Chapter 5: I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman

Splinter and Shen were meditating in the dojo, bonding with the universe. Suddenly, there was a crash and Mikey cried out in pain, breaking them from their trance.

Raph and Karai gently helped Mikey sit on the couch. "I think it's really broken, Leo." Mikey said, clutching his arm. "I told you that trying to break your jump record inside the lair was a bad idea, Mikey. But you were so insistent and now look at you. Instead of breaking your record, you wiped out and broke your arm." Leo scolded. Mikey whimpered like a sad little puppy. Leo held up the Ametrine as Venus wrapped Mikey's broken arm in a cast and sling. The Ametrine glowed around the arm, healing it. "Okay, that should reduce the injury to a minor fracture. But you're still gonna need that cast for a while." Leo explained.

"What is going on in here?!" Splinter exclaimed, startling the Turtles and Karai. "Michelangelo, how many times have we told you not to skateboard in the lair?" Shen asked disappointingly. "None." Mikey said, knowing where this was going. "We shouldn't have to tell you!" Splinter exclaimed. "You're right, Sensei. We definitely should've known better and we deserved to be punished. Eh, some." Leo said. "And what do you 2 think would be a fitting punishment?" Shen asked. Leo and Karai looked to the other Turtles, who were trying to act innocent. "Well, we should…clean up our mess?" Leo asked. "And then…think about what we did?" Karai asked. "What about being grounded for a week?" Splinter asked. "Or how about 2 weeks?" Shen asked. The Turtles and Karai tried to protest. "You're grounded for 2 weeks!" Splinter declared. The teens groaned in defeat as the skate-ramp collapsed.

(Intro) (Wyatt Reid updated to the rooftop scene)

While being grounded, Leo sat boringly on the couch. Karai tossed playing cards at Piebald's fishbowl. Mikey was reading one of his magazines. Venus kicked around a tee-ball. Raph was pacing back and forth, grunting angrily. "This bites! I can't believe we're stuck down here for 2 whole weeks!" He exclaimed. "I feel terrible. This is all my fault." Mikey said with guilt as he picked up another magazine. "Don't feel too bad, Mikey. We let you talk us into it." Karai said, tossing a card to Piebald, who leapt out of her bowl and caught it. "How could this get any worse?" Venus asked. "Guys, guys! You wanna see what I made?" Donnie asked as he ran in. "This is how bored I am. Yes, Donnie. I do." Raph said.

"Okay, okay, okay. Remember the other day, I was scrounging in that military junkyard?" Donnie asked. "No." Leo, Karai, Mikey, Raph and Venus said simultaneously. "Well, I found an incredibly advanced A.I. microchip, made from, get this! Self-assembled chain-linked copolymers!" Donnie exclaimed excitedly. "Uh, are we supposed to know what those are?" Mikey asked confusedly. "It's my favorite kind of copolymer! And I used it to make this. The most highly advanced music-player in the world." Donnie said, showing them his latest invention. Leo, Karai, Mikey, Raph and Venus stared in awe. "So, who wants to try it?" Donnie asked. "Here, I'll try it. Hand me the T-Pod." Mikey said. "T-Pod?" Donnie asked in confusion. "You know, Turtle-Pod?" Mikey said. "Huh. That actually fits. T-Pod it is. Here you go, Mikey." Donnie said, giving the T-Pod to Mikey. "You're really gonna plant an advanced piece of military technology directly into Mikey's head? What if it melts his brain?!" Raph asked in concern for Mikey. "It won't." Donnie assured.

Mikey plugged the earbuds in his ears and slowly pressed the play button. "Argh! Polka?! Who puts Polka music on an advanced piece of technology?!" He exclaimed. He hit the skip button and put on a hip rap beat. "Oh, that's more like it." He said as he started dancing. "I didn't know Mikey could dance." Venus said. "That's it. I gotta get out of here." Raph said, heading towards the exit. "Where are you going?! We're grounded." Leo said. "I don't care. I gotta do something or I'm gonna go nuts. Let's find a skate spot." Raph said, picking up his skateboard. "Did you say skate spot? I'm down for that." Mikey said. "But what're my parents gonna say?" Karai asked. "I don't know what's going on because they snuck out while we were sleeping." Raph said, mimicking Splinter. "Real mature, Raph." Karai grumbled. "But we're your leaders. And as your leaders, we say nobody's going." Leo said. "And as your followers…we're going anyway." Raph said as Donnie, Venus and Mikey took his side. "Well, as your leaders…we're coming with you…to lead you…away from…bad stuff." Leo said, losing his train of thought. "We need to learn to argue better." Karai said. Just then, the T-Pod shifted back to Polka. "Ugh! Polka music again?! We gotta get some more tunes on this thing." Mikey groaned.

