I'm getting a bad feeling despite the warning signals in my specs. April went in front of the damaged robot. She tried to get the crowd back on track. "Okay, so that happened. But we can still sing happy birthday without him. Happy Birthday –" Albearto stood behind her an electric shock surrounded him. I shoved her away before Albearto hits her. The kids were scared shitless. "Dude, do you have a thing for personal space?" she shoved my face with her hand.

"Why don't people ever say thank you instead of accusing me of invading their space?" I asked knowing full well it was not going to be answered. I noticed the robot leering over the kids like they were his next meal. "Donnie! Anytime on taking back control!" I yelled to the techno turtle who was furiously pushing the buttons on his remote.

"I can fix this!" he yelled, mostly encouraging himself. "I can fix this! I can fix this! I can TOTALLY fix this!" his remote broke after Donnie kept banging his head on it. "Apparently, I can't fix this..."

"Purple, I take back my comment", I said.

Albearto leered in closer to the kids like a crazed stalker, but April came in front with a pizza pan in her hands. "Play nice, Albearto!" she sliced his hands off. As he looked at the damage, his furry arms were exposed to metal arms and he shed his claws.

"Thanks for the claws, April!" he said with dark gratitude.

Leo quit being a jealous bitch and get you and your glutton brothers out here! Albearto's just became Five Nights at Freddy's.

'I'm not jealous, you bastard! And what're Five Nights at Freddy's?'

Aye, Dios mio! Get your fat ass out here! I saw April escorting the kids to exit as Albearto tore the presents to pieces. I grabbed the discarded pizza guitar and wacked it over the chef bot's head making it stop its destruction. He twisted his head like the possessed girl from 'The Exorcist'.

"That's not how you play, little boy." His entire twisted facing me. I held the guitar like a sword while stepping back.

"I bet I can play better than you, bitch", I taunted.

"Oh, that's mean! We don't use mean words here, especially on a special day as someone's birthday." The bear animatronic's eyes glowed red.

A giant fist smashed into Albearto's face. "Knuckle sandwich!" Raph came in like a wrecking ball (and I don't mean the Miley Cyrus song). The big buff turtle stood in front smirking at his handiwork. "We'll fix it, April. He may have the crazy, but we got the numbers. Go ahead and bounce if you need to."

I noticed Mikey and Donnie were standing on my left, Leo's on my right. The slider had a toothpick between his fingers picking at his teeth as he laid his weight on his sword. He didn't bother looking at me. I could feel him stewing in silence.

Done being jealous?

Instead of answering, Leo flicked his toothpick at my face. The sad thing is that the point of it stuck in my cheek. My eyebrow twitched. I felt a small trickle of liquid running.

You can't be this jealous? I went out with a few people. Cry me a fucking river. We aren't even together!

No answer.

Oh, how mature. You're giving me the silent treatment all what? A few exes I used to date.

Again, no response. I was starting to get irritated as I plucked the toothpick out of my cheek.

"I haven't sent out the party invitations." Wires with plugs spewed out of Albearto's mouth and plugs into Cherry and President Pepperoni. Their eyes opened with computer codes running through. Next thing we knew, his bandmates were standing with their leader.

I was so not intimidated, and neither was the gang. "Eh, we still got the numbers", Raph said. To make matters worse, Albearto twisted his head like a robotic owl and shot his cables to the Smack-A-Mole game. An army of robot moles was on Albearto's side.

"Raph, take a hint", I said, "not everything needs to be said aloud." A scream caught my attention. Timmy was surrounded by vicious moles. "Oh, right, Timmy's in danger..." I realized my sole reason for attending the pizza plaza. "Party Captain, save the pipsqueak while I tear Albearto into recycling." I held the guitar like a broadsword with two hands.

"He's your brother!" April accused.

"Not my brother, but it's your responsibility to make sure Timmy's birthday isn't a bust", I reasoned.

"Alright, Mad Dogs... and Merrill", Raph said, adding my name as a mutter, "let's save the kid's B-Day party!" they jumped into action. I had a thought in my head that I couldn't hold in.

"You call yourselves the Mad Dogs? That's so fucking stupid!" I ran after Leo who was busy taunting Albearto. He said something about the animatronic not being cheerful for a birthday bot. Albearto backhanded Leo which the force caused the slider to be thrown and hit on the windowpane that I'm guessing is the boss's office. I'm surprised the balding man didn't hear the chaos brewing in the pizza arcade.

Leo slid down on the floor, unconscious. Albearto leaned over the turtle. His claw raised.

"Quickstep!" I yelled. My thrusters ignited. I burst through the mole army and made it in time. I blocked his claw with a guitar. "Leo, wake the fuck up unless you become shredded cheese."

