One of my favorite Season 1 episodes!
Also, it's the one-year anniversary of this fic! (Remember when I said that my middle school years were the worst years of my life? Oh, past me, you sweet summer child! Without going into detail, let's just say: dealing with intrusive thoughts and undiagnosed scrupulosity, as well as all the overthinking, anxiety and distress that comes with it, isn't fun. I now know why people with actual OCD get mad when others think their disorder is "quirky")
And a year from now, we can look back at this chapter and think, "We had no idea what we had coming."
But enough about me! Onto the fic!
Chapter 5: I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman
"Jade, please!" Mikey begged, giving his sister the infamous puppy-dog eyes. Jade's own eyes widened, and she looked behind him at Leo, Raph and Donnie. All three of them were giving her various 'don't do it' gestures.
Jade looked back at Mikey, still giving her that pleading look. After a few seconds, she sighed in defeat. "Okay," she said softly.
Mikey lit up like a Christmas tree, while his older brothers all visibly deflated.
OoOoOoO
"Guys, guys! Get in your spot!"
"Alright Mikey, but this is the last time!"
"Okay Mikey, but don't flip me this time!"
"Ugh, ate too much cheese."
If one were to look into the pit, they would find it littered with pizza boxes, cans, and pizza crusts. And of course, a giant wooden ramp, with Mikey on top holding his skateboard. Back on the ground, Jade, Leo, Raph and Donnie were all laying on their fronts, forming a line moving away from the ramp.
"And now the kid goes for the world record!" Mikey announced, setting his skateboard down and putting one foot on it. "He will attempt to jump three mutant turtles, and one mutant cat!"
"I can't believe he talked us into this," Raph grumbled out. Jade, who was on the other side of Raph, sheepishly refused to meet his glare.
"Ha!" Mikey exclaimed, going down the ramp on his skateboard. "Booyakasha!"
"What is going on in here?!"
The voice and tone made the oldest four stand up instinctively, their eyes wide. "Sensei!" Leo exclaimed in surprise.
Mikey yelled in surprise as he continued barreling towards his siblings on his skateboard, all four of them yelling as well right before he collided with them, sending the five teens to the ground in a daze.
Splinter approached them, his shadow falling on top of them. "How many times have I told you not to skateboard in the lair?"
"None, Sensei," Mikey answered, currently laying on his back on top of his siblings.
"I shouldn't have to tell you!" Splinter snapped.
They stood up. "You're right, Sensei," Leo said, as he, Raph and Donnie glared at Mikey and Jade, who both looked nervous. "We definitely should've known better." All five of them lowered their heads. "And we deserve to be punished." Leo opened one eye. "Uh, some."
Splinter narrowed his eyes, then turned to the eldest. "Jade?" he said, making her open her eyes, still looking nervous. "What do you think would be a fitting punishment?" he asked, stroking his beard and lowering himself so he was eye-level with his daughter.
Jade blinked in surprise. She turned to her brothers, who were all doing something to avoid eye contact with her. She turned back to Splinter. "Um," she said softly. "W-We should…clean up our mess?" Splinter crossed his arms over his chest, so Jade added on, "And…think about what we've done?" she smiled timidly.
Around her, her brothers made various noises of agreement.
"Yeah. No worries."
"Sounds about right."
"We were wrong."
"Wouldn't want to do too much."
Splinter, on the other hand, was not as agreeable. "What about being grounded for a week?"
"Oh, no, it's alright, Sensei."
"Oh, I'm not sure that—"
"I'm cool with the thinking."
"Really, that's not necessary."
"Maybe next time."
"You're grounded for a week!" Splinter declared.
The five teens all groaned in unison. "Sorry…" Jade said quietly to her brothers.
And as if on cue, the ramp groaned and fell over, loudly breaking and making the teens wince and straighten up, Jade flattening her ears to her head.
OoOoOoO
Raph groaned as he paced in the pit. Leo and Jade were all sitting on the edge, while Mikey was laying on his back. Jade, sitting in between her brothers, stared at her feet in shame.
"Gah!" Raph exclaimed. "This bites! I can't believe we're stuck down here for a whole week!"
"Sorry," Jade said.
"Stop apologizing!" Raph snapped, startling the feline.
"Guys! Guys!" Donnie's excited voice made them all turn to him, the genius running up to them with a grin. "You wanna see what I made?"
Raph turned his other siblings. "This is how bored I am," he said, then turned back to his immediate younger brother. "Yes, Donnie, I do."
"Okay, okay, okay," Donnie said. "Remember, the other day, I was scrounging around in that military junkyard?"
"No," his siblings all answered.
"Well," Donnie continued. "I found an incredibly advanced A.I. microchip made from—get this—self-assembled, chain-linked copolymers!"
"That's my favorite kind of copolymer!" Mikey said, then turned his attention back to his comic book.
"Mine too!" Donnie exclaimed. "And I used it to make this," he pulled out a small, circular white device with a glowing blue screen. "The most advanced music player in the world!"