Later, the Turtles and Karai leapt across the rooftops with their skating gear. Mikey listened to the T-Pod as he skated after his siblings, noticing there were new songs downloaded. "Hey, Donnie, when'd you download all the new songs?" He asked. "Wait. What new songs?" Donnie asked. "Keep it down, you guys!" Leo whispered. Donnie leapt back towards Mikey and hand stood on his shoulders. "What the? It's got thousands of new songs and it keeps downloading new ones every second." He said. "So?" Raph asked. "So, I didn't program it to do that. It's reconfiguring itself somehow." Donnie said. "Then how's it doing it?" Venus asked. Donnie gasped as he realized. "It's that chip." He said. "Makes sense. This chip is very high military tech." Mikey said. "Guys! We're ninjas, remember? We're supposed to move swiftly and, the most important part, silently!" Karai whispered. Suddenly, Leo fell off the roof and crashed into a greenhouse, leaping across the plant tables. "BEEHIVE!" He cried as a beehive smacked him in the face. As he fell off the roof again, he crashed down the fire escape and landed in the alley. "Leo!" Karai cried with concern. "That wasn't very silent, Leo!" Raph called jokingly. Karai socked him, knocking him out.

Later, the Turtles and Karai arrived at a building known as TCRI. "Check that out." Raph said, eyeing the rails by the stairs. "You wanna grind them?" Mikey asked. "Looks like grinding material to me." Venus said. "Who the heck is that guy?" Donnie asked, noticing a strange man in a pink sweater, wearing battle armor, walking down the street. "I don't know. But he needs a beat down." Raph said. "You say everyone needs a beat down." Karai scolded. "And they deserve it." Raph said. "Hold on, Raph. We don't know if he's gonna do anything wrong. He could be on his way to…church." Leo said. "Wearing powered battle armor? What kind of church is that?" Raph asked. "A really stupid one." Mikey said. "Look, it's our call. Karai and I decide who gets a beat down." Leo said. Suddenly, the man attempted to cut into a padlocked door with a laser. "That guy needs a beat down." Leo said. "A serious beat down." Karai agreed. They leapt off the building to engage their new enemy.

Just then, as the man continued attempting to cut into the padlock, his laser went dead. "Are you kidding me?! Oh, come on!" He groaned. He kicked the door with his mechanical boot and attempted to pry it open as the Turtles and Karai landed behind him. "It's just kinda sad." Donnie said, feeling sorry for the man. "Yeah. I don't if we should pound him or buy him an ice cream cone." Mikey said as he put away the T-Pod. "I don't think I even have the heart to give him a beat down." Venus said. "Halt villain!" Leo exclaimed, going Space Heroes again as he and Karai drew their swords, getting the man's attention. "'Halt villain?' When did we start talking like that?!" Raph asked. "We're heroes. That's how heroes talk." Leo said. The man aimed his laser at the Turtles and Karai. "You will feel the fury of my powered battle-" He started to say until he saw the Turtles. "Holy cow! You guys are turtles!" He said in shock. "That's right. We're the Turtles of Justice!" Leo declared heroically. The Turtles looked at them in disbelief. "Wow. I mean, just…wow." Raph said in disbelief.

The man charged towards the Turtles and Karai with a shout. "First strike's mine, guys!" Mikey exclaimed as he leapt at the man and smacked his head with his nunchaku. Donnie skated over and used his bō staff to unplug some wires from the man's helmet. Venus skated under him and whacked his armored legs. Raph leapt over him and sliced some more of his wires. Leo and Karai went over and under, slicing off bits of his armor. The man stumbled backwards, accidently cracking a window and setting off the alarm. As the Turtles and Karai cringed, Raph gestured to a dumpster he was sitting on. They picked up the man and threw him into the dumpster. "You're not the first to ever throw me into the trash, but I swear that you will be the last!" The man exclaimed as Raph slammed the lid on him. Suddenly, they heard police sirens. "Cops!" Mikey cried. "Let's go!" Leo whispered as Raph whooped like a stooge. They climbed up the fire escape before the cops arrived on the scene.