"Naughty little boys aren't invited!" Albearto leered in close. "We don't use mean words here!"

"Go to hell, pendejo!"

Leo stirred and sat up. "Merrill? What are you doing?"

"Me and the bot are having a staring contest. I'm saving your shell, idiota! Now get up and help me! My gauntlets aren't responding." Albearto went into a frenzy. His claws clashed repeated on the guitar with increased speed. My reflexes could barely keep up. Exhaustion was creeping up on my chest. I don't know how long I can keep up. I'm literally up against a robot.

Leo, what are you doing?

I heard Leo struggling to stand. 'I – I – I can't! I can't stand!'

"What?!" I yelled. Albearto used my distraction to strike and knocked the guitar out of my hands. I managed to guard my face before the animatronic slashed it. He tore the sleeves leaving claw marks showing my robotic arms.

Albearto titled his head. "You're a part robot? We could be brothers in arms! Come, join me, dear brother!" I punched him across his exposed metal cheek, and I did a handstand to spin kick. Albearto's body twisted like a white cheddar bagel twist (my leg connected with his arm and as I was spinning, he spun like helicopter blades). I kicked the bot back before standing up.

I carried Leo bridal style and leaped away giving us distance from the threat. I gently dropped Leo on the floor. "How do feel?"

'I faceplanted on a glass window which was strong enough not to break. How do you think I feel?'

Okay, don't need to be such a bitch. I can imagine the pain you're going through. Can you stand?

He shook his head. 'My legs won't cooperate. I hate to say it, but I can't fight like this.'

My scanners ran a quick diagnosis. Leo's legs aren't damaged. They were slightly paralyzed. It was probably the shock that made his legs numb. I'm gonna beat that bear and turn it into a trash can.

"How confident are you?"

I looked at Leo with a raised eyebrow.

"So confident in tearing Bootleg Freddy's face off."

Leo was hesitant. His mind was blank. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. Maybe he figured out a way to shield his mind or putting up a mental barrier. Or maybe –

"You're giving me too much credit", he teased as he held his sword in front of me causing me to look at the slider with a questionable gaze. Leo rolled his eyes. "I'm not letting you keep it. I know you can beat Albearto. I'm just giving you the tool to win", he said with a cocky grin. 'Don't make me regret it', he added through our link.

I nodded while pulling out a spare hair tie from my jacket pocket and pulled my hair back – bang and all – to a short ponytail. I saw Albearto recovering his form; his twisted body repositioned to his original stance. I grabbed Leo's sword. Our hands touched. A quick shock went through our fingertips. The shock didn't bother us. It was more of a surprise. We looked away. Our hands were entwined until I gently pulled back. Time to slice Albearto.

"Merrill", Father's voice rang in my mind, "when facing your opponent, you must find their weakness and expose it to their disadvantage. Your scanners are programmed to analyze anything in sight. The subtle details will be your uprising. Once exposed, strike the weak point with no hesitation. Never let your enemy recover. If they draw breath, you lose yours. Understood?"

Yes, I understand, Father. I was trained for this. You and Mother made sure of that.

I positioned the sword. Albearto flexed his claws. I felt an energy burst through my fingers, into my hands, and surging through my body. With one step, I ran like a lightning bolt clashing with Albearto. For some reason, my speed and agility increased. I kept up with Albearto's speed. I held on to his claw until his other claw was aiming my face. I drew back and slashed at him. What occurred then shocked me. As I slashed, a portal appeared before the free claw got to my face. His claw went through the portal; a second portal opened behind the robot with his claw going through Albearto's torso. The portal cut off the arm. The claw tore through with wires between the fingers. Albearto's eyes flickered and died down. The robot's body went limp and crashed down.

The adrenaline finally passed. I keeled and heaved. That was too much for me to handle. "Dude, that was awesome!" Mikey ran up with his brothers. Raph was carrying Leo in his arms. "You were lightning speed, my guy!"

Donnie grabbed Leo's sword. "Strange how you were able to master the mystic powers rather quickly."

I shrugged, heaving and breathing. "What can I say... I'm an awesome dude."

"Well... thanks for the help... I guess..." Raph muttered. We could barely hear anything. Maybe he was too ashamed to say gratitude.

"Too bad we couldn't have cake." Mikey leaned over the cake, surprisingly enough it was in one piece. Right, we're still in Timmy's birthday party.

A large shadow cast over me. I looked up to see Albearto raising his only claw high up. He's still alive? How? Suddenly, a mallet hit the crazed robot and repeatedly smashed him to pieces.

