Author's Notes and Disclaimer: Hel-lo ev-ery-bo-dy! Man, oh, man, I am really, really sorry for this late update, but real life's been constantly knocking at my door, so I'm doing some Calculus II practice so that I'm ready to ace it this time in the upcoming Fall semester, I'm getting back to doing some drawing, and there's a bunch of other things going on that aren't really leaving me a lot of time to do what I'd like to do. On top of that, the new Netflix original anime series "Godzilla: Singular Point" is out and I'm now watching it through for the second time. And, because I'm hooked on Godzilla and TMNT, not to mention a few other things, I've got a crazy big crossover brewing in my mind that puts certain characters way, way, WAY out of their comfort zone, not to mention give big fat spoilers in regards to the timeline of my fanfic-verse. I'm trying to organize the chapters, but what I've got so far is what happens near the end (it's a real tearjerker, and that's all I'll say about it at the moment) and the group of characters I want that will split into two teams; you know, one goes with one of the main characters and the other goes with the second protagonist. Anyway, I'm surprised that no-one's put up a lot of fanfics around this new series. I guess either no-one's happy with it because there's too many humans and not enough kaiju, or not everyone's seen it yet. If anyone's interested to know who I've got in mind for the characters crossing over, please message me. Keep in mind, though, I can't please everyone. But enough about that and let's get on with why we're really here, shall we?
Here's the disclaimer: I don't own Godzooky; Hanna-Barbera does, or should I say Warner Bros. and Toho do. I don't own the series TMNT 1987 either; the series belongs to Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, Inc. and Viacom, and is based off the TMNT comic book series created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. I also don't own the characters of Bugs Bunny or Yogi Bear, who are both referenced here; Bugs belongs to Warner Bros. and Yogi belongs to Hanna-Barbera…although I guess since Warner Bros. now owns H-B, I guess that makes Yogi Bear Warner Bros. property as well.
Recap: Godzooky wakes up from the rest he took after doing one of the hardest things he's ever done: Telling his new family about seeing a group of soldiers meeting terrible ends while facing off a kaiju called the Eartheater in San Francisco. When he finally wakes, he joins the Turtles in trying to find the Technodrome again. Along the way, the TMNT learn more about Godzooky's sixth sense and the juvenile kaiju ends up saving Raphael's shell not once, but twice! However, the search is cut short when Zooky senses that Master Splinter is in danger, which is where this chapter begins…
Chapter 2
Godzooky knew that his sixth sense told him that Master Splinter was surrounded; the only trouble was it wasn't quite specific as to what the former human was surrounded by. That was why when the quintet arrived at the Lair, Zooky was confused by the sound of mechanical whirring and metallic clinking, as if whatever it was had iron jaws constantly opening and closing. And that was also why he was surprised when he entered the room Master Splinter was in to see twelve small, white-colored, two-legged machines that looked about as big as a turkey with a large head that seemed mostly mouth with a small, visor-like eye on top of its head. But this was no time to ask questions; those metal pests had to be dealt with fast!
Zooky was the first to leap in with a swinging tail attack, then he jumped on a few which were crushed under his weight. As he dealt with the ones near him, the juvenile kaiju managed to spot Donatello-who had managed to grab a new bō-whack one of those metal chompers to pieces and Leonardo slice one before jumping up to a length of pipe on the ceiling and swinging towards Splinter, grabbing him with his legs and taking him out of harm's way.
"Get offa my bō!" Donatello shouted to the machines as two of them grabbed onto his staff.
Godzooky cried out in pain as he felt sharp metal teeth bite into his tail and legs. He let out a roar that was meant to be a warning, then started swinging his tail about, finally having to resort to spinning towards the wall when their biting grip got tighter. He was very tempted to use his oral attack, but he knew that was a bad idea, so he forced the idea out of his head. Once he smashed the turkey-sized bots biting his ankles, he swung his arm towards Donatello's position and did a forceful karate chop on the two turkey-sized machines that were still hanging on to Donnie's staff, decapitating them.
"Thanks, Zooky," Donnie told the juvenile, winged saurian as he shook the severed heads off his bō.
"No problem, Donnie. I'm just glad those little, big-mouthed clunkers didn't break your new staff," Zooky replied, looking the purple-masked Turtle's weapon over.
"All right, who's gonna clean up this mess?" Raphael asked.
"Are you all right, Sensei?" Godzooky asked Splinter.
There were some slight tears in his kimono as well as patches of torn fur and scratches, but otherwise Splinter looked unharmed.
"I'm all right, Gozuki," Splinter assured the winged saurian. "You all certainly got back here quickly."
"It's all thanks to Z-man's super sixth sense, Master," Michelangelo said. "He sensed you were in trouble and we came runnin'."
"It's true, Master," Godzooky confirmed.
"Most fascinating," Splinter said.
"It certainly is," Donatello agreed.
"Where'd these metal maniacs come from?" Michelangelo asked, picking up a head from one of the busted machines.
"Where do you think, Michelangelo?" Raphael asked back.
"Hey, there's something on the bottom of the feet," Donatello observed.
Zooky found another foot from one of those machines and found a label that read "Baxter Stockman Inventions".
"What kind of idiot puts his name on a death machine?" Donatello asked.
"An idiot with an ego problem?" Raphael replied with his usual brand of sarcasm.
"I don't know who Baxter Stockman is, but I can practically smell the Shredder behind all this," Godzooky said.
"Oh, great! The guy we haven't seen a sign of all day!" Raphael exclaimed. "Uh, by the way, is that intuition or…?"
"This is Earth technology for sure," Godzooky said, "but they all smell like they came out of the Technodrome."
It was true; the construction of the little robots didn't match what they had come up against in the Technodrome, meaning Raph's "idiot with an ego problem" was likely built by human hands, but they had that smell of interdimensional metal and evil that matched up with the Shredder and his rolling fortress.
"We must find this Baxter Stockman first, and through him, find the Shredder," Leonardo decided, picking up a head from one of the decimated robots.
"I hope he's easier to scope out than the Technodrome was," Michelangelo said, referring to Baxter Stockman.
"Yeah, all we've got on him is a name," Donnie said.
"At least we've got a clue to work from, and that's better than what we had going for us when we were searching for the Technodrome earlier," Godzooky pointed out. "The only problem is how do we put that clue to use?"
"I feel we need April's skills as a reporter for this," Master Splinter stated, leaning heavily on his walking stick. "I suggest you pay her a visit at her apartment."