Leo, Raph, Mikey and Jade all gathered around, staring at the device in awe. "Whoa…" they all said.
"So who wants to try it?" Donnie asked, pressing a button on the screen.
"I do!" Mikey shot his hand up. "Toss me the T-Pod?"
"The T-Pod?" Donnie echoed in confusion.
"Turtle. Pod. T-Pod," Mikey said. He chuckled. "I am so good at namin' stuff." Donnie handed him the newly named T-Pod, and he popped the ear-phones in.
Leo, Raph and Jade all gathered around Donnie. "You're really gonna plug an advanced piece of military technology directly into Mikey's head?" Raph asked, tapping his own head to emphasize. "But what if it melts his brain?" Jade's eyes widened at those words.
"It won't," Donnie reassured. "And even if it did, who'd know the difference?" Jade relaxed a bit, but didn't look fully convinced.
Mikey pressed play on the T-Pod…and immediately started screaming, falling to his knees.
"Oh!" Jade exclaimed, as Donnie yelled out, "What? What's wrong?"
"It's polka!" Mikey yelled dramatically. "Make it stop! Make it stop!"
Jade visibly relaxed. And Donnie, with the biggest eye roll Jade had ever seen from him, walked over and pressed a button on the T-Pod. It must've changed the music, based on Mikey's expression.
"Thanks," the orange-clad turtle said as Donnie walked away. Mikey's eyes widened before a wide smile graced his features. He stood back up and started dancing to the music…which the rest of his siblings couldn't hear.
They watched him for several seconds before Raph said, "That's it. I gotta get out of here." And started to walk towards the entrance.
"Where are you going?" Leo asked as he followed Raph, leaving Donnie and Jade, the former continuing to watch Mikey while the latter stared after the eldest two turtles. "We're grounded."
"I don't care," Raph said. "I gotta do something or I'm gonna go nuts." He stomped on a skateboard near his foot, causing it to fly up towards him, which he caught with ease. "Let's find a skate spot."
"Skate spot?" Mikey practically shouted back. "I'm totally in!"
"But what's Splinter gonna say?" Leo pointed out.
"I don't know what's going on, because they snuck out while I was asleep," Raph said in a poor imitation of Splinter. Jade brought a hand to her mouth to prevent laughter from escaping.
Leo let out a noise somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. "Real mature," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "But I'm your leader. And as your leader, I say nobody's going."
"Well," Raph said as Donnie and Mikey stood next to him. "As your followers, we're going anyway."
Leo sputtered in exasperation for a moment, then turn to Jade, the only one still at his side. As soon as she made eye contact with him, he quickly glanced over at their brothers and then back at her. She looked over at the younger three, who were all looking at her expectantly.
The same guilt from before chose that moment to amplify itself. It kind of…okay, not 'kind of', it was her fault that they got grounded in the first place. Not to mention failing to request a punishment that Splinter would've been pleased with.
On one hand, she didn't want to disobey Splinter. But on the other hand…
"Maybe…" Jade started to say timidly, twirling a strand of hair with one finger and lowering her gaze to the ground. "…Just one night of skateboarding won't hurt?"
Donnie and Mikey both grinned at her answer, while Raph smirked at Leo, who just looked more annoyed than anything. "Well, then," Leo said. "As your leader, I'm going with you guys. To lead you…away from…bad stuff…" he trailed off awkwardly.
Before anyone could respond, Mikey suddenly yelled and fell down again. "What's wrong?" Leo asked as they all gathered around him.
"It's back to polka!" Mikey said, holding up the T-Pod. "We've gotta get some more tunes on this."
OoOoOoO
The five siblings practically flew across the New York City rooftops. Leo, Raph and Donnie were all running with their own skateboards strapped to their shells. Mikey was riding his while listening to the T-Pod. And Jade ran with her own skateboard—one with a pink and black board, green wheels, and the words 'JESUS FREAK' written underneath in white paint surrounded by white speckles—tucked under her left arm.
"Hey, Donnie!" Mikey called out. "Thanks for all the new songs!"
"Wait," Donnie said. "What new songs?"
"Keep it down, you guys," Leo hissed as Donnie flipped over to Mikey, landing upside with his hands on the youngest's shoulders.
"What the…?" Donnie said, looking at the T-Pod. "It's got thousands of songs and it keeps downloading new ones every second."
"So?" Raph said, running by Mikey's side.
"So, I didn't program it to do that," Donnie said, jumping off Mikey and running on his other side. "It's reconfiguring itself somehow." Jade joined them, landing on the other side of Donnie, who gasped in realization. "It's that chip!"
"Uh…" Jade said nervously. "Is that safe?"
"Whatever it is, it's awesome!" Mikey shouted, using a skylight to launch himself up and grabbing his skateboard with his free hand as he soared through the air.
"Guys!" Leo snapped at them in a hushed shout. "We're ninjas, remember? We move swiftly and, here's the important part, silently!"