The Turtles and Karai skated down to an alley and entered a manhole down to the sewer. They re-entered the lair through the pipe in their indoor swimming pool. "Alright. We made it home." Raph said. "Shh! It's 2:00 AM." Leo whispered. "Splinter and Shen are probably still sleeping. This was pretty epic." Venus said. "It wasn't epic, Venus! It was a really bad idea." Karai snapped quietly. "No, it wasn't. We got out there and stomped a sleezeball. So, what's the problem?" Raph asked. "Oh no." Mikey said with worry as he searched his belt. "What's wrong, Mikey?" Donnie asked. "The T-Pod's gone! I must've dropped it during the fight!" Mikey cried quietly. That made Donnie gasp in horror.

Meanwhile, the man climbed out of the dumpster. Just then, he found the T-Pod. He picked it up and plugged it into his helmet. The T-Pod started repairing and powering up his armor. He chuckled sinisterly as he felt the power fuel into him.

The next day, the Turtles and Karai were working tiredly through their training. "Knees higher, Leonardo! Extend, Michelangelo!" Splinter exclaimed. "Venus de Milo, your form is all wrong! Miwa, your arm is too high!" Shen exclaimed. "Raphael, you call that a Koho Tenkai? Because I do not!" Splinter exclaimed. Donnie collapsed due to his tired form. "Yame!" Splinter exclaimed. The Turtles and Karai knelt before him and Shen. "Is there something you wish to tell us?" Shen asked. "Something we want to tell you? No." Mikey said with worry. "You all seem tired." Splinter said. "We're not!" Leo protested. "Wide awake." Donnie added. "Fresh as daisies." Raph assured. "Plenty of sleep." Venus said. But Mikey yawned and collapsed into sleep. "Very helpful, Mikey." Karai grumbled. "So, you would not object to a little Randori?" Splinter asked, holding up a wooden sword, also known as an akido stick. The Turtles and Karai gulped at that. Splinter whacked each of them hard. "We hope you have learned, children, that truth is not the only thing that hurts." Shen said.

Later, the Turtles and Karai sat in the living room to relax. Leo and Karai were watching Space Heroes while Raph read a magazine.

[Space Heroes]

Captain Ryan and his crew were on a distant planet as Crankshaw ran up to them. "Captain Ryan, the rebellion is growing! We have to get off this planet!" Crankshaw cried. "No." Captain Ryan said. "But, Captain-" Crankshaw tried to say, but Captain Ryan slapped him. "I said no. We may have started this rebellion by accident, but by the Rings of Nebulon, we are going to finish it on purpose!" Captain Ryan declared, with Leo mimicking the exact words. "Aye, sir!" Crankshaw exclaimed.

Leo and Karai grinned at Captain Ryan's dedication. "Seen this enough times there, Chief?" Raph asked. "Would you shh! This is the best part." Leo said. But then, the cartoon was interrupted by Channel 6 News. "We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news." The anchorman said, making Leo and Karai groan. "We received shocking footage of an assault on the TCRI office complex in Brooklyn."