"You'd better come with us, Master Splinter," Leo said.
"Yeah, we don't want any of those big-mouths puttin' the bite on you again," Michelangelo added.
"Will you be all right with walking all the way there?" Godzooky asked, the sight of his teacher/new father-figure leaning heavily on his walking stick giving him great concern.
"The journey should be no trouble, but I would welcome the support," Splinter said.
"We'd better not waste any more time," Leonardo said. "Godzooky?" he asked, looking to the named juvenile kaiju.
"Way ahead of you, Leo," Zooky said, putting his nose to the air and picking out the female reporter's scent out of the cocktail of smells that filled the room. "According to my nose, she only left a few minutes ago; the trail is still fresh. Follow me," he said, offering his arm for Master Splinter to lean on if needed.
While they tracked their way through the sewers, and to keep himself focused, Godzooky told Master Splinter about the conversation he had had with the Turtles in regards to how his sixth sense worked.
"Most fascinating," Master Splinter said, attentive to every word. "It is very much like the bond between teacher and student; and that is something that does not easily break."
"Even if it feels like you did?" Godzooky asked, the events after the first confrontation with Shredder hovering in the back of his mind.
The winged saurian felt a slight, comforting squeeze on his arm from Master Splinter, who then said, "You may not have been willing to let your troubles be known verbally, but there are other ways that one can communicate the truth to one who is perceptive enough."
Godzooky nodded, remembering that Splinter had sensed his post-traumatic stress just by looking the juvenile kaiju in the eyes, also calling to mind the special type of communication his uncle and his mate, Lina, had; they had been friends for so long that they could practically tell how the other was feeling from a look and how they carried themselves. That was something special. But speaking of troubles…
"Is there something you wish to tell me, young one?" Splinter asked.
The juvenile saurian became hesitant. Should he tell Splinter about what he had thought about when he had heard the Turtles talk about demanding Shredder to turn the former human back to his true self? That he was afraid that he or the Turtles might cross a fine line somewhere should the Shredder refuse?
Come on, Godzooky! Remember your promise: No more hiding!
"There is something," Godzooky started. He then looked at the other Turtles-Leonardo and Michelangelo were ahead on point while Donatello and Raphael were covering the rear-before continuing, "But…I don't feel comfortable about saying it again in front of the guys."
"Then you have discussed this with them?" Splinter asked.
"Hai, Sensei, I have. They told me not to worry about it, though," Godzooky said.
"If it is something that concerns the future, my son, then they were right in telling you that. However, it seems that you need further convincing."
"It's just that they've talked about that when they find the Shredder, they'll…demand that he turn you back into a human," Godzooky admitted, not comfortable with using the word "demand", but realizing that "negotiate" wasn't the truthful term. "I'm just worried about what might happen; what lengths any of us might find ourselves going to to make that happen. I've learned from a young age from another hero of mine that 'With great power comes great responsibility'; I guess I'm scared that somewhere down the line something will happen that will make the Turtles or myself abuse that."
Splinter hummed and started thinking on Godzooky's words. It was about a minute before the reply came:
"It is a valid concern, one I have often thought on. I taught the Turtles the art of ninjitsu to defend, not to harm, but there is always the temptation to do so. And with the knowledge of Oroku Saki's involvement in the origins of myself and the Turtles, that temptation may be greater. However, I have confidence in them and in you that you will all do what is right when the time comes. For now, let us deal with what is occurring in the present."
"Of course, Sensei," Zooky said.
"I know you are worried about them, but you must have faith in them…and in yourself, just as I do."
I do have faith in the Turtles and in you, Sensei, Zooky responded silently as the six of them continued walking through the sewers. But considering what I'm capable of and throw my post-traumatic stress into the mix, it's me you guys should be more worried about.
It wasn't long before they managed to find the apartment building April resided in. There was no traffic outside to worry about; vehicle or human. Now the tricky part was getting in without being spotted. Once they reached the door, Zooky took point to scope out the situation. From what he could see, which wasn't much due to the fact the doors at the entrance were glass and he had to keep himself hidden, there were two elevators on either side of the concierge desk, which had a bored-looking woman with frizzy blond hair that the juvenile kaiju figured was the night-shift receptionist, sitting at it. Further right of the elevator on the right side was the stairway to the upper floors. Godzooky immediately ruled out using the stairs; too much noise from six sets of footsteps. So how to get to the desk to read what room April was in and then get to the elevator without being caught?
As Yogi Bear would say: "This calls for some real 'stuh-gedy'", Zooky thought, continuing his limited surveillance of the room.
He spotted a restroom on the left wall, and…was that greenery…? Yes; there was a tall, green plant on the right wall, Zooky noticed as he risked sticking his head out to get a better look.
"Psst! Hey, what's going on, dude?" came the whispered voice of Michelangelo, almost making the winged saurian jump.
"Michelangelo! Don't scare me like that!" Zooky growled quietly.
"Sorry, bud; I was just scopin' out what's goin' on," the surfer-dude turtle explained.
There was a moment of quiet as Zooky turned the details of the room over in his mind and began to form a plan that would require speed, stealth, and a healthy dose of what was sure to be dumb luck. After all, what he was thinking of pulling off would be a no-brainer in Toontown, but here? Oh yeah, dumb luck was definitely a requirement here.
Once he had the plan set and did some self-convincing to tell himself it would work, Zooky turned back to Michelangelo and told him, "Tell the others I'm going in to see what floor and room April's in, then I'll come back out and lead you guys to one of the elevators."
"How are you gonna do that?" Michelangelo queried.
"I've got a plan," Zooky began, starting to think about how to get the receptionist's attention.
Obviously, the only way to get her to move and open the door was if something at the door caught her attention…but what? All he had was his belt with his grappling hook clipped to it. He looked at it, then the glass doors. He did that twice before sighing in resignation and started undoing the belt.
"What are ya doin'?" inquired a curious Michelangelo.
"A bit of improvising," Zooky mumbled. "Look, tell the others I'm going in, but wait for me; OK?" he asked.
The orange-masked turtle nodded before disappearing around the corner. Zooky slipped the loose end of the sash-like belt into the empty slot then gripped the sash part of the belt farthest from the buckle. Now, he had to be extremely careful with this; too much force on his end would have disastrous consequences. All that was needed was a slight, but loud, tap on the door. After doing some gauging, he swung the belt and let go. He winced as the buckle hit the glass door, giving off a sound that was almost like a gunshot. But better a gunshot sound than a shattering glass sound; now all he had hope for was that (a) she was curious enough or bored enough to investigate the noise, or (b) she might have chanced to have seen a flash from the buckle.