"Come on! Sing the Happy Birthday song!" April yelled with the eyes of a crazed killer. "I'm getting through it today! Go!" Surely enough, I sang the happy birthday song as he leaned back from April's attack.

At the end of the song, we said random names and sang "Happy Birthday to you!"

Not gonna lie, that was the most threatened kids' party I've ever been to. It would be more accurate if April had a gun up to our heads and threatened us to sing.

'There's something wrong with you.'

Speak for yourself.

Out of nowhere, the entire building collapsed on us. The debris cleared. The damage was evident around us. The turtles split in seconds leaving me and April to deal with the mess. Those assholes!

The boss yelled something to April. I didn't bother listening. My focus went to the two kids stuck in the claw machine. I broke the glass with my elbow and the two boys out. I set them down.

"Who wants to ditch and get ice cream?" the boy from the machine screamed out a yes while Timmy looked reluctant.

"What about Albearto's?" the birthday boy asked.

"I'd rather not tell your parents a killer robot was on a rampage during your birthday, squirt", I told him, "I know it's not the best birthday –"

"What are you talking about? That was awesome!"

"Yeah", the vendor boy agreed, "you were awesome, too, mister!"

"Merrill was born awesome!"

I grinned. These munchkins ain't so bad. "Let's get outta here." The two boys dashed away, yet my phone vibrated. I got a text from an unknown number. Reading the message, I knew who it was.

Unknown number:

Does saving turtles in distress your side job?

I smirked as I quickly typed my response.

~Lady Ai~

I sent Merrill a quick text before any of my brothers notice. Raph still carried me with care as if he was carrying an egg. I'm not fragile! Geez! I can't wait for my legs to get their feeling back, otherwise, I'll be bored out of my mind on bed rest.

"Wouldn't it be great if Merrill was part of the Mad Dogs?" Mikey asked, playing the innocent brother card. "Think about it. He's a great fighter, he looks out for the little guy, and e's not bothered by the weirdness."

"Nope! No way, Mikey. Goth Boy isn't joining our group!" Raph declined. "He's got bad boy juju and I'm not letting him get into our hero business!"

"You have to admit", Donnie added his two cents, "this is like what? The third time we've encountered this. We haven't made any more human allies other than April and we've known her for years. Maybe having another human ally is worth it."

"You only like him because of his metal parts!"

"Nay, I say! Nay!"

Mikey came to my side, his finger poking my cheek. "What do you think, Leo~? Wasn't Merrill dreamy?"

I swatted his finger. "Don't know, don't care."

"I don't think you should go anywhere near him, Leo." I looked at my older brother. "Trouble seems to follow Goth Boy around like a fog."

"That's literally us, Raph", I argued. "Upset that one day he'll keep me all to himself?" I didn't mean it as a sarcastic joke, but maybe I was confused. One moment, I was happy to see Merrill a little too soon after this morning. The next, I got angry because he went out with a few people. Big whoop! It didn't explain why I was angry. It wasn't because I was jealous! He went through 13 relationships! And he's what? Sixteen?! I bet I have a better game than he does! What am I saying? I don't care if he does it as a hobby. Merrill can eat shit for all I care... ...he's a total asshole... ...an asshole who still went through the trouble saving my shell twice... ...Ugh! What is wrong with me?!

Oh right... Raph was lecturing me about not making such a joke. My cell pinged. I checked my message and sure enough, my cheeks got hot.

Merrill:

If it means saving cuties like you, I don't mind.

"Oooo~ your face is red! It's Merrill, isn't it?" Mikey, I hate you!!!!

"You already have his number?" Donnie asked, skeptically.

"What?!" Raph yelled in my face, "When did that happen?"

"I found it on the internet", I responded with a fluent white lie. Two messages came up. I smirked. "He said 'Mad Dogs' is a dumb name and whoever suggested it is an idiot. His words, not mine."

"Yeah! Well, you can tell him if he's so smart then what names can he come up with!"

I looked at the little list. "Let's see... Teenage Idiots, Mutant Jackasses, Tortugas Locas, Disorientated Morons, Cosplay Rip-offs, Naruto Haters, Kermit Rejects, Muppet Cheapskate –"

"Those are terrible names!"

"I'm leaning towards Tortugas Locas..." Donnie mused.

"It means Crazy Terrapins", I translated.

"He's not far off the mark", Mikey agreed.

"We are the Mad Dogs! As a leader, I say no changes until further notice!" Raph declared.

I rolled my eyes. Merrill is a mystery in a leather jacket. As soon as I get my legs working again, I'm seeing Merrill. Not because I have a crush! I don't! Who keeps saying that?! I want to see how he's doing.

Nothing more, nothing less.