And barely a second later, Leo missed the drop to the next roof and fell, yelling in surprise before crashing into a greenhouse before. Jade, Raph, Donnie and Mikey all halted on the edge of their rooftop. The sounds of more crashing came from the greenhouse, along with Leo's yell of, "Beehive!"
Leo was still yelling as he crashed through the back of the greenhouse and over that rooftop's edge, then grunted in pain as he loudly tumbled down the fire escape and finally landed in the alleyway below, landing on cardboard boxes and bags of trash. Jade was certain she also heard a car alarm being set off nearby.
The others made their way to the rooftop's edge, with Raph and Mikey smiling in amusement, while Jade winced and Donnie stared with wide eyes. They jumped onto the first fire escape below, still looking down at their blue-clad brother, who's eyes were practically spinning as he groaned.
"That wasn't very silent, Leo!" Raph called.
OoOoOoO
After making sure Leo was okay, the five continued their rooftop run, and eventually stopped at a rooftop that overlooked the entrance to some research institute in Brooklyn. "Check that out," Raph said. The area had several steps and handrails.
"Let's grind it," Mikey said, not looking up from the T-Pod.
Jade opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off as the sound of mechanical whirring nearby hit her ears. Her ears perked up and she looked down, half-expecting to find a Kraangdroid below, only to see nothing. Just as she did so, Donnie looked to the left and asked, "Who the heck is that guy?"
Jade, along with the rest of the Turtles, looked over. Walking down the street was a dark-skinned man with glasses, a pink sweater…and some kind of robotic armor.
"I don't know," Raph said. "But he needs a beatdown."
"Hold on, Raph," Leo said. "We don't know that he's gonna do anything wrong. He…He could be on his way to…church."
"Wearing powered battle armor?" Raph asked. "What kinda church is that?"
"A really awesome one," Mikey answered, making Leo facepalm.
"Look, it's my call," the leader said. "I decide who gets a beatdown." The five watched as the man approached a garage door in an alleyway, and started using a blowtorch from his gauntlet on the padlock. "That guy needs a beatdown." The siblings jumped down into the alleyway.
The blowtorch abruptly stopped working before the lock could fall off. "Are you kidding me?" the man asked in exasperation. He hit it a few times. "Oh, come on!" When that didn't work, he kicked the garage door and fruitlessly tried to lift it up with his hands. "Stupid door!" he grunted, unaware of the five mutants that landed behind him.
"This is just kinda sad," Donnie whispered, standing in between Jade and Mikey.
"Yeah," Mikey said. "I don't know if we should pound him or buy him an ice cream cone."
Leo drew both katanas. "Halt, villain!" The man stopped and turned around.
"Halt, villain?" Raph echoed. "When did we start talkin' like that?"
"We're heroes," Leo said over his shoulder. "That-That's how heroes talk."
The man fully turned towards them, aiming the blowtorch at them. "You will feel the fury of my powered battle—" he stopped as it finally clicked. "Whoa! You guys are turtles! And a cat!"
"That's right!" Leo exclaimed in a heroic voice. "We're the Turtles and Cat of Justice!"
"Wow," Raph said dryly. "I mean, just…wow."
The man charged towards them with a yell. Leo jumped towards him, and Raph, Donnie and Jade (still had her skateboard tucked under her left arm) all drew their weapons and followed suit.
"Wait!" Mikey called. The eldest four and the man all stopped mid-attack to look at him. The freckled turtle hummed to himself as he put the T-Pod away and pulled out his nunchucks. "Okay."
Mikey went first, jumping over the man and hitting the back of his helmet with his nunchucks. Donnie went second, using his skateboard to jump onto the man's shoulders, use his staff to dislodge some wires on the side of the helmet, and jump back onto his skateboard.
Raph was third, skating to the man and jumping over him, his Sai slicing through a few wires on the man's shoulder. Leo was fourth, skating under the man and using his katanas to slice a few parts of his leg armor off. And Jade went last, zooming past the man on her skateboard and using her Tessen to slice the blowtorch off.
The man stumbled back, and his elbow hit the window of a nearby door. A shrill alarm blared through the alleyway, making Jade flinch and flatten her ears, while the Turtles' eyes widened. The man stumbled forward, knocking over a trash can.
Raph, who was on top of the alleyway's dumpster, lifted up the other lid and gestured towards the inside, causing the rest of his siblings to grin. All five of them charged at the man and lifted him up, causing him to yelp. "No!" he exclaimed as they carried him to the dumpster. "No! No!" they all tossed him in. "You're not the first to ever throw me in the trash! But I swear that you will be the last—"
Raph slammed the lid shut before he could finish. "Sorry," Jade said instinctively.
"I said stop apologizing!" Raph snapped, making the feline jump slightly.
The alarm was quickly accompanied by police sirens, and a familiar flashing of red and blue lights.
"Oh snap, it's the po-po!"
"Let's go!"
"Go! Go!"