"Hello? Someone out there?" called the frizzy, blond-haired woman from inside.
Godzooky got down on all fours, pressing himself against the wall and prepping himself for the mad dash inside. It was at this point he wished he could use the Toon gag of literally making yourself flat against the wall and moving in that way, but that wasn't an option in this world despite whatever Toon-y elements he may have encountered earlier, like that rimshot that had occurred on his first mission with the Turtles.
There was the sound of heels moving across carpet, then she opened the door.
"What's this?" Zooky heard the woman inquire to herself. A ruffle of clothing and a slight clink told Zooky that she had picked up the belt. "Weirdest belt I've ever seen," she muttered. There was a sniff and she let out an "ew!" "Smells weird, too. Where'd the owner drop this, in the sewers?"
Lady, you have no idea, Zooky said mentally.
"Well, normally I wouldn't pick up trash, but I was told to keep the place tidy," the woman continued.
Godzooky felt a bit insulted for Donatello; that belt had been a gift from the brainiac turtle, after all. There was the sound of her turning on her heels to head back inside. It was now or never! He counted five steps before rushing past her on all fours and hiding himself behind the tall, potted foliage. He closed his eyes and held his breath, as well as his tail and prayed like crazy that the woman had enough sense to dismiss his entrance and just get back to work. To his unbelievable luck, she shrugged off the sudden breeze as the hotel getting to be drafty and closed the door before walking back to her desk. The next thing he heard was a thud combined with a clink of metal as his belt was apparently put down on the desk. He internally sighed in relief; if she had thrown the belt into a trash bin, he really would have felt insulted.
Well, he was in, so now he had to get her away from her desk again so that he could read the register and get his belt back. Godzooky opened his eyes slightly and took in the limited view of his surroundings; at his 2 o'clock was the receptionist. At his 12 o'clock was the restroom. At about his 10 o'clock was the front door…and a big, round clock hanging on the wall nearby. Zooky allowed himself a small smile; that was going to come in handy.
But how was he going to get the receptionist away from the desk and himself towards it? Simple; that was where the restroom came in. He was going to employ a little showbiz trick he learned that was generally part of the ventriloquist's and/or puppeteer's trade: throwing his voice to make it sound like there was a dripping faucet somewhere in the restroom. When she went to investigate, he would do the old "sneaking-while-hidden-behind-foliage" routine and tiptoe his way to the desk. Remembering the tips he had learned, he began taking deep, quiet breaths. Once he was sure he had enough, he lifted his tongue until it was not quite touching the soft palate of his mouth and tightened his diaphragm; this would allow for the "distant effect" that was part of the trick. And, thankfully, he had heard enough dripping faucets to mimic the sound of one.
He allowed a minute or two for the receptionist to settle down into a sense of security before executing his trick. He opened his right eye to see that the receptionist had perked up; it worked. Quickly curbing his excitement, he did it again, then did it twice in quick succession after a pause. Soon, it had the desired effect; the receptionist, fed up with the noise, got up from her desk and went into the lavatory to see what was causing the racket. Godzooky almost started moving himself and the tall, potted shrubbery as soon as she was halfway to the bathroom door, but luckily had enough sense to wait until she was completely inside before moving. The plant would have been a bit heavy to move, but the juvenile kaiju's super-strength provided him with an advantage. However, he occasionally stopped to sound off a few more drops just to keep the woman guessing.
Eventually, he reached the desk. First, he looked at the register for April's name. She had apparently been one of the last few people to sign in for the night, and her room number was 957-RJ; 9th floor, room 57-RJ. With the information now tucked away in his mind, Zooky snuck a peek at the workspace and noticed the schedule, including the receptionist's quitting time. It wouldn't be for another 15 to 20 minutes or so, but that was OK; Zooky could fix it in a jiffy. He first took the analog clock that was on the desk and fiddled with it until it showed that it was a minute and a half until clock-out. He then threw out some more drips when he heard the doorknob of the lavatory door click.
Time to make like an egg and scramble, Godzooky thought to himself, realizing his dumb luck was just about out at this point.
He immediately went to grab his belt, but decided against it as he was going to have to come back this way anyway. He carefully and quickly moved the plant back to its original position, then went over to the clock on the wall, carefully took off the plastic shell covering the face, and, accounting for the time that had passed, set that one accordingly. Once the plastic cover was back in place, he made his quick exit just as the receptionist was coming out.
Godzooky let out a long, relieved exhale before taking in some deep breaths to calm himself. Phase 1 was accomplished. Now for Phase 2: Turtle Infiltration. He went around the corner of the building to where Splinter and the Turtles were waiting.
"What took ya so long?" Raphael whispered.
"Hey, trying to sneak in with someone around is not easy," Godzooky said back. "Besides, I said I had a plan."
"What did you find out?" Splinter queried.
"April's on the 9th floor, room 57-RJ," Zooky reported. "We'll make too much noise going up the steps; we're gonna take the elevator. But we're gonna have to wait a bit because there's someone at the front desk."
"Uh, how long is 'a bit'?" Raphael questioned sarcastically.
"Should be about…" Zooky trailed, raising his watch arm. A jolt of surprise went through him when he saw what time it was. "Sufferin' succotash! About 10 seconds!" he hissed. "We've gotta get ready! Follow me!"
The juvenile, winged kaiju led Splinter and the TMNT to the front doors and motioned for them to stay back while he peeked in. The frizzy, blonde-haired receptionist was looking back and forth between clocks in confusion. Finally, she decided that her own watch was behind and decided to get ready to go. However, she started hovering over Zooky's belt, which still laid on the desk. The young kaiju silently pleaded with the woman not to take it or throw it away; he'd never forgive himself if he lost it. Thankfully, the woman decided that powdering her nose took the greater priority, as she apparently had a date coming, and made her way to the restroom. Now, Zooky figured that he and the group had about two minutes and change to reach the elevator; the "and change" part was because she'd likely take some time with her makeup, and his nose had caught the scent of excess iron earlier, and, thanks to a certain talk he had gotten (he was technically a teenager now, after all), he knew that she was definitely going to be a while.
Carefully, he came to the door, opened a door with one hand and signaled with the other for the Turtles and Splinter to go in. Once they were in, he closed the door, retrieved his belt, and joined them at the elevator. The button with the arrow pointing up was already lit, which meant one of the guys (or more likely Splinter) had pressed it already and the car was on its way down.
