Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Three

Reprimand and Punishment

Meanwhile in the main silo, Pandora and Michelangelo sat on the sofa looking up at Raphael, Splinter, Monalisa and Tyroth who were standing with angry looks and the Autobots stood near the platform in silence though Ratchet was looking cross.

"I told you this was a bad idea." Michelangelo muttered to Pandora.

"No you didn't!" Pandora shot back.

"Hey! That's enough from both of you!" Raphael snapped "You can work out whose fault it is on your own later, but right now, both of you are equally guilty!"

"What have you got to say for yourselves?" Monalisa demanded.

Pandora and Michelangelo chewed their lips and looked up at the turtle, lizard and dragon.

"Um.. we're sorry..." Pandora mumbled.

"Yeah... we're very sorry..." Michelangelo agreed.

"We didn't mean to cause any hurt or upset." Pandora explained trying to plead their case "After all that happened with Bulkhead and Ratchet recently with the Data cylinder and the synthetic energon, I thought...we thought." she corrected herself as she looked at her Uncle.

"That we needed to liven things up a bit."

"And you decided that playing a childish prank was a good idea?" Splinter asked.

"Um...yeah, but I guess it shouldn't have been the case?" Michelangelo shrugged.

"We should have thought better." Pandora admitted.

"Yes, you should have!" Monalisa said, her eyes narrowed.

"Just when I thought you two were showing some maturity you have to do this!" Tyroth tutted "But why am I not surprised with you two?"

Michelangelo and Pandora were about to answer but Tyroth held up his paw.

"No, don't answer that!" he said.

"You will both do ten backflips!" Splinter said.

"And you will be apologizing to both Prime and Ratchet. Both of you!" Rapheal added.

"Okay..." Michelangelo and Pandora said together before they got up from the sofa and walked like ones condemned to the lower level to do their punishment.

"Backflips?" Arcee asked.

"It's the discipline Master Splinter uses often when we step out of line." Donatello explained as he watched "Sometimes its other hardcore exercises but back-flips is a common one."

"I see." Arcee mused as she saw Pandora and Michelangelo stand on the lower level then do some stretches before they started to do backflips together under the watchful eyes of Tyroth, Monalisa, Splinter and Raphael.

Just then, footsteps were heard and everyone looked over to see Optimus returning with a clean faceplate and Leonardo on his shoulder.

"Prime!" Ironhide said "You okay?"

"I am fine Ironhide." Optimus replied then looked down to see Michelangelo and Pandora doing their backflips.

"I take it this is a common reprimand for your family?" he asked Leonardo who nodded.

"It is." he said "Master Splinter refers to it as harsh but fair."

"Reminds me of how the Elite Guard had their recruits transform back and forth multiple times." Optimus said.

"Darn tootin'!" Ironhide said rubbing the back of his neck "Not fun I can tell yer!"

"Wow….just as taxing huh?" Leonardo asked.

As Prime and Leonardo had returned, Raphael looked up at him.

"Hey Optimus? You okay?" he asked.

Pandora looked over as well in the middle of a backflip and she ended up landing on her stomach rather than her feet!

"Ooofff!" she cried.

"I am fine, Raphael." Optimus replied "Though, I appear to be slightly distracting." he added as he saw Pandora land on her front and the hybrid stood up shaking off stars.

"Don't worry." Raphael reassured the Prime then looked at Pandora.

"The girl needs to learn more about not getting distracted! That'll be five extra young lady!" he barked at his daughter.

"Awww man!" Pandora groaned.

"Do not be too hard on her." Optimus said kneeling to the floor and Leonardo slid off his shoulder as he did.

"The young are always... spirited."

"I can vouch for that. Right, Raph?" Leonardo asked with a slight look at his brother and Raphael blushed faintly making Tyroth and Splinter titter a little.

"We both know that, Fearless." Raphael grunted.

"I can too." Monalisa smiled then she saw Pandora and Michelangelo reach their tenth back flip yet Pandora was about to do the five extra Raphael ordered.