The five hurriedly climbed the fire escape and onto the rooftop, right before the police car showed up. The cops could handle it from here.
OoOoOoO
The five of them skated through various alleyways, whooping and cheering and laughing all the while, before arriving at the familiar manhole cover. Leo moved the lid out of the way, and they all jumped in one-by-one. Donnie, the last one in, put the cover back on.
Not too long afterwards, Leo swam through an entrance connected to the pool in the lair. He glanced around as his head resurfaced, and once he was sure the coast was clear, he pulled himself up on the edge and stood up. Behind him, his brothers and sister followed suit.
"Alright!" Raph said, pulling himself up. "We made it home!"
"Shh!" Leo hissed as his siblings all stood up. "It's two AM!"
"And Splinter's still asleep," Mikey said with a mischievous grin, while Raph smirked and tossed his skateboard off to the side. Jade, standing in between Mikey and Leo, started shivering and grabbed her arms. "This is epic."
"It's not epic," Leo said. "It was a really bad idea."
"No, it wasn't," Raph argued, flipping into the pit and landing on the beanbag chair. "We got out there and stomped a sleazeball. So, what's the problem?"
Jade suddenly shook herself, making Mikey, Donnie and Leo all yelp in surprise and try to shield themselves from the flying water droplets. She wasn't dry, though, and looked sheepish once she was done. "Sor—"
"Don't," Raph cut her off. "Finish. Saying that."
Jade silently lowered her gaze, hugging her arms again. "I'm gonna go dry off," she said quietly, and headed towards the bathroom.
Right as she left, Mikey's eyes widened as a realization hit him. He looked in his belt and checked over himself…but he couldn't find the T-Pod.
OoOoOoO
Jade's eyes drooped as she sloppily did her katas, giving half-hearted kicks and punches to an invisible foe. Since she had hidden her wet clothes in her laundry basket last night, she was wearing her old training clothes: a pink exercise shirt and black basketball shorts.
"Knees higher, Leonardo!" she heard Splinter call out. "Extend, Michelangelo! Raphael, you call that a Koho Tenkai? Because I do not!"
"Whoa!" Donnie's yell made Jade's eyes snap open right before something suddenly hit her from behind, knocking her to the carpet as she let out a surprised squeak. It took her a moment to realize that 'something' was Donnie, who was now laying on top of her. "Ow, oh!" he groaned.
"Donnie…" Jade groaned out. The purple-masked turtle quickly got off her.
"Oops, sorry, Jade," he said as she sat up and rubbed her shoulder.
"Yame!" Splinter exclaimed, jumping up. The five swiftly lined up and kneeled in front of their Sensei. He gave them a once-over. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
"Something we wanna tell you?" Mikey said. Jade, who was kneeling between him and Donnie, took a sudden interest in staring at the carpet. "Heh. Nope."
"You all seem tired," Splinter said. The Turtles' eyes widened, and Jade refused to look up.
"We're not!" Leo reassured with a smile.
"Wide awake!" Donnie agreed, grinning.
"Fresh as daisies!" Raph added on, looking unusually cheerful.
Mikey, however, yawned and collapsed onto the floor. Jade's eyes widened and she pulled him back up by his shell. She then made the mistake of looking up and making eye contact with Splinter, whose eyes just seemed to pierce her soul. She let out a nervous chuckle.
"So you would not object to a little…Randori?" Splinter asked, pulling a wooden sword out of seemingly nowhere. Mikey audibly gulped, and all five of them suddenly looked terrified.
Five smacks rung through the air, and within seconds, the siblings found themselves on the floor in pain, groaning and holding their heads.
"I hope you have learned, my children," Splinter said. "That truth isn't the only thing that hurts."
OoOoOoO
Training eventually ended. The headaches from the Randori, however, lingered. Jade had made the five of them some hot cocoa—silently thanking April again for bringing it to the lair—with drops of her blood in each mug.
Right now, the feline was napping on the couch close to Raph, who was on the beanbag reading one of his comics. Her hair was down, with her pink mask tied around her neck like a bandana. Leo was in the pit watching a rerun of Space Heroes. The blue-masked turtle smiled widely at the screen, taking a sip of his cocoa. Mikey and Donnie were both off somewhere, doing their own things.
"We may have started this rebellion by accident," Leo said alongside Captain Ryan. "But by the Rings of Nebulon, we are going to finish it on purpose!"
"Aye, sir!" the other crew members cheered.
"Seen this enough times there, chief?" Raph asked dryly. Jade stirred, but didn't wake up.
"Would you—shh!" Leo shushed as Raph reached down and grabbed his own mug, previously resting next to the beanbag, with one hand. "This is the best part!"
Captain Ryan held up his laser gun, and—
The TV cut to static, and the Channel 6 breaking news card appeared on the screen. "We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news."
"Aww!" Leo exclaimed in dejection. However, his eyes widened at what appeared on screen.
"We've received shocking footage of an assault on the TCRI office complex in Brooklyn."