"I was wondering what happened to it," Raphael commented quietly.
"So, like, what was your plan, Z-man?" Michelangelo queried.
"Yeah; when we heard that bang, we got a bit worried," Donatello added.
"If I told you, you'd never believe me," Godzooky answered, starting to get worried; the elevator should have come down by now.
"Try us," Raphael dared.
Zooky let out a quiet huff and rolled his eyes, stopping at the indicator over the closed doorway that told of the elevator's current location. It was at 6 and coming down.
Must've had some passengers to drop off, the juvenile kaiju figured. Hopefully, they were the last for the evening.
He gave the "up" button another press, then looked back up. Floor 4 and coming down.
There was the sound of a toilet flush and a door swinging open inside the restroom. Zooky stiffened and felt panic begin to spread as the sound of water running through a faucet sounded off. The receptionist was washing her hands and about ready to do her makeup!
"We're not gonna make it, dudes!" Michelangelo whimpered.
"Will you be quiet?! They'll hear us!" Raphael hissed.
"It's on the second floor already," Donatello observed, looking at the flashing lights that indicated the elevator's location.
"Well, can you tell it to hurry up?!" Raphael panicked.
"Keep it together, guys," Leonardo said. "It's almost there."
Female chatter floated out from behind the door as the receptionist debated to herself about what to do to look good for her date. Frankly, Zooky had a few ideas, but he was too busy panicking about the elevator.
"Oh, no-no-no-no-no-no-no! Don't do that!" Donnie panicked.
"What happened?" Zooky asked.
"The elevator's going up!" the purple-masked turtle answered.
Sure enough, it was! Godzooky watched the indicator with apprehension; if the elevator car went too high, then they'd have to chance taking the stairs. Floor 2…Floor 3…Floor 4… Whew! It stopped. Zooky nodded to Leo, who pushed the "up" button again.
"All done! Ooh, you're gonna rock 'em tonight, baby!" came an excited squeal from the receptionist in the restroom after about 2 minutes of quiet.
Oh no. And the elevator was only down to the second floor already.
Quickly thinking, he made ready to do his "drip trick" again, but had to recover himself when a panicked Raphael accidentally shoved him from behind.
"Come-on-come-on-come-on-come-on-come-on…" Zooky heard Raphael mutter rapidly as he began mashing the elevator button like a mad turtle.
Ding! The doors opened, all six of them practically leaped into the car, crashing in a heap, and Zooky used his prehensile tail to press the "9" button until the doors closed.
Everyone relaxed and let out a loud breath of relief that none of them knew they were holding. They had just made it by the skin of their teeth.
"Whew! That was mondo close, dudes," Michelangelo commented.
"Is everyone all right?" Leonardo asked.
The replies were affirmative, with Raphael responding in an out-of-breath tone while checking his pulse, "I'll let you know as soon as my pulse catches up with me."
"You and me both, bro," Zooky added. "Hey, Mikey? Remember when you asked me what my plan was?" he asked the dude turtle, then continued when the latter nodded, "Well, it was a combination of adapting cartoon gags…and a whole lotta dumb luck. A real 'stuh-gedy'," he grumbled.
"Wha?" Michelangelo queried, confused.
"Huh?" Donatello questioned.
"Come again there?" Raphael asked.
Godzooky was initially confused by the questions and the puzzled looks until he realized what he had said.
"Ooh! I meant 'strategy'! I-Grr!" BONK! "Ow!"
The reason for that "bonk" and the following "ow" was because Godzooky was so embarrassed by his slip of the tongue that, without thinking, he just leaned his head back and brought his face down…on one of the Turtles' shells.
"Whoa, easy there, Zooky," Donnie gently told the juvenile kaiju.
"You OK, kiddo?" Raphael asked.
"I'm fine," Zooky replied, still feeling embarrassed and his voice a bit muffled because he had his hands covering his snout. "Sorry about that, Raph."
"Hey, water under the bridge, 'K?" Raphael said.
Godzooky really had to marvel how patient Raphael was being with him, even though he had shouted at him, scared him by his fighting skills and by how much of a beating he could take from an exploding building, pounced on him, bawled on him, pushed him (even though that had been to save the Turtle's life), and now had done a faceplant on his shell.
"That's the problem when you work in cartoons; the catchphrases and the lingo tend to stick in your brain after a while," Godzooky sighed as he removed his hand from his face.
"Yeah, well, next time you decide to plant your schnoz on my shell, gimme a heads-up, OK?" the sarcastic turtle asked with a smirk.
Godzooky just responded with a smirking look all his own, then playfully stuck his tongue out. Raphael reciprocated in turn, and the juvenile kaiju and the teenage turtles all burst out laughing at their brothers' funny faces.
Once the laughing died down, Master Splinter spoke, "I suggest we use this time we have to recollect ourselves before we meet with April."
"I can totally resonate with that suggestion, Sensei," Michelangelo agreed.
So, for the rest of the trip up, the group straightened themselves out and patiently waited to arrive at their destination.
"Here we are, gang: Room 957-RJ," Godzooky announced as they stood in front of the marked door.
Once they had gotten out of the elevator, it took a couple minutes but Zooky was able to pick out April's scent once again and the six of them managed to tiptoe through the hallways without arousing any of the neighbors.
I hope April doesn't mind us dropping in like this, Zooky thought nervously as he rang the doorbell. I mean, we would have called first, but we don't have phones. I'm gonna have to tell Donnie that we're gonna have to fix that.
"Who in the world could that be?" Zooky heard April's voice on the other side of the door.
The door opened, and Zooky immediately felt the hot flash of embarrassment as he saw April standing there in a lavender robe and slippers. Clearly, she had not been expecting anyone to drop by. And by the smell of warm water, soap-was that jellybeans he was smelling?-and the warm smell of hair after it had been blown dry, she had just gotten out of taking a bath or a shower, which just made the embarrassment worse. Now he knew how his uncle felt; of course, in his uncle's case, it happened back on Monster Island when he had been younger, it had been accidental, and the human he had seen hadn't been…covered, whereas Zooky was in New York, was lucky that April was wearing something and he was here because her help was needed.
Of course, Raphael decided to break the ice by asking: "Could we interest you in a subscription to 'Turtles Home Companion'?"
All poor Zooky could say at the moment was: "H-Hi, April" in a sheepish tone.