"That's enough Pandora." she said "You can stop now."

"Thanks mum..." Pandora panted and wiped her forehead.

"Now your backflip punishment is over, you both apologize to Ratchet and Prime right now." Splinter said firmly.

"Yes Master Splinter." Michelangelo said.

"Yes Grandpa." Pandora sighed and she and her uncle turned to Optimus and Ratchet who had come to stand next to him.

"We're sorry for the whole pie prank guys." Michelangelo said "We didn't mean any harm."

"Yes, we're very sorry." Pandora followed up shuffling her feet.

Optimus gave a small smile.

"I accept your appology." he said holding his his finger out to them and Michelangelo and Pandora in turn shook it

Ratchet sighed.

"I suppose that will have to do." he said holding out his finger in turn which the turtle and hybrid shook.

"We just wanted to liven things up is all." Pandora said "Not be horrible.

"We know." Optimus replied still smiling at the hybrid "You both have good hearts, even if your minds aren't always in the right place."

"He's got that right!" Loki said.

"You gotta admit Prime, it was pretty funny, you getting the prank instead of Ratchet." Ironhide quipped looking at the other Autobots who had been quiet but they all chimed in and nodded.

"Yeah, it was kinda!" Arcee chuckled "Sure did liven things up a bit after all the crazy stuff that happened recently."

Bumblebee bleeped and whirred and Bulkhead nodded.

"Sure!" he said "It's not everyday we see something like this happen."

"And speaking of such things happening, Optimus said standing up straight and looking at Tyroth, "I am curious about what happened when we attempted to get the Data Cylinder from Megatron."

Tyroth opened his wings and flew up to Optimus who held out his hand so the Dragon could land in it.

"You mean what I did to knock down Megatron then tore through that drone?" he asked to which the Prime nodded.

"Wait, he did what?" Bulkhead asked.

"Impossible!" Ratchet said.

"It's true." Arcee said "Saw with my own optics!"

Ironhide nodded and Bumblebee bleeped.

"Well, if you want to know, I'll tell you how." Tyroth said gesturing with his paw to the high platform and the living area.

"Please." Optimus said walking over to the platform and making sure no-one was underfoot.

Yet as they were about to talk, a proximity sensor went off and Ratchet groaned.

"Agent Fowler?" Bulkhead asked "I wonder what's happened this time?"

Ratchet checked the screens and he soon saw the sensor was outside the hanger entrance from the ground and it was a blue mustang car.

"It's not Agent Fowler." he reported "It's Culpepper."

"His pilot?" Arcee asked then an engine was heard and the blue mustang they knew appeared and drove in before parking at the side.

Then the door opened and out stepped the handsome young pilot dressed in smart black jeans and a jacket and he had one hand behind his back.

"Good afternoon everybody." he said "Is Pandora here?"

Raphael was about to speak but Arcee smirked as she cocked her head.

"You want to see Pandora?" she asked then pointed to the ground.

"She's right there." she said.

"Thanks!" Culpepper said as he saw Pandora look happy and she ran over before anyone could stop her.

"Culpepper! Eric!" she said happily.

Culpepper smiled and walked over to meet her and he looked her over seeing she was looking a little sweaty.

"Lovely to see you again." he said "I've been looking forward to it, you been training?" he asked.

Pandora nodded.

"Um...yeah." she said blushing as she didn't want to admit that she had been punished for the prank earlier.

"Nice." Culpepper said then he handed her the single red rose to which Pandora blushed and accepted it before sniffing it.

"Aww, you shouldn't have." she said "Thank you."

The Hamato Clan, Tyroth and Sephie were amazed at what they saw.

"Did he just...?" Freya asked.

"He gave her a rose?" Loki stuttered.

"Did my eyes decieve me?" Michelangelo asked.

"No..." Raphael growled and he looked at Monalisa who also looked rather concerned and they walked over to Pandora and Culpepper and Raphael cleared his throat to get their attention.