Raph looked up, and nearly spat out his cocoa. He closed his comic book and settled it on his lap, and turned to shake his sister awake by her shoulder. "Jade," he said.
"Ugh, mermaids n' apples…" she muttered as she opened her eyes, then blearily looked up at Raph. "What?"
The red-masked turtle didn't say a word. He merely turned her head towards the TV with his hand. A second later, her eyes widened.
It was the same man they took down last night, tearing through the office and throwing tables out of his way. Except now he was wearing a large silver and red robotic suit.
"At last!" the man declared. "I will have my revenge!"
"Who…Who are you?" someone asked off-screen.
"You'll never know," the man replied. "I'm the thing that haunts your nightmares! I'm the nameless shadow who—"
"Baxter?" another voice asked.
"No," the man said.
"Baxter Stockman?" the same voice pressed. The camera zoomed out to show him hiding behind his desk.
"No!" the man said, sounding a bit stressed now.
"Hey, everybody!" the employee called out. "It's Baxter Stockman!"
"I think his name is Baxter Stockman," Raph said, crossing his arms over his chest. At some point, Mikey and Donnie had entered the pit and watched it with their older siblings.
"Is this because I fired you?" another voice asked.
"That copy machine was already broken when I—" Stockman started to argue. "I mean—uh—I don't know what you're talking about!"
"How did he upgrade his armor so fast?" Leo asked.
Stockman looked at the camera, and roared as he attacked it. The screen turned to static for a split-second, then back to reveal that the video had frozen. And it was zoomed in on a familiar circular device, located on the chest of Stockman's armor.
Five pairs of eyes widened. "He has the T-Pod?!" Donnie whipped around to Mikey, who suddenly looked nervous.
"Oh, uh, heh," Mikey said. "I might've dropped that during the fight."
"You dropped it during the fight?!" Donnie practically yelled as he shoved his face into Mikey's, who shrunk back.
"It's your fault!" Mikey argued back.
"How is it my fault?" Donnie asked.
"You know I can't be trusted with nice things!" Mikey said.
To say that Donnie looked furious would be an understatement. Mikey shrunk away and scurried to hide behind Jade, who blinked in surprise. Donnie continued to glare at his younger brother, but didn't go after him.
"So the A.I. chip is upgrading his armor the same way it upgraded the T-Pod?" Leo asked, one hand on his chin.
"And if it keeps going, there's no tellin' how powerful he'll get," Donnie confirmed.
"This has gone too far…" Jade said softly, then continued a bit louder, "Guys, we need to tell Sensei about this."
"What, that we turned some nutjob into a supervillain?" Raph asked rhetorically. "Do you know what he'll do to us for that? I mean, he pounded us into the ground just for being sleepy!"
"W-Well, we—" Jade tried to argue, only to be cut off by Donnie.
"Look," he said. "We beat Stockman once, we can beat him again. We track him down, grab the T-Pod, and get back here before Splinter knows anything."
"If my opinion counts for anything," Mikey said, now laying upside down on the beanbag and reading a comic book. "Donnie's right."
"Hey, thanks, Mikey," Donnie said with a smile, only for it to drop and for him to glare at the youngest. "But it doesn't."
"Didn't think so," Mikey said, not even looking away from the comic.
OoOoOoO
"I'm not Baxter Stockman. I am…the Baxman! No, no I, uh…I am…the Suitinator! Aw, that's terrible! Captain…Punch-You-Hard! Guh, why is this so difficult?"
Five shadows surrounded Stockman.
"I kinda liked the Suitinator," Mikey admitted.
Stockman looked up and around in surprise. "You guys again?" All five of them had their weapons drawn.
"Alright, Stockman," Leo said calmly. "Nobody wants to hurt you."
"We don't?" Raph asked. "Did I miss a meeting?"
"We just want the T-Pod," Leo continued.
"Give up my source of power?" Stockman asked. "Why? So you can laugh at me again?" He stood up. "Throw me in a dumpster?"
All five blinked at him, though Raph growled with a smirk. "Sounds good to me."
Sais in hand, Raph charged at Stockman with a yell, but was thrown into the wall as Stockman delivered a spiraling punch. Parts of the wall fell off and on top of Raph right after he hit the floor.
Jade, who was standing behind Stockman, narrowed her eyes at the man and slunk back into the shadows.
Leo, Mikey and Donnie all charged at Stockman this time. Stockman's robotic arms extended and shoved both Donnie and Mikey into nearby walls. He tried to grab Leo as well, but he quickly jumped over the hand and landed on the arm, dragging the tip of his katana along the side of it as he ran up towards Stockman. Once he was close enough, Leo jumped and cleanly sliced the limb off.
Stockman gritted his teeth and glared at Leo, who landed on his feet on the ground. Meanwhile, from the giant machine hanging from the ceiling, a shadowy figure narrowed her eyes again. Stockman raised his other arm and swung down, only for Leo to slice that arm off, too. The large robotic hand hit the ground behind him.