"Oh, no!" the robe-clad woman reporter groaned, covering her eyes. She then moved aside, which was apparently an invitation to come in, and asked the following questions in an almost rapid-fire fashion as Zooky, Splinter, and the Turtles ran inside before she closed the door: "What are you guys doing here? How did you get here? Did anyone see you come in?"
"Any special order you want those questions answered in?" Raphael asked.
"Yes, quickly!" April answered, her tone rising.
Godzooky decided to do the answering and counted off the answers on his right hand: "Looking for Baxter Stockman, by the sewers, and, thankfully, no. Does that clear things up?" he asked hopefully.
"I can't remember what I asked," April groaned, sitting down on a sofa.
"Aw, gee whiz, April. I…We…I'm really sorry about this," Godzooky said contritely, rubbing his left arm with his right hand and then twisting his tail in his hands in a nervous manner.
Frankly, he was amazed the Turtles weren't feeling embarrassed about standing in front of a human woman dressed only in a robe or slippers, but then again, he had to consider the fact that before April, the terrapin quartet had likely never seen a real human woman. Immediately his face grew warm and he started fidgeting more; this was suddenly more embarrassing than he originally thought.
"Uh…um…well…uh, a-HEM!" Zooky forcibly coughed, trying to get his mind back on track. "S-Sorry about the intrusion, April, but we've run into a problem and we need your help."
"With what?" April asked, her voice a bit calmer as she addressed the nervous winged saurian.
"We're looking for the genius who built this," Michelangelo said, grabbing a head from one of the little machines that Zooky and the Turtles had trashed earlier from his belt.
Zooky would have almost thought Michelangelo had utilized a hammerspace if he didn't remember that he thought he had seen that dismembered head on his belt a couple times earlier.
"His name is Baxter Stockman," Leonardo added.
"That's all you've got to go on; a name?" April queried, the upset tone in her voice returning as she addressed the Turtles.
"We think he's working with the Shredder," Godzooky answered. "About a dozen of these metal chompers almost tore Splinter to bits back in the Lair."
The juvenile kaiju noticed the red-headed human woman's eyes widened at that latter sentence.
"He's our only key to tracking down the Technodrome," Leonardo put in.
"Well," April began, standing up and walking towards where Raphael was standing, which was in front of a large portrait picture of a toaster, "I can see what my computer turns up-Put that back, Raphael!" she yelped as the red-masked turtle took the picture off the wall, interestingly pronouncing the Turtle's name "Raph-e-el" instead of "Raph-i-el", something Zooky had heard Donnie do.
Speaking of the young winged saurian, he was over by the quick-witted turtle in a second.
"Where do you plug this thing in?" Raphael queried, holding the painting.
Godzooky let out a growling groan of frustration before carefully taking the picture out of the ninja turtle's hands and saying firmly, "You don't. It's a picture. It goes up on the wall, like so." With that, he hung the picture back in its proper place.
"It was a reasonable question," Raphael insisted.
"Well, next time, keep your flippers off of stuff that's not yours," Godzooky told Raphael. He then turned to the other three Turtles and added, "And that goes for all of you, as well. Until April gets the lead we need, we're guests here and we need to behave accordingly, all right?"
Godzooky was well-aware that Splinter would have said this anyway, but he wanted the Turtles to be sure that he would uphold the rules of the guest and wouldn't hesitate to scold them, even Leonardo, despite him being the team leader. Besides, Splinter needed to rest still after everything he had just gone through, which pretty much left either him or Leo in charge, and considering what just happened with Raph, it was clear that Zooky was going to have to step up. After all, he had to watch over his three little cousins before; this was a similar situation.
The juvenile kaiju felt someone's eyes on him and turned to see Splinter give a nod of approval for his speech before he was ushered into a bedroom by April.
"Splinter, why don't you rest in the bedroom?" April told the rat, who nodded in thanks and went inside. After closing the door, she went to another door and said in a practically pleading tone, "The rest of you, try to stay out of trouble."
"I will, April," Godzooky nodded as she closed the door.
"Roger, April," Raphael piped up cheerfully.
April opened the door back up again and asked, "You promise?"
"We promise, April," Zooky said along with the Turtles, the former sounding a bit more sincere than the terrapin quartet.
"Why is it that I believe him, but not the four of you?" April asked suspiciously, referring to Zooky, before closing the door again.
All right, time to get serious, Godzooky thought, putting on a disciplinary look before turning back around…to find that the four teenage ninja turtles had scattered themselves throughout the apartment.
He stood agape for a few seconds in disbelief; had that little speech not settled itself in their brains?! At least Leo or Donnie should have taken notice and let the others know! Well, it was time to play "turtle round-up", instead of "cousin round-up", and he decided to start with Michelangelo, who was making a beeline (or was it a turtle-line?) for the kitchen, making a note to go after Leonardo next after seeing the katana-wielding turtle disappear into another room.
"Wonder if there's anything to eat in this joint," Michelangelo was saying to himself as he opened the refrigerator.
Sure enough, inside the fridge were stacks of what appeared to be…
"Rock! Instant pizza!" Michelangelo exclaimed in delight.
I can't believe April has that much pizza, Godzooky thought to himself in amazement.
The juvenile kaiju watched as the nunchuk-wielding turtle grabbed a pizza box, looked it over, and then, much to Zooky's amusement, bite into the box.
"No, no, no, no!" Godzooky giggled, approaching the confused dude turtle. "You gotta take it out first! Here, I'll show ya." Upon taking the bit-into box from Mikey, Godzooky found the folded flaps that meant this was where you opened the box, and pried the flaps apart. "There," he said, handing the box back. "Now, if you're really that hungry, then follow the instructions for heating up the pizza on the back of this box right here," he added, tapping the back of the box. "If you need me, I'll be trying to keep our team leader out of mischief," he said, leaving the kitchen.
Upon re-entering the living room, Zooky first stopped to see that Donatello had the phone off the hook and was pressing the various buttons on the machine, including the one that played back messages.
"April, this is Burne at the studio. Where are you? You're due in 10 minutes for the broadcast." a rather loud and rough-sounding male voice said over the answering machine.
"Donnie, will you stop fiddling around with April's answering machine?" Godzooky implored the purple-masked turtle.
"Sorry, Zooky, but this is a fascinating machine," Donnie apologized.
"Well, do you think you can keep your fingers off the machine for a minute while I get Leonardo? Seriously, I thought you two would have at least tried to behave," Godzooky said disapprovingly.
