Chapter 29: Encouraging Teamwork

Ash and Pikachu were in a bind with Bebop and Rocksteady staring them down with the Anxietron Ray. Ash knew that if he was hit with the Ray, he became cowardly. 'Let's see if they can hit something they can't see,' he thought.

"Any last woids?" taunted Rocksteady. Ash released Torkoal behind his back before he billowed out a giant plume of smoke. It enveloped Ash and Pikachu.

"Use it!" urged Bebop. Rocksteady fired the Anxietron Ray into the smoke.

"Dere!" He stopped with the Ray. The smoke cleared… and so were Ash and the Pokémon. "What!"

"Where'd dey go!?" They looked around, but there was no sign of Ash or his Pokémon. Ash and Pikachu escaped from City Hall altogether.

"Old school smokescreen disappearing act," Ash grinned. "Never going out of style." As they escaped, Bebop and Rocksteady cut their loss.

"It's just one twoip," Bebop shrugged.

"Right!" agreed Rocksteady. "Let's go and see da mayor." They marched on while Ash and Pikachu returned to the Lair. Back in the Technodrome, James and Meowth entered to see Shredder, Krang and Jessie cowering around after Bebop and Rocksteady blasted them with the Anxietron Ray.

"Boy, what happened to ya?" wondered Meowth.

"You guys look like you've seen a haunted houseful of ghosts," James observed. Shredder scuttled back from Meowth while trembling.

"Get away from me!" he yelped at Meowth. The Alley Cat Pokémon watched, confused to Shredder's behavior.

"Those… Nimrods used… the Anxietron… Ray… on all… of us!" trembled Krang. James and Meowth began to wonder about the weapon used.

"The Anxietron Ray?" repeated James.

"It's a… Ray gun… that turns… those inflicted… to see… their… worst fears!" stuttered Krang. "And Bebop… and Rocksteady… used it… on us!"

"I can't move out of my fear!" shrieked Shredder.

"Yikes, dey're more scared dan you, James," Meowth compared.

"Not that I want to be the brave one," James dismissed. Through his cowardice state, Krang had an idea.

"The ray… might have left… residual… particles… in the air," he trembled. "Perhaps… the computer… can find an… antidote!" James had an idea.

"Never fear!" he proclaimed. "I will restore order!"

"D-Don't be… absurd!" shivered Jessie. "You don't have… the courage… to find it!"

"You're in no condition to address me like this!" refused James. "I have to stand where you cannot!" Meowth sighed to the thought.

"I mean, what choice do we have?" he shrugged. Back in the Lair, Ash and Pikachu arrived where Brock and Zach waited.

"Ash, I was just about to contact you," Brock pointed out. "What happened?"

"I saw the Turtles struck by the Anxietron Ray and flee," he explained.

"That's what I figured from before," Zach confirmed. "Look." Ash and Pikachu became worried and looked, finding the Turtles under their beds. They shook, made quivering noises, lying in fetal positions…

"Is th-that Shred… head?" a scared Michelangelo asked. Splinter looked on, helpless.

"It's me and Pikachu, guys," Ash assured.

"I'm too- Too scared… to look…" shivered Donatello. Pikachu came to Raphael. The Turtle looked, but jumped at the sight.

"GET AWAY!" he shrieked. On his knees and holding his head facing away from Pikachu, Raphael cowered in the corner.

"We… need… to… get over… this… fear," Leonardo stuttered. "This… isn't like… us."

"This is the utmost troubling," Splinter studied. "I have never seen my sons in this condition before."

"And with Bebop and Rocksteady running amok, who knows who else could be struck with that Ray," Brock assumed. "Hopefully, Channel 6 has some dirt on this." He turned on the TV and April was in front of the building Bebop and Rocksteady targeted.

"Authorities are still unraveling the case of the stolen Anxietron Ray, taken from here in Unbridled Technologies," she reported. "The Anxietron Ray, invented by Dr. L'Estrange, was to be used in military practices for undisclosed matters. Dr. L'Estrange could not be reached for comment due to his fears…" Ash, Brock, Splinter and Zach listened to April's report.

"And to think, I was nearly struck with that," Ash realized. "But how long will it take for the effects to wear off?"

"I'm afraid I do not have an answer, young Ash," Splinter shook his head. "The Anxietron Ray is still relatively new to us." Ash wondered about how to stop Bebop and Rocksteady's rampage.

"And if we saw correctly," Zach recalled. "Those two used the Ray into that portal linking back to Shredder." This made Splinter concerned.

"It would seem as though his mutants have rebelled against Shredder for his treatment," he assessed. "As much as I do not want to leave my sons, if Oroku Saki has been inflicted by the same weapon… We must secure the weapon should Shredder recover before my sons do." Brock had an idea.

"I remember that there was filming going on in Uptown," he recalled. "Something involving a monster called 'Gorgonzola'." Zach believed what Bebop and Rocksteady could do with the filming.

"You don't think Bebop and Rocksteady plan to use Gorgonzola to terrorize the city," he assumed.

"Keep in mind, those two have the power to run rough shot with that device," Ash reminded. "So anything can happen now that the Turtles are disabled." Raphael popped his shivering head.

"I wouldn't… say disabled…" he corrected. "More of… deterred from action." He ducked back behind the wall.

("What a sad state,") Pikachu sighed. Ash had an idea.

"What we need is someone to go to the filming site," he started. "We also need to find Dr. L'Estrange and question him about how to reverse the effects of his Ray."

"But if what happened to L'Estrange happened to the Turtles," Brock pointed out. "Someone might need to snap him out."

"I will also join," Splinter offered. The others seemed surprised.

"But Master Splinter!" voiced Zach. "Someone has to keep an eye on the Turtles!"