Jade suddenly dropped down from the machine and landed on the armor right in front of Stockman, digging her claws into the metal shoulders to hold herself in place. Stockman yelped in surprise right before she unhooked her right claws and slammed the heel of her palm into his nose. Not hard enough to break it, but still hard enough for him to make the robotic body stumble backwards.
Her left claws still secured, Jade lowered herself just enough to reach down with her right and grab the T-Pod. But before she could pull it out, Stockman, who regained himself as his nose started to bruise, smirked as the suit rapidly regenerated its arms. Leo barely had time to say, "What the—?" before the left hand grabbed Jade, who yelped in surprise as she was yanked away and held up. And the T-Pod was still in-place.
At the same time, the robotic hand suddenly jumped up on its own, standing upright like a spider and a small robotic head with a red light popping up. Leo, oblivious to the danger behind him, gripped his katanas and looked ready to slice the left arm again…only for the little robot to jump on Leo and attach itself to his head.
"Get it off!" Leo cried out as he ran around, Stockman laughing at him. "Get it off!"
Jade wanted to help him, but grunted in frustration when she realized that Stockman was holding her too tight to escape. Despite her arms being pinned at her side, she moved her hand as much as she could and brushed her fingers against her Tessen, which she had sheathed earlier.
Raph and Donnie pulled themselves out of the rubble. As Leo tried in vain to yank the robot off his head, it turned its own head towards Raph and Donnie. It fired lasers at them, which they jumped into the air to avoid, and landed with their weapons drawn.
But the robot merely blasted those out of their hands, making their eyes widen.
"Lasers!" Donnie cried out. The little robot suddenly electrocuted Leo, and when it stopped, he turned and ran towards his brothers. Raph and Donnie ran, with the robot continuing to fire lasers at them.
Stockman laughed again, but it was cut short when a Tessen suddenly ricocheted off his left cheek. He yelled out and dropped Jade to bring both hands to his face in pain. Jade landed on her feet and caught her Tessen as it boomeranged back to her.
Mikey popped up from the rubble. "Hey, Stockman!" he called out, jumping up and tumbling towards the man. Jade jumped to her brother's side the moment he straightened himself up, and Mikey pressed the button to make the blade of his kusarigama pop out. The two siblings smirked at each other for a moment, then returned their attention to Stockman, who lowered his hands to look at them.
With a shout, Mikey swung the chain at Stockman, wrapping it around him and pinning his arms to his sides. Jade gripped her Tessen and looked ready to charge in, when Stockman suddenly started spinning like a top, causing Mikey to go flying around him. Jade barely had time to process this before her youngest brother smacked into her, sending her flying several feet and tumbling on the ground with a groan of pain. Her Tessen had been knocked out of her hand the moment she hit the ground, and clattered as it fell a few feet away.
Jade pulled herself up just as Leo, his head now robot-free, returned with Raph and Donnie. By now, Stockman had grabbed the chain and was spinning Mikey around with it, not unlike how the youngest would twirl his nunchucks.
The eldest four glared at Stockman, and quickly picked up their weapons and jumped towards him with a yell. Raph landed first, and Stockman hit him with Mikey, sending them both down. Leo cut the chains before he could pull the youngest back. And Donnie and Jade landed in front of Stockman. The naginata blade popped out of Donnie's staff, which he swung at Stockman, only for it to be grabbed and crushed.
"Hey!" Donnie exclaimed.
Jade threw her Tessen at the T-Pod. It spiraled towards its target, but Stockman raised his left arm up at the last second, and the bladed fan imbedded itself into the metal. Jade's eyes widened as Stockman lowered his arm with a smirk, though the wide eyes quickly turned to a glare as Donnie dropped what was left of his staff, and the other three joined their sides.
The two opposing forces charged at each other with yells. An explosion rocked the building. And within seconds, Stockman burst through the wall with a loud, "Oh, yeah!" All five Hamato Siblings were in one of his robotic hands. Jade gripped her Tessen, which she had snapped shut. She had managed to grab it when they all jumped at him, but that was as far as she got.
Stockman walked over to an open dumpster and threw them all in. He laughed loudly. "Foolish turtles and cat!" he said. "Did you ever think you could defeat me?"
"Well, yeah," Mikey said simply, a pot from the dumpster having landed on his head.
"All my life, people have laughed at me," Stockman said. "The other kids in school. My co-workers. The woman who fixes the copy machine. How was I supposed to know you don't pour toner in the top? But when they behold the power of this suit, they won't be laughing anymore! They'll tremble in TERROR!"
At that last word, Stockman's suit rapidly enlarged. "What's happening?" Leo asked with wide eyes.
"Stockman and the T-Pod…" Donnie said in horrified realization as the suit continued to morph and grow. "They're…merging…They're becoming one single entity."
"The Stockman-Pod…" Mikey said as an ominous red light shined on them.