The juvenile kaiju turned and entered the room Leonardo had gone into. Apparently this was a guest bedroom complete with a bed, a closet, and a dresser that had boxes on it that Zooky guessed contained jewelry and extra makeup. Leonardo was at that very dresser and perusing through the boxes, taking an interest in the tubes of lipstick.
"A-hem!" Godzooky sternly cleared his throat, folding his arms and putting a disapproving look on his face. "If the team leader is supposed to set an example, you're doing a fine job at making a mess of it," he told the blue-masked turtle. "I would have thought you and Donnie would know better!"
"I'm sorry, Zooky, but I wanted to find something to occupy myself," Leonardo told the irritated juvenile saurian. "There's not a lot of stuff here like there is back at the Lair."
"That may be true, but that doesn't mean you go around poking through other people's stuff without their permission," Godzooky pointed out. "Besides, we promised April that we'd stay out of trouble."
"But we're not getting into any trouble," Leonardo said.
"You will be if you and the others keep this up," Godzooky said, shooing the katana-wielding turtle away from the boxes and putting things back in order. "You want to be a good leader for the team, then why don't you start acting it; help me round up your brothers before they do any damage."
Leonardo sighed, "Oh, all right. Where do I start?"
"Start with Michelangelo, he's in the kitchen. I saw Donnie by the phone; I'd better stop him before he breaks it or dissects it or something. You wouldn't happen to know where Raph is, would you?" Godzooky asked as he stepped outside the room, remembering that he didn't see the red-masked turtle when he had turned back around.
"Not really," Leo admitted as he followed Zooky. "Maybe Donnie knows."
"I'll ask," Zooky said, making sure Leonardo went by and into the kitchen before making his way to Donatello, who was now looking nervously at the answering machine as the same male voice Zooky had heard earlier played again, sounding more insistent this time.
"April, this is Burne," the male voice was saying. "Where are you?! What's happening with your story? Call me!"
"Donatello, I thought I told you not to keep messing around with that thing!" Godzooky scolded the brainiac turtle.
"I haven't pressed anything else since you left! It just keeps playing these messages!" Donatello insisted.
The answering machine gave another beep and then went quiet.
"Guess that was it," Donnie shrugged.
Godzooky sighed heavily; at least that was one problem out of the way.
"Well, since that's done and over with, do you think you can get Leonardo and Michelangelo back in here or at least help Mikey with heating up one of those pizzas?" Godzooky requested, having been wondering if the surfer-dude turtle was able to understand the instructions. "Also, do you happen to know where Raphael disappeared to?"
"I think he went that way," Donatello replied, pointing to another door.
The young, winged saurian thanked the bō-wielding turtle and went off in the indicated direction. As he walked toward the door he once again picked up the scent of warm water and jellybeans (what was that all about?). He then realized that April's own scent, minus the sewer smell, was in the mix, and that only meant one thing: Raphael had wandered into the bathroom. Godzooky rolled his eyes and groaned as he wondered what possessed that sarcastic terrapin to go in there, as what the latter was going to likely find were things he had absolutely no idea about. Godzooky let out another sigh and made a mental note to ask Master Splinter if the Turtles ever got…well, "The Talk". He hoped they did otherwise this was going to be mondo embarrassing.
Godzooky then heard the sound of a bathtub faucet being turned on, a bottle being squeezed, and then a plop as something hit the water.
"That oughta do it," said Raphael from inside, apparently satisfied with whatever he had done.
At that moment, Zooky decided to enter. At first glance, apparently none of the drawers had been rifled through. Neither had the medicine cabinet, thank goodness.
"Hey, I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night," Raphael suddenly spoke up, making Zooky peek around the door. "Or it may have been during the day, I dunno; my memory's a little fuzzy on that. Anyway, you can thank Master Splinter and Donnie for me stayin' away from there; hearin' about what those things could do to somebody if taken in excess-it's horrible," he added, shaking his head.
"At least that's something we can agree on," Godzooky said as he fully entered the room and closed the door. "How'd you know it was me?" he asked.
The red-masked terrapin shrugged. "Maybe I have a sixth sense, too," he remarked.
"Oh, very funny," Godzooky responded. He then spotted the bathtub full of bubbles with the faucet still going and his eyes widened in panic. "What-?!" he gasped.
"Oh, that?" Raphael responded calmly. "Yeah, I was lookin' around when I found this," he said, holding up a bottle of bubble bath.
Zooky took the bottle and read it: "Essence of Jellybean Bubble Bath". So that was where the jellybean smell came from.
"It said to add one capful of that stuff to running water, so I did," Raphael continued.
"That looks like more than one capful," Godzooky countered nervously.
"You sure?" Raphael inquired, now holding up a blue baseball cap for the juvenile kaiju to see. "Seemed like one capful to me."
What-?! Did he use-?! Oh, of course he did! Godzooky let out a loud, frustrated groan as he tried to restrain himself from punching something or someone full force.
"Not THAT cap, you shell-brain!" Godzooky shouted, snatching the bubble bath-coated headwear out of Raphael's flippers. "It means the cap on the bottle! That's too much!"
"Well, they should've put that on the label!" Raphael argued.
"Well, maybe you shouldn't have been-Oh, never mind! We've gotta turn this thing off and clean up this mess!" Godzooky said, stopping himself before he would get himself and Raphael dragged into an argument that the both of them would likely regret.
"How do you shut this thing off?" Raphael asked.
"Turn the handle-" Zooky started to say, but before he could finish, Raphael grabbed the handle on the left; the one that wasn't turned at an angle. "No! Not that one! That's for the hot water!" the winged saurian yelped.
The water and the bubbles splashed over the side of the tub as more water began streaming in. Because of the excess of bubble bath that Raphael had used, the bubbles were piling high and Zooky's sensitive nose was overwhelmed by the smell of jellybeans.
"Are you OK?" Zooky heard Raph ask above his own coughing.
"Koff! Too much-koff-koff!-too much of the-Ah-choo!-My nose can't-koff-koff! Turn it off, quick!" Godzooky shouted.
"I can't see a thing through all these bubbles!" Raphael said.
"Oh, let me!" Zooky exclaimed, kneeling down and plunging his head and arms into the mass of jellybean-scented soap suds before coming back out feeling the suds on his upper body. "You're right; I couldn't see a thing in there and I almost got this stuff in my eyes," Zooky said before letting out a sneeze. "This is not working and what is so funny?" he questioned Raphael, who was starting to laugh.