The footage showed the same man that the Turtles and Karai beat down in brand-new, fully upgraded battle armor, attacking the entire complex. "At last, I will have my revenge!" He declared, his voice now sounding mechanical. "Who…who are you?" One civilian asked in fear. "You'll never know. I'm the thing who haunts your nightmares. I'm the nameless shadow who-" The man tried to say. "Baxter?" Another civilian asked. "No." The man, named Baxter, denied in his regular voice. "Baxter Stockman?" The civilian asked again. "No!" The man, now fully named Baxter Stockman, denied again. "Hey, everybody, it's Baxter Stockman." The civilian said. "Is that the guy we beat up last night?" Venus asked. "I think his name is Baxter Stockman." Raph said. "Is this because I fired you?" The boss asked. "That coffee machine was already broken when I- I mean, I don't know what you're talking about!" Baxter exclaimed. "How did he upgrade his armor so fast?" Leo asked. As Baxter attacked the guy filming the footage, the camera froze on the T-Pod. "He's got the T-Pod!" Donnie realized. "He must've found it after I dropped it." Mikey said. "So, the A.I. chip is upgrading his armor the same way it upgraded the T-Pod." Karai guessed. "And if it keeps going, there's no telling how powerful he'll get." Donnie said. "This has gone way too far. We have to tell Splinter and Shen about this." Leo said. "Leo's right. We have to come clean." Karai said. "What? That we turned some nutjob into a supervillain? Do you know what they'll do to us for that? I mean, they pummeled us into the ground just for being sleepy." Raph said. "Look, we beat Stockman once, we can beat him again. We track him down, grab the T-Pod and get back here before Splinter and Shen know anything." Donnie said. "Donnie's right. And I for one intend to clean up the mess I made from losing the T-Pod to begin with." Mikey said.

Later, that night, the Turtles and Karai tracked Stockman back to his hideout. "I'm not Baxter Stockman. I am…the Baxman. No. No. I am…The Suitinator! Oh, that's terrible! Captain…Punch-You-Hard. Oh, why is this so difficult?" Stockman asked, trying hard to come up with a new supervillain name. Just then, the Turtles and Karai surrounded him from the shadows. "I don't know. I thought the Suitinator was kinda cool." Mikey said. "You guys again?!" Stockman asked in surprise. "Alright, Stockman, nobody wants to hurt you." Leo said. "We don't? Did I miss a meeting?" Raph asked. "Like you'd ever attend one of our meetings." Karai joked. "We just want the T-Pod." Leo said. "Give up my source of power? Why? So, you can laugh at me again? Throw me in a dumpster?!" Stockman exclaimed as he stood up. "Sounds good to me." Raph said before he charged towards Stockman. But Stockman spun his robot fist and punched Raph into the wall.

"So much for doing this the reasonable way." Karai said as she and the Turtles charged towards Stockman. But Stockman grabbed Mikey, Donnie and Venus, extended his arms and slammed them into the walls. As he tried to grab Leo, he slashed his right arm off with his katanas. As Stockman tried to strike Leo with his left arm, Karai leapt in and slashed it off. But then, Stockman chuckled sinisterly as he grew his hands back. "What the?" Leo asked in shock. "Okay, that's unfortunate." Karai said, feeling disturbed. Suddenly, the hands that they slashed off transformed into robot drones and latched onto their heads. "Get it off! Get it off!" Leo cried. "It's stuck on my head!" Karai cried. As Donnie, Venus and Raph recovered from the rubble, the drones targeted them and fired lasers at them. But they leapt out of the way and landed safely on the ground. But the lasers blasted their weapons out of their hands, stunning them. "Lasers!" Donnie cried. As Leo and Karai tried their hardest to pull them off, the drones shocked them, forcing them to chase their siblings as they fired more lasers at them. "RUN!" Donnie cried.

Meanwhile, Mikey recovered from the rubble. "Hey, Stockman!" He exclaimed as he leapt out. He spun his nunchaku and readied his sickle blade, wrapping the chains around Stockman and seemingly trapping him. But Stockman started spinning his body around, spinning Mikey around and making him dizzy. He cackled as he continued spinning.

Meanwhile, Donnie, Venus and Raph ducked down behind some rubbish, dodging the lasers. "What now, genius?" Raph asked. "Yeah, we gotta get those things off Leo and Karai somehow." Venus said. Just then, Donnie noticed a glass window in front of them, getting an idea. They lifted the window and deflected a couple of the lasers, which bounced off the pipes and steel beams before hitting the drones, destroying them and freeing Leo and Karai. "Thanks." Leo said as he adjusted his mask. "Yeah. It was not comfy in there." Karai said. They turned and glared at Stockman as he walked towards them, spinning Mikey on his chain like a nunchaku. The Turtles and Karai picked up their weapons and leapt towards Stockman. But as Raph landed, Stockman swatted him with Mikey, knocking them both down. Leo and Karai slashed the chain. Donnie and Venus readied hidden blades on their weapons. But as they went to strike, Stockman grabbed their weapons and shattered them like twigs. "Hey!" Donnie exclaimed. "My tonfas!" Venus exclaimed. They leapt back as Stockman stomped towards them. As the Turtles and Karai regrouped, they charged towards Stockman with a shout. Stockman charged back with a shout.