OoOoOoO
And that was how the Hamato siblings found themselves running through the streets of New York City, with Stockman hot on their tails.
"The Stockman-Pod's right on top of us!" Mikey cried out.
"Stop calling him that!" Raph snapped. "That's a stupid name!"
"How do we get rid of him?!" Jade wailed.
"Split up!" Leo order. "He can't follow us all!"
"No way!" Mikey said. "He's gonna follow me!"
"Why would he follow you?" Leo asked.
"They always follow me!" Mikey argued.
"Stop being paranoid and just do it!" Leo said.
Raph broke away first, running to a street on the right. Then Donnie, who turned left. Then Jade went to the next right. And Leo went left after that.
"AHHH!" Mikey yelled out, Stockman still right behind him. "I told you he was gonna follow me!"
Thankfully, Mikey managed to lose Stockman, and all five of them regrouped underground and hurried back to the lair, which was pitch-black right now. They all tried to be as quiet as possible while sneaking over the turnstiles and into their home.
Key word: tried.
"Shh! Guys, quiet. You're gonna wake him up."
"I'm not makin' noise."
"Shh!"
"Don't tell me to be quiet."
"Guys, shh!"
"Shh!"
The lights suddenly turned on. All five of them were on the stairs in front of the turnstiles, covered in bruises; Jade's were somewhat hidden by her fur, but still there nonetheless. They all froze up.
"Ah! Sensei!" Leo exclaimed. Splinter was standing in front of the dojo, his green staff in hand and stroking his beard.
"And where have you been?" he asked.
"Nowhere?" Raph said, one of his Sais sticking out of his carapace.
"How did you get so hurt?" Splinter pressed.
"Oh," Leo hid his broken katanas behind his shell. "That. Um, uh, w-well, we were, um…"
"Hit…" Raph continued.
"By a…" Donnie added.
"Giant…" Jade squeaked out.
"Bus?" Mikey finished with a sheepish grin. Splinter raised a brow at him, clearly not believing a word any of them said.
"Hit by a giant bus?" Donnie hissed at Mikey.
"Well, what was I supposed to say?" the freckled turtle snapped back. "Meteor? Cow? Flying building?" The two of them glared at each other.
"Enough!" Splinter slammed his staff down. The five all straightened up. "Tell me what happened."
OoOoOoO
"And then I threw hot cheese in his face and ran away," Mikey concluded. The siblings were sitting in front of Splinter in the dojo. They all had water bottles with them, which Jade had put drops of her blood into.
"Very resourceful, Michelangelo," Splinter said, the youngest taking a sip of his drink. "But I am still highly disappointed in you all. Have you forgotten the proverb: 'Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord'?" All five of them hung their heads in shame. "And the first rule of being a ninja is do no harm. Unless you mean to do harm. Then do lots of harm!"
"You're right, Sensei," Leo said, raising his head up. "I guess we did make a mess of things."
Splinter turned to the eldest, who was sitting in between Leo and Mikey. "Jade," he said, her head snapping up in surprise. "What do you think would be a fitting punishment?"
The feline blinked at his words, then straightened herself up. "We need to clean our mess," she said.
"Yes," Splinter said. "And while it is written that lying lips are an abomination to the Lord," the five all looked ashamed again. "But those who act faithfully are His delight. You must stop this Stockman-Pod."
"But, Sensei," Donnie said as he and the others looked back up. "That guy's already kicked our butts. And now he's even more powerful. How're we supposed to stop him?"
"I know," Raph said. "I'll hit him really hard!"
"Brute force is not the answer," Splinter said. "You will need to rely on your ninja training."
"Excuse me, Sensei," Mikey spoke up. "But…Ninjas never had to go up against guys in armor."
Splinter didn't say a word. Rather, he allowed Mikey to look at the wall behind him, which was decorated in illustrations of Japanese folktales. One of which was a group of ninjas battling a man in armor.
"Oh," Mikey said in realization. "I mean, ninjas always had to go up against guys in armor."
"Nice save," Raph said dryly.
"Sensei," Leo said. "What was their secret?"
"They understood that you do not fight the armor," Splinter replied. "You fight the man inside."
The eldest four all turned to look at Mikey, who glanced back them. "Why are we all lookin' at each other?" he asked with a grin. Raph looked annoyed, Leo and Donnie both sighed quietly, and Jade sheepishly refused to make eye contact with him.
OoOoOoO
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Donnie asked. He, Leo, Raph and Jade were all waiting together on a rooftop. Their bruises were gone by now.
"Like Sensei said," Leo said, crouching on top of an air conditioning unit. "Don't fight the armor. Fight the guy inside. And one thing we know about bad guys? They love chasing Mikey."
"Guys!" Mikey cried out. The eldest four widened their eyes. "Stockman-Pod's got…missiles!"
Indeed, eight missiles were chasing the youngest. Leo, Raph, Jade and Donnie all jumped out of the way, while Mikey ran up a nearby water tower and jumped up to a power line just as the missiles blew it up, securing himself in place with his nunchucks.