Raphael tried to hold in his laughter as he answered; keyword "tried", "Y-You-ha-ha-looked l-like you-hee!-got ha…ha…half-covered in a snowdrift! AH-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-a-a-a-a!" he guffawed.
Godzooky felt the suds sliding down his face and back and, not really amused, began to shake himself, sending jellybean-scented suds flying all over.
"Hey! Hey! Hey-P-too! Hey!" Raphael complained, spitting some of the bubbles out.
Zooky stopped his shaking and turned to face Raphael. The part-unamused, part-annoyed look on Raphael's face as globs of bubble-bath suds slid down his body along with one that sat on his head like an 18th-century French wig was way, way too funny and Godzooky burst into giggles.
"Oh, very funny," Raphael remarked, still a tad annoyed.
"I'm…I'm so…(more giggling)…I didn't mean to…" Zooky tried to apologize, but the giggles were still coming.
"Oh, and I suppose this wasn't a 'You-got-me-now-I-got-you-back' routine?" Raphael asked sarcastically, scooping off the pile of soap suds on his head.
Zooky shook his head, finally on the verge of calming down enough to properly apologize and not quite noticing that Raphael was pulling the arm with the suds on it back. By the time he saw the suds flying at his face, it was too late.
"Well, how do you like that?" the juvenile kaiju heard the red-masked turtle ask in a smug tone.
Zooky's only response was to blow the suds off his face, which ended up hitting Raphael's. The sarcastic terrapin was so caught off-guard he slipped and fell shelled-back-first into the suds-filled bathtub with a cry that was pretty much part-yelp, part-shriek. Worried that the quick-witted turtle had hurt himself, Zooky went to the edge of the tub and was about to start parting the bubbles when he saw Raph's legs withdraw themselves into the suds and a mound of jellybean-scented bubble-bath suds move up. The giggles started up again as the juvenile kaiju found himself face-to-face with a mound of bubbles with a red mask and a glaring look that plainly said "Don't even think about it". It was too late, of course, as Godzooky continued to laugh.
The laughing quickly stopped, however, when the bubble-covered Raphael grabbed Zooky's arms and tried to pull him in. Godzooky pulled back in surprise, quickly bring Raph to his feet before he leaned back to try again and once more ended up slipping. More sudsy water flew into Godzooky's face and he let out a yelp of his own as he lost balance and fell in backwards, his bottom half draped over the side.
Zooky groaned a bit as he registered a pain on the back of his head, bubbles floating from his mouth. For a second, he didn't remember how he got underwater until he opened his eyes and saw Raphael at the other end (well, his legs, anyway). With that, all previous thoughts the juvenile kaiju had vanished as the youngling impulse to play emerged, as well as the thought of wiping whatever smug expression Raphael had on his face off.
As my friend Bugs Bunny would say, "Of course, you realize this means war", Godzooky thought as a mischievous look came over his face and he opened his mouth a little to let some water in. Once his cheeks were filled with all the water they could hold, he turned himself onto his front and pushed his upper body up, surfacing enough so that Raphael couldn't spot the surprise Zooky had waiting.
"There you are! Boy, I thought I'd have to send the Navy after ya!" Raphael exclaimed, a relieved tone in his voice. "But then again, you can swim, so…" The sai-wielding turtle trailed off from that sentence and said after a pause, "Y'know, I thought you were, well, too responsible to get into something like this." There was another pause and the look on Raphael's face became one of worried suspicion, which is what Zooky wanted. "What are you…?" Raphael asked slowly.
Like lightning, Zooky pushed himself up and squirted the water out of his mouth, making it look like it was coming out of a hose. Raphael gasped, coughed, and sputtered as the spit-out stream hit his face. Once all the water was released, Zooky giggled again, his tail splashing the water that had accumulated on the floor; he was in full playing mode.
Raphael wiped his face and, upon seeing Zooky, his eyes widened and a smirk came over his face as he called out, "Oh, now you've done it! Come here, you-!"
Godzooky pushed himself back and out of the tub as Raphael came forward. The playful winged saurian splashed Raphael, and he splashed back. Soon the bathroom was ringing with the sounds of laughing and splashing water as the juvenile kaiju and the sai-wielding turtle splashed water at each other or tried to toss soap-suds "snowballs" at each other. Raphael even tried to do that spit-out water stream Zooky did to him; he had minimal success. It wasn't long before the splashing turned into play-wrestling where Raphael discovered another of Zooky's secrets: He was ticklish. Luckily, Zooky managed to get out of the grip of his tormentor and rolled away to catch his breath. Another splash from Raphael suddenly had the juvenile kaiju thinking. Thinking that there was something that he was supposed to be doing.
"Hey…Hey, h…hold on a minute," Zooky gasped as he tried to get some air into his lungs.
"What's up?" Raphael asked, a smile in his voice. "Aren't ya havin' fun?"
Zooky nodded. "Yeah, but…but, um…I'm supposed to be doing something. I feel like I've forgot something," he said as he racked his brain for the answer.
"You sure? I don't think you have," Raphael said.
"No, I know it; I-we've forgotten something," Zooky countered. "But what?"
"Hey, team, I-Ay-yi-yi!"
April. April's apartment. The Turtles. The tub.
Godzooky finally registered the fact that he and Raphael were nearly up to their chests in bathtub water. Which meant the tub was overflowing. Which meant he'd been in here too long. And so April's exclamation meant…
"Oh NO!" Zooky shouted as panic came over him.
While he'd been sidetracked by playing with Raphael, he'd completely forgotten that he had come to collect the quick-witted turtle and left his brothers unattended. On top of that, the bathroom was a flooded mess because he completely forgot about turning off the water.
And that only equaled one thing: He was in BIG trouble.
"Aw man! I haven't screwed up this badly since…since…Oh…well, since the last time I screwed up this badly!" Godzooky groaned, not really remembering an instance of such an occurrence right off the bat.
"Hey, no sweat, we'll just own up and apologize," Raphael said calmly, heading for the door.
Oh no.
"NO! Raph! Wait! I've gotta turn off the water first!" Zooky yelped. Then he remembered something else; all that water…sealed in the room…against the door…open said door…
Double oh no.
"WAIT! DON'T!" Godzooky practically screeched, diving for the doorknob.
Too late. Raphael opened the door and the water rushed out, the force pushing Zooky off his feet.