The windows lit up from the inside as they collided. "Oh yeah!" Stockman cheered as he burst through the wall, carrying the Turtles and Karai. He walked over to a dumpster and slammed them into it, cackling. "Foolish turtles! Did you really think you could defeat me?!" Stockman asked mockingly. "Well, we did at first." Mikey said. "All my life, people had laughed at me. The other kids in school, my co-workers, the woman who fixes the coffee 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!" Stockman explained as he started evolving again. "What's happening?!" Leo asked in worry. "Stockman and the T-Pod, they're…merging. They're becoming one single entity." Donnie said in worry and shock. "They've become…the Stockman-Pod." Mikey said with worry. "Exactly." Donnie said.

Later, the Turtles and Karai ran for their lives as the new and improved Stockman-Pod chased them through the streets. "The Stockman-Pod's right on top of us!" Mikey cried. "Mikey, I don't wanna diss your naming skills, but could you please not call him that? It's kinda stupid." Raph said. "I know! But it was the best I could think of in the situation!" Mikey cried. "Split up! He can't follow us all!" Leo ordered. "Leo, if we do that, he'll just follow Mikey!" Venus exclaimed. "Why would he follow Mikey?" Leo asked. "You know they always follow Mikey!" Raph exclaimed. "All of you, stop being paranoid and just do it!" Karai ordered. As the others split up, the Stockman-Pod continued chasing Mikey. "Oh, why do the bad guys always follow me?!" Mikey cried. The Stockman-Pod kept up the chase as Mikey leapt off walls, a stoop and a merry-go-round. Just then, as the Stockman-Pod chased him down an alley, Mikey spotted a pizza delivery boy, riding on his bike. "Pizza? That gives me an idea." He said before he leapt for the bike and snatched the pizza boxes. "I got you now!" The Stockman-Pod exclaimed. "Yeah? Well, I got…hot cheese!" Mikey exclaimed, throwing the pizzas at the Stockman-Pod, hitting him in the face. But he managed to wipe it off. "Is that the best you've-" He started to ask, but stopped when he noticed Mikey was gone.

Later, after meeting back up, the Turtles and Karai slowly started sneaking into the lair. Suddenly, Splinter and Shen turned on the lights. But for some reason, they didn't see their children. "Strange. I was sure I heard something." Splinter said. "It was probably nothing, my love. Come, let us return to bed." Shen said. After Splinter and Shen returned to their room, the Turtles and Karai suddenly reappeared from thin air, sighing in relief. "How did that happen? They were looking right at us, but they didn't see us." Mikey whispered. "I think it was…this." Leo said, holding up the Ametrine. "You mean, that thing can make us invisible?" Raph asked. "I guess so." Leo said.

Later, the Turtles and Karai sat in the dojo. "And after I threw hot cheese in his face, I ran off and met back up with you guys." Mikey said. "Good work, Mikey. But still, we really messed things up this time." Venus said. "We need to clean up our mess and stop the Stockman-Pod from destroying the city." Leo said. "But Leo, that guy's already kicked our shells, and he's even more powerful than before. How are we supposed to stop him?" Donnie asked with worry. "I know. I'll hit him really hard." Raph said, pounding his fists. "That's not gonna work, Raph. Didn't you learn anything from your fight with Spider-Bytes? Brute force is never the answer. As my father would say, we need to rely on our ninja training to win." Karai said. "It might work if we were up against a samurai like the ninjas back in the days, but how can we stop a guy with armor like that?" Mikey asked. As they started to think, Leo noticed the Ametrine had started to glow. Suddenly, Leo's eyes started glowing in blue as he was shown a vision. "Uh, you okay there, Leo?" Venus asked. Just as the glow died down, Leo turned to his siblings. "I know how we can beat him." He said.

