. They reached the bathroom. "April? What are you dragging me into?" April turned to the tub.
"She's a friend!" she called out. Pikachu emerged to seeing Irma.
("Hi there!") he greeted. Irma gawked at seeing Pikachu but became excited that she came to the tub and scooped the Mouse Pokémon up. She squealed, not loud enough to bother other tenants.
"Oh my gosh!" she yelped. "I know this apartment complex has a 'No Pets Allowed' policy, but I would make an exception for you!" Pikachu squealed in delight when Irma hugged him.
"Of course, he's not the only one," April teased as she allowed Mudkip to emerge from behind the door. Irma saw and awed Mudkip, again with excitement. She came over with Pikachu still in her arms.
"Hi, there!" she greeted. Mudkip was worried but came to Irma who petted him. "Oh, it's an amphibious creature. It's still adorable." Mudkip sighed before Pikachu shook his body, relieving himself of the bathwater. April and Irma laughed to the Pokémon's move. In the living room, Mudkip slept on the couch by April while Irma petted Pikachu. "Oh, so you borrowed these two to have them get a better view of the city."
"Right, since their owners are going to be stuck here for some time."
"I can understand that. Anyway, I wanted to tell you the same thing I told Burne and Vernon. I have family from out-of-state that want me to come on by, and I'm going to be gone for about a week." The news made Pikachu a little sad.
"Pikachu was hoping you'd come by and check out his owner." Sympathetic, Irma itched his ears.
"You'll be around for some time from April's report. I'll swing by the Lair to see." Pikachu felt relieved to the promise. "Speaking of Burne, I was told that you have an assignment at Fort Charles about a crystal." April realized Irma's information.
"Isn't it where the Earth's only Trilithium Crystal is held?"
"It is. It's also where the Fort's run by a supercomputer."
"It does sound newsworthy. I can call him up and take the assignment. You have a good time with your folks." A nod from Irma satisfied April. She left while April snuggled with Pikachu in her bed after making the call. The next morning, the Turtles woke without their masks on.
"Morning, guys," Leonardo groaned. Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello woke and tied their masks on their faces.
"It's different with the new dudes joining us," Michelangelo mentioned.
"What could we do about it?" questioned Donatello. "They're stuck here for the time being."
"Hey, we can have them train with us in Ninjitsu if Master Splinter wants it," Raphael urged. "Besides, they may learn a few things from us."
"Right, I can see it," Leonardo agreed. "Let's get to training." As they got their weapons, Leonardo grabbed a pair of bamboo sticks and practiced with Donatello while Michelangelo and Raphael practiced with each other. Ash and Brock woke before finding the Turtles practicing.
"Oh, did we wake up at a bad time?" asked Ash. Splinter came to the trainers.
"This is what my sons do each morning before they have breakfast," he mentioned. Leonardo tried to get through Donatello's Bo while Raphael deflected each of Michelangelo's Nunchaku swings. At that time, April and the Pokémon came down to the Lair as the Turtles continued their training as Ash eyed the bullseye targets on the wall.
"Morning, guys!" she greeted. Pikachu and Mudkip returned to Ash and Brock.
"Morning, April!" the Turtles and trainers welcomed. They gathered around April.
"Are you going to work?" asked Leonardo.
"Yeah, I have an assignment at Fort Charles for a live feed," she briefed. Donatello realized the location.
"Oh, Fort Charles is one of the most secured places around New York," he informed. "And it runs on a supercomputer." Brock came forward to offer help.
"You know, I could provide an extra hand if you need it," he wished. Ash quickly snatched Brock by the earlobe and pulled him away.
"She'll be secured from you, Brock!" he grumbled as Brock flailed from the pulling.
"Sheesh!" gulped Raphael. "Human ears are delicate!"
"It makes us glad we don't have ears for someone to pull us back," Michelangelo believed. Splinter bopped Michelangelo on the head with his stick.
"There are more ways to distribute punishment, Michelangelo," he warned. Michelangelo reeled from the bop.
"Sorry, Sensei…" he apologized. Donatello blocked Leonardo's swings.
"You have to think faster than that, leader!" he taunted. Leonardo swept Donatello's legs with a sweeping leg kick. He fell onto his shell before Leonardo pointed a stick in his face.
"Fast enough?" he teased. Donatello smiled before Leonardo helped him back to his feet.
"Their personalities are really different from each other," Brock pointed out. "Leonardo's the leader, Donatello's the wisest, Raphael's the jokester and Michelangelo's the surfer dude."
"I'd say a little more of a surfer dude than Brawly," Ash added. April and Splinter wondered about the name.
"Brawly?" repeated April.
"Brawly's a Pokémon Gym Leader like I once was," Brock summarized. "Trainers like Ash go to Pokémon Gyms and challenge it to win a badge from the Gym Leader. When a trainer has eight badges from the region's Gyms, they can compete in the region's conference."
"It doesn't sound complicated," Splinter heard. "But I believe there is more to it."
"The Gym Leader sets the rules of the Gym for the trainers to follow like a certain number of Pokémon in a battle like a Double Battle, 3-on-3, things like that," Ash added.
"I think I have an idea about what you're saying," April pictured. "Could they have themes for these gyms?"
"They all do, mostly with their suggestive Pokémon Type like Water or Electric," Brock confirmed. "I ran a Rock-Type Gym and was Ash's first Gym Leader in his career." Someone laughed to the thought.
"So, what was your nickname back at your Gym?" asked Raphael. "Brock the Rock?"
"It was," Brock nodded. Raphael irked to the confirmation.