Stockman appeared on the rooftop, laughing as the eldest four ran around him with chains in their hands. They didn't hesitate to throw their chains and wrap them around Stockman. Leo and Jade both used their weights to pin their chains down, while Raph and Donnie yanked theirs as they walked backwards.
Mikey jumped down with a smirk. "Now who's tremblin' in ter—OH!"
Stockman broke free of the chains, then grabbed Mikey by his head and threw him into a nearby building.
"Mikey!" Jade and Donnie yelled at the same time.
"That's it!" Raph yelled, the four narrowing their eyes at Stockman. "You're goin' down!
They all charged at him with their weapons again. Donnie used his staff to catapult himself up and kick Stockman, then hit him with his staff, making him stumble backwards. Leo clashed his katanas against the armor, making sure to hit the right places to send him stumbling again.
Jade ran up behind him and slid between his legs, then jumped up and threw her Tessen at Stockman. It hit him in the face and ricocheted off, making him cry out and stumble back for a third time as he raised one arm to his face, while the weapon spiraled back to Jade and was caught by her. And Raph hit the armor a few times, before jumping up and stabbing both Sais into the top. It secured him for a second as Stockman tried to shake him off, then he backflipped off the armor when Stockman tried to swing at him.
Raph landed back on the roof and jumped towards Stockman, who dodged and hit the red-banded turtle hard enough to send him flying to another nearby rooftop.
"Raph!" Jade cried out. She charged at Stockman and tried to run and jump to the side, but wasn't quick enough and got hit by one of his arms. She was sent tumbling to another part of the rooftop, and slid to a stop. Her Tessen clattered as it landed next to her.
"Jade!" Leo exclaimed. He and Donnie jumped at Stockman, who extended both arms to grab them, slam them against each other hard enough to make them drop their weapons, and spin them around before throwing them off rooftop.
They both screamed at they fell, before Jade jumped down and grabbed them by their wrists. "Gotcha," she winced. She would've fallen with them if it wasn't for Raph, who was behind her with both arms around her waist.
Jade pulled Leo and Donnie back up with Raph's help, and all four them collapsed onto the rooftop. Stockman appeared in front of them, and Jade immediately jumped up to stand between him and her brothers. "Any last words?" he asked.
"Just one," Leo said. "Bees."
"Bees?" Stockman echoed in confusion.
"BEES!" Mikey yelled, zooming down a power cable with a beehive in one hand. Mikey landed on the rooftop and jumped up Stockman's armor to shove the beehive into the part where his face was exposed.
Stockman yelled and, in his panic, extended his armor, revealing something very important in the middle of the suit.
"The T-Pod!" Leo exclaimed.
Stockman pulled the beehive out, but the bees still swarmed him. The Hamato siblings lined up, their eyes whited out, and charged towards him. Mikey swung his nunchucks to hit the exposed area, sending Stockman backwards. Donnie jabbed the same area with his staff, making Stockman stumble again. Raph repeated the process with his Sais, getting the same result. Leo did the same with his katanas. And lastly, Jade sliced her Tessen.
Stockman kept stumbling back until he got to the edge, and yelled again as he fell backwards. A crashing sound filled the air, and the five looked over to the edge to see that he had fallen to the rooftop of a smaller building below, laying on his back.
When Stockman reopened his eyes, Leo was standing on the suit. He pointed the tip of his katana at Stockman's face, but then lowered it and stabbed the T-Pod, pulling it out of the suit. And with a bright flash of red light, the suit powered down.
Stockman groaned as he pulled himself out of the armor, his face now all bumpy from those bees. He looked up with a gasp as Jade, Raph, Donnie and Mikey all joined their brother. "So…" he said sheepishly. "We'll call it a tie?"
"Wanna call it a tie, Raph?" Leo asked with a smirk.
Raph stretched out his hands. "Not quite," he said.
Moments later, Stockman cried out, "No! No!" as they threw him into a nearby dumpster.
"Now it's a tie," Raph said, then slammed the lid shut. The five siblings laughed and cheered as they headed back to the lair.
OoOoOoO
"You all showed wisdom and great skill in defeating the Stockman-Pod," Splinter said, the five gathered around him in the dojo. "I am proud of you all."
"Does this mean we're not grounded anymore?" Leo asked hopefully.
Splinter stroked his beard in thought for a moment, then responded with, "Yes." They all smiled up at him.
"And, Sensei?" Jade spoke up. "We're sorry for lying."
"It is alright, my child," Splinter said. "But I'm not the one you need to seek forgiveness from."
An understanding look crossed all their faces, and they bowed their heads and closed their eyes.
"But first," Splinter said, making them look up as he held up a familiar wooden sword. "Randori!"
"AHHH!" they all screamed as they ran away.
If anyone's curious, the proverb that Splinter is referring to is Proverbs 12:22
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! Please leave a review letting me know what you think! Jesus loves you! Have a blessed day!