"YEE-HA!" Raphael shouted in excitement as the wave carried him as well.
Soon, Zooky was on the wooden floor, wet and covered with bubble-bath suds again. He looked to his left to see that Raphael was on his shelled back, smiling widely as if he had just come off a water slide.
"Whoo! That was great! Can we do it again?" Raphael asked.
All Zooky could respond with was an incredulous-sounding "What?!"
"Is it just me or is someone burning a pizza?" Raphael then asked after sniffing the air.
"Uh, that was me," confessed an embarrassed Michelangelo.
Zooky turned his head forward to see Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo with a burnt pizza in his hands.
"Let me guess; couldn't follow the instructions, huh?" Godzooky asked, definitely not happy. He was made even unhappier when he spotted three tubes of lipstick stuck to the painting of the toaster. "Who did that?!" he exclaimed.
Donatello and Michelangelo pointed to Leonardo, who looked at Zooky with a sheepish smile. All he got was a scathing glare. And, to put the icing on the messy cake, April began to cough, making Zooky turn to face her. She was now soaking wet with suds in her hair.
"Oh, beautiful," Zooky groaned.
"I thought I told you guys to stay out of trouble!" April said.
"I know," Zooky moaned, feeling very ashamed; April trusted him and look what he had done.
"We aren't in any trouble," Donatello said.
The glare Godzooky gave the Turtles perfectly matched what April said in a tone of anger: "That's what YOU think!"
All four ninja terrapins stepped back with nervous looks (Raphael having gotten on his feet a few seconds ago) as Godzooky stood up and this time wiped the suds off himself before squeezing his arms, hands, and tail of water. He'd let himself air-dry for a change. The irritated juvenile kaiju then turned to face April, who was still upset.
"Here!" April said, holding up a soaked piece of paper. "I found Baxter Stockman's address; why don't you go there and do some damage?"
Seeing as how it would be useless to say anything with her in a bad mood, Godzooky just sighed, stepped forward, and held out his hand so that she could hand the paper over. He hoped that she could see how terribly sorry he was for letting things get so out of control, and after that promise he had made, too.
"Well, at least you smell a bit better," April told Zooky a bit more calmly as she handed the paper over.
The juvenile kaiju took a sniff; she was right. He didn't smell much like the sewers anymore.
At least all that splashing around and goofing off with Raphael was good for something, Zooky thought.
He then turned back around to the Turtles, gave them his version of his uncle's "classic glare" and forcefully moved a pointed finger to the door giving them a silent ultimatum: Get out. NOW. The terrapin quartet quickly got moving with some help from Raphael, who was pushing his brothers from behind and urging them to move faster.
Once they were gone, Godzooky let out an exhale, turned back around to April, and told her with a deep bow of apology, "I'll make this up to you; please forgive me."
With that, he exited the apartment to join the Turtles, who had apparently gone to the ground floor already. As he rode the elevator down, he could imagine how disappointed his uncle would be, not to mention Master Splinter. He had told Leonardo to start acting like a responsible leader, and what did he do? Allow his childish instincts to take over. Some responsible cousin/brother he was! He was so upset with himself and with the Turtles that he didn't say a word for hours as the quintet began to search for Baxter Stockman's address.
And…done. Boy, oh boy; what a mess, huh? From fending off Mousers to a "Mission: Impossible"-esque sequence to the Turtles practically turning April's apartment into a disaster zone. This has been one crazy chapter, that's for sure.
Now, some trivia and an explanation: I know in the original cartoon April's apartment number is "4E", but I couldn't resist putting in a bit of trivia in regards to her voice actress Renae Jacobs; the "957" are the last three digits of her birth year (1957) and the "RJ" are the actress's first and last initials. I also picked the ninth floor because looking ahead, her apartment seems a bit high up.
I hope you all enjoyed my version of how Zooky, Splinter, and the Turtles managed to get to April's apartment without being spotted; it wasn't shown in the original material, so I was given a bit of freedom here. I have to say, it almost plays out like something from "Mission: Impossible", doesn't it? It certainly gives Zooky an opportunity to utilize more of the tricks he learned in Hollywood, such the "throwing your voice" bit he did here. And it also gave me an opportunity to throw in a little something from the original Disney's "101 Dalmatians" when Zooky changes the time on those clocks. I have to admit, while I was writing the part where Zooky, Splinter, and the TMNT were anxiously waiting for the elevator I was giggling so hard; especially where I had Raphael push the "up" button repeatedly in a panic. Oh, and you know what, in doing that I actually threw in a reference to a character that Rob Paulsen would play 18 years later: a roadrunner with super-speed named Rev Runner, who talks pretty fast.
Anyway, while I'm on the subject of Raphael, I've found it interesting that I've heard the sai-wielding turtle's name pronounced two different ways on the show: For the most part, it's been pronounced "Raph-i-el", but I've often heard Donatello and April pronounce it "Raph-e-el". I'm mostly for the first pronunciation, but, to each their own, of course.
I also hope you all like the scene where Zooky is trying to keep the Turtles from getting into trouble. I have to admit, you'd really think Leonardo, being the team leader, or Donatello, being the genius of the bunch, would have at least been a bit more responsible instead of poking around and looking for trouble, but I guess you have to count curiosity into it, as this is the first human apartment the Turtles have ever been in.
And then there's the little "extended scene" with Raphael and Godzooky in April's bathroom where Zooky goes in with the intention of getting Raph out, but ultimately ends up becoming part of the shenanigans going on. Well, you know the saying: "Nobody's perfect". And of course Godzooky ends up realizing his mistake too little, too late and ends up being upset with himself and the Turtles, although I think he's more disappointed in himself, in all honesty.
Oh, yeah, one more thing: There's an incident involving Zooky's uncle mentioned here that may or may not have been hinted at in another story of mine; I think it may have been "Godzilla: The New Adventures S1 Ep 4 – The Megavolt Monster". Without giving too much away, it happened before the adventures with the Calico crew and before Godzooky was born; a certain several-stories-high saurian accidentally came upon a certain human female trying to clean herself up, and…well, ended up getting quite an earful. OK, my mistake; that's exactly what happened. It was quite an influencing moment, let me tell you, and I think you can see the results. Also, I realize I may have put in something that may be a bit TMI for some people, but you have to take into account that Zooky is a character with naturally-heightened senses, so he's going to pick up scents that humans normally can't.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next time, the search for Baxter Stockman and the results. As always, please read and review. Thank you.