"They will be safe here," Splinter gulped. "For our sake." At a new part of the city, Pete set a camera at a giant green lizard with a head like a dragon and scales from the shoulder down to the tail with short arms. By the giant lizard was a control panel being operated.

"Work with me, baby!" shouted Pete gleefully. "Come on, big boy!" The man controlling the lizard made it move its arms and rolled the head.

"It's a hundred-foot kaiju robot, not a supermodel," a mustached, pepper-haired man in glasses groaned to Pete. He wore a beige jacket while waiving a stack of papers. "Okay, people… this is gonna be the greatest Gorgonzola picture yet!" He tore the papers up. "We're throwing out the script! We're going all ad-lib for this, and we have this fabulous Gorgonzola robot! You can see the control panel that operates Gorgonzola." The operators made the robot move as Pete rolled film. "Okay, big guy… Give me anger!" Gorgonzola made a thunderous roar. "Beautiful! No, really… I felt that one, I did."

"It's a hundred-foot kaiju robot, not a German Shepherd," Pete reiterated. From City Hall, Bebop and Rocksteady found Gorgonzola from the Mayor's Office.

"Look!" urged Bebop. When Rocksteady did look, he did a double take.

"I don't believe it!" he gasped. "It's Gorgonzola!"

"But what's he doing here?"

"He must be trying ta take over da city!" Grabbing the Ray, Rocksteady had an idea. "But not fer long!" They hurried out of City Hall and to the movie site.

"Boy, Gorgonzola's bigger up close!"

"Yous got notin' ta worry about! We's takin' Gorgonzola!" He fired the Ray, but it seemed ineffective. Bebop sensed the problem.

"Hey, it ain't workin'!" he alerted. "It's not scared of us!"

"Gorgonzola's a machine!" the director pointed out. "Machines don't have emotions!" Rocksteady gawked at the realization.

"Now someone tells us," he gulped.

"But it shouldn't be dat much of a problem," Bebop scoffed as he took the Ray and blasted the director. He became a groveling mess.

"O-Okay, that's a-a wrap!" he trembled. "Let's run… and hide!" He raced out as Rocksteady used the Ray on the controlling crew. They fled and the mutants came to the control panel.

"Now, ta get Gorgonzola to have fun!" cheered Rocksteady. They messed around and caused Gorgonzola to stomp and chomp at the buildings nearby.

"Great, and me without something to alert the Turtles," Pete gulped. He spotted the mutants, knowing they weren't part of the cast. "It's you two again!" Bebop and Rocksteady gawked to seeing Pete.

"It's dat cameraman!" alerted Bebop.

"So, we can just make him afraid of us," Rocksteady suggested. "Or Gorgonzola!" He made Gorgonzola reach Pete and grabbed him.

"Whoa!" he yelped. As he was lifted over Gorgonzola's head, Pete had a sense of dread. "I'm not sure I can fill your gut!"

"Don't worry about it!" assured Rocksteady. "Ya're just a snack. Da Toitles are da main course!" Gorgonzola released Pete and entered through the mouth. He traveled through a jungle gym of pneumatic gears and rods that made Gorgonzola move. His feet were tangled in some wires, and he hung upside-down. From one bounce, the jewel case with the ring fell from his jacket pocket.

"My engagement ring!" he yelped. "I can't lose it! I payed a fortune!" As he hung around, Brock and Splinter found April at the Unbridled Technologies lab.

"Master Splinter?" realized April. "Brock? What are you two doing here?"

"We came to see if the Ray Dr. L'Estrange made has a method to reverse its effects," Brock briefed. "The Turtles were struck with it and Master Splinter can't get them to fight back." April's eyes widened.

"They're under the Ray's effects?" she repeated.

"If anyone has the science to undo this burden, the doctor can help," Splinter assumed.

"Not that I don't believe you," April doubted. "But good luck trying to reason with Dr. L'Estrange at his current state."

"We will know for sure," Splinter promised.

"Meanwhile, Ash and Zach are checking on the Gorgonzola set," Brock informed. April seemed confused about the second name.

"Zach?" she repeated.

"He's helped the Turtles before, apparently," Brock shrugged.

"And Pete's covering the Gorgonzola film," April remembered. "Inform me if you find out. I got a cameraman to check in on." She hopped into the news van and hurried out of there. Zach, Ash and Pikachu arrived to see Gorgonzola.

"Check it out!" gasped Zach. "It's Gorgonzola!" Ash didn't look impressed.

"After seeing a giant Pokémon by Bill's lab," he muttered. "This one's… meh…" He softly shook his leveled hand.

"I want to know about that later on," Zach wished. Suddenly, the Turtle Comm beeped. Ash answered, Brock on the other side.

"Ash, are you at the movie site?" asked Brock.

"We are," Ash confirmed.

"Pete should also be there," Brock warned. "This may be a chance to get some dirt on the action." The three looked around, but they couldn't find Pete.

"We don't see anyone," Zach replied. "Not even the film crew." Hearing Zach, Splinter sensed a problem.

"They may have been struck by the Anxietron Ray," he pondered.

"And April's on her way there," Brock added. "They may use it on her and hold her hostage." Pikachu realized the dire situation before spotting Bebop and Rocksteady.

("Those mutants!") he called out. Ash and Zach turned to see Pikachu's fixed direction before seeing the two mutants.

"We can't let them use the Anxietron Ray on anyone else!" urged Ash before the three pursued Bebop and Rocksteady. The chase was on… while Pete was left inside and dangling.

"ANYONE OUT THERE!?" he yelled. "A LITTLE HELP HERE!" What will the Turtles' backup do to rid the Turtles of their scared curse?

TO BE CONTINUED...