Later, the Turtles and Karai headed back up to the city and waited on a rooftop. They sent Mikey ahead to find the Stockman-Pod and lead him right to them. "Are you sure this is gonna work?" Donnie asked. "Yes. The secret to ninjas fighting guys in armor, don't fight the armor, fight the guy inside." Leo said. "And once Mikey leads the Stockman-Pod to us, we can put our plan to work." Karai said. Suddenly, Mikey screamed as he hurried back. "Guys! Stockman-Pod's got…MISSILES!" He exclaimed as 8 missiles were fired towards them. The Turtles and Karai ducked out of the way as the missiles hit a water tower. The Stockman-Pod walked into view, cackling as the Turtles and Karai surrounded him, wielding chains. They tossed their chains, wrapping them around the Stockman-Pod. They tugged on the chains to hold him in place. "Now you're the one who's trembling in terror, pal!" Mikey exclaimed. But then, the Stockman-Pod broke free from the chains, grabbed Mikey's head and threw him into a building. "Mikey!" Donnie cried. "That's it! You're going down!" Raph exclaimed. The Turtles and Karai charged towards the Stockman-Pod, who charged back. Donnie pole-vaulted up and kicked the Stockman-Pod before striking him with his bō staff. Leo and Karai slashed at the armor with their katanas. Raph and Venus struck him several times with their sais and tonfas. But as they leapt at him for another attack, the Stockman-Pod swatted them aside. "Raph!" Leo cried. "Venus!" Karai cried. As Leo, Donnie and Karai leapt for him, the Stockman-Pod caught them with tendrils from his robot hands, bashed their heads together and spun them around before throwing them off the roof. But as they were about to fall towards the pavement, Raph and Venus quickly arrived and caught them. "Gotcha." Raph said.

As they climbed back up, the Stockman-Pod loomed over them. "Any last words?" He asked as he prepared to finish them off. "Just one. Bees." Leo said. "Bees?" The Stockman-Pod asked, confused. "BEES!" Mikey exclaimed as he swung down on a wire with a beehive. He leapt up and stuffed the hive into the Stockman-Pod's cockpit. The Stockman-Pod screamed in pain as the angry bees stung his face. His midsection split open to reveal the T-Pod in the center. "The T-Pod!" Leo said. The Stockman-Pod pulled the hive out of his cockpit, revealing his sting swollen face, and tried to swat the bees away. The Turtles and Karai got ready and charged. They each struck the Stockman-Pod hard and knocked him off the roof. Luckily, he landed on another roof. As he slowly recovered, Leo and Karai loomed over him. Leo pointed his katana to Stockman's face. But then, Karai grabbed the T-Pod and unplugged it from the suit, shutting it down. Stockman climbed out of the suit as the other Turtles joined their leaders. "So, we'll call it a tie?" He asked nervously. "Wanna call it a tie, Raph?" Leo asked. "Not yet." Raph said, cracking his fingers.

"No! No!" Stockman cried as the Turtles and Karai shoved him into a dumpster. Again. "Now it's a tie." Raph said before shutting the lid. The Turtles and Karai cheered as they started to head home.

Later, when they returned to the lair, they knelt before Splinter and Shen in the dojo. "You all showed wisdom and great skill in defeating the Stockman-Pod." Splinter said. "Yes. Especially with using the Ametrine's invisibility to sneak back in the first time he defeated you." Shen said. The Turtles and Karai were surprised to hear that. "You knew the whole time?" Karai asked. "Yes. We are very sensitive smellers now, Miwa. But nonetheless, we are proud of all of you for cleaning up your mess." Splinter said. "Does mean we're not grounded anymore?" Leo asked hopefully. Splinter stroked his beard for a second. "Yes." He said, making the Turtles and Karai smile. But Shen smirked, knowing what her husband was planning. "But first, Randori!" He exclaimed, bringing out his akido stick. The Turtles and Karai screamed before taking off.

Wow! Wasn't that crazy?! After being grounded for 2 weeks, the Turtles and Karai sneak out to go skating, only to give a beat down to an unsuccessful man named Baxter Stockman and threw him in the trash. But after Stockman got a hold of the new musical T-Pod Donnie invented, the military chip quickly upgraded his battle armor, transforming him into the Stockman-Pod. But thanks to some quick-thinking and a sudden vision from the Ametrine, the Turtles and Karai defeated the Stockman-Pod, took back the T-Pod and threw Stockman back in the trash. But what other troubles will the Turtles and Karai get into next? Will the Shredder's forces track them down again? Leave a review if you'd like.