"I thought it was a joke I could make," he muttered. Michelangelo patted Raphael's shell.
"You'll get another joke in before long, Raphael," he sympathized. "Let's get some breakfast pizzas going. Some Corn Flakes and Raisins should help." Raphael nodded as April left for work. In the Technodrome, Rocksteady and Bebop kept Team Rocket still while the main room with Shredder and Krang trying to figure out what to do with the fortress in the dark.
"This is just great!" growled Krang. "Not only do we have three stowaways in here, but the power of the Technodrome is out!"
"Like we're responsible for what happens in this mobile fortress!?" argued Jessie. Shredder growled to the buffoonery erupting within.
"We need to get the Technodrome moving again!" demanded Shredder. He started hitting a couple of keys on the board. The screen turned on, showing a heavily secured building made of thick concrete.
"What's dat place?" asked Meowth.
"I believe it's Fort Charles," Krang studied. Suddenly, he realized the reason. "Of course! Fort Charles holds a gem called the Trilithium Crystal!" Team Rocket looked befuddled to the claim.
"What's the Trilithium Crystal?" wondered James.
"It's a rare element that has the power of several hundred car batteries," Krang informed. "However, I think going after the element in crystal form isn't wise." Jessie snarled to Krang's second-guessing.
"Aren't you desperate to get power back in here, you brainiac!?" she snapped.
"You are not in a position to talk back!" replied Krang. "Perhaps if you listen, you'll understand the reason why the Trilithium Crystal is a bad idea!" Jessie growled, not appreciating Krang's command of the situation.
"She's right, though," Shredder sided. "That kind of power can do a lot for the Technodrome and create thousands of Foot Soldiers in a day!" Krang started to feel outnumbered.
"That may be," Krang agreed to an extent. "But the Trilithium Crystal is held in an airtight vault. If it is removed, the crystal will be unstable, and any jostling would further make it unsafe!" That's when Shredder eyed the Channel 6 van, an idea emerging.
"April O'Neil must be on sight at Fort Charles!" he guessed. "Krang, isn't Fort Charles run by a supercomputer?" Krang soon realized Shredder's plans.
"It is, but what is your idea?" he questioned. Meowth studied the discussion and came up with a plan.
"A diversion?" he guessed. Shredder and Krang turned to the Alley Cat Pokémon.
"A diversion?" repeated Krang. He gave it a thought. "Yes… Those Turtles will be busy saving April O'Neil while we steal power supplies elsewhere." Jessie became infuriated at Meowth helping Shredder.
"Hey, we're supposed to be trying to escape from here!" she argued. "I don't want to be swimming in that magma!" Shredder stood over Jessie, the captured barely holding her emotions together.
"Your feline may have a brighter future than the two of you," he sneered… if his face wasn't covered. At Fort Charles, April began her report with another person holding a large camera.
"This is April O'Neil, reporting from Fort Charles: the Army's newest hi-tech storage center," she began. The room was full of computers and a large iron safe was in the back. "This is probably the most fortified place on the face of the Earth, guarded by force fields, laser cannons and robotic soldiers, all controlled by a single piece of equipment: the CY-CLOMPS, the most sophisticated computer ever built." Seeing mobile turrets, laser-made gates and human-like robots, the Trainers, Turtles, Splinter and Pikachu seemed shocked to the security.
"When April says that it's a hi-tech place, there's no sugarcoating it!" gulped Ash.
"Yeah, dude!" agreed Michelangelo. "Mondo maximum security on display!" To Donatello, protecting the Trilithium Crystal was of most importance.
"Let's hope it's enough to keep Shredder and his creeps from getting that energy source," he wished. Brock had something on his mind.
"Are there other stations than Channel 6?" he asked. "I mean, is April that important to you?"
"Well, this was the only station that provided news," Leonardo shrugged. "And I guess it does help that April does a lot of the reporting." Ash believed Leonardo's take as they turned back to the broadcast.
"All this security is to protect what's inside this airtight vault," April continued. "The only Trilithium Crystal in existence, and the most powerful energy source known to man." Just then, CY-CLOMPS began to react in the middle of the broadcast. "What's going on?" Everyone by the vault turned to the supercomputer. "Pete!"
"Got it, Miss O'Neil!" the blond with glasses and wearing a blue jacket with "CHANNEL 6" printed turned the camera to CY-CLOMPS flashing LED nodes.
"EXTERNAL SIGNAL DETECTED," it computed. "PASSWORD OVERRIDE ACCEPTED. NEW PROGRAMMING INPUT ACKNOWLEDGED." The workers in Fort Charles started to realize a problem. "ATTENTION WORKER DRONES: PREPARE NEW INPUT PROGRAMMING IMMEDIATELY." The robots heard CY-CLOMPS and broke from the assembly lines and patrols. They gathered around a mainframe in a different room for a minute. Then, the robots went rogue as they gathered about everyone in Fort Charles, kicking them out of the facility. April and Pete stayed and watched it all go down.
"April's in trouble!" gasped Brock. Leonardo had to take control, their friend's life at risk as everyone watched in horror.
"Let's move out, Turtles!" he urged. The Turtles left with Ash, Brock and Pikachu following. April felt unsure about her position.
"This is very unusual, folks!" she continued her report. "It appears as if the robot drones are removing everyone from Fort Charles!" Two robots came after April before one picked her up while the other opened the vault. "Let me go!" The drone complied as she was thrown into the vault. Now, she became trapped in the vault she was just covering. The Turtles and trainers were on the way, not knowing that two factions were starting to work as one.
TO BE CONTINUED...