Culpepper paled as he saw Raphael glaring at him and Monalisa had that knowing look on her face and Pandora looked worried.

"Hi!" the young man said "Raphel, Monalisa."

"Culpepper." Raphael said still giving him that suspicious eye.

The rest of the mutants as well as the Autobots watched both curiously and eagerly.

"The kids about to be roasted." Michelangelo whispered.

"Without a doubt." Donatello said "Well I'm curious about his intentions as much as Raph and Mona are."

"you're not the only one." Freya muttered.

"How's your day going?" Culpepper asked, a slight wavering in his voice as he looked at the turtle and lizard.

"Pretty good." Monalisa said in a polite flat voice as she kept her blue eyes on the human.

"And what brings you here today?"

Culpepper chewed his lip.

"As well as check in on things here like Fowler's asked me to do, I wanted to ask your daughter something."

Pandora's eyes widened in surprise, but Raphael frowned harder and crossed his arms.

"Oh yes?" he asked in a threatening tone, yet Monalisa placed a hand on his arm prompting him to ease up on the human man.

"Well um..." Culpepper said chewing his lip and sweat forming on his forehead.

"There's a drive-theatre just outside of Jasper," he blurted quickly "And they're showing a movie, I wanted to ask Pandora if she wished to join me?"

"A drive in movie theatre?" Pandora cried excitedly "Swell! I'd love to go!"

"Just a moment!" Raphael barked to which Pandora looked over.

"Dad!" she started to protest.

Monalisa gave her daughter a look to which the hybrid quickly shut up. It was that look of 'Don't-Argue!' and she looked at Culpepper.

"You want Pandora to join you at the movies?" she asked.

Culpepper nodded.

"If it's okay with you Monalisa, m'am?" he asked.

Monalisa frowned yet Raphael looked ready to say no straight up.

Monalisa looked at Pandora then at Culpepper.

"Please mum!" Pandora pleaded "I will be good!"

"Give me and your father five minutes." she said in a serious voice before turning away from their daughter and Culpepper "Can you give us some privacy?"

"Sure!" Pandora said then looked at Culpepper and they both watched as the turtle and lizard went back to join the others.

As Raphael and Monalisa walked up to the raised platform to join everyone up there, they saw the rest of the Hamato Clan, and the Autobots had stopped what they were doing and had seen everything.

Even Ratchet had turned away from his work to watch and listen.

Splinter had a half frown half smile, Kemeko was looking surprised, as was Michelangelo, Sephie looked at Tyroth who was frowning, and Donatello and Leonardo looked concerned.

Arcee meanwhile was smirking, Ironhide had that knowing look on his face, as did Optimus, and Bulkhead and Bumblebee looked a little confused.

"Did I just see that Culpepper dude ask Our Little Geisha on a date?" Michelangelo asked.

"No way!" Kemeko said, "Yet." she said "He and Pandora seem to have gotten on, quite well, I've seen it!"

"True that." Bulkhead said remembering the trip Culpepper had taken the kids on before the incident with the data cylinder.

"I have to admit yes as well." Michelangelo agreed.

Raphael glowered.

"I'm concerned." he said "This kid seems to have taken an interest in my daughter, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't being protective!"

"You have every right to be protective Raph." Tyroth said as he looked over at Culpepper "I am as well."

"But he is a human who Fowler trusts to know about us, and the Autobots." Monalisa said "And if he even thought of doing anything bad..."

"Then he would face severe consequences." Splinter said "Not just with Fowler and his superiors but us too."

"And from what we've observed." Loki said "he has been pretty cool with us, he is kinda fun to hang with."

"And he was open to us about his life." Kemeko agreed.

"True that." Freya said.

"Yes," Raphael said "He has been good with you, but my concern is his interest in my daughter!"

"Raphael..." Splinter said.

"Why is he interested in her? Is he genuine in his feelings? Is he really attracted to her?"

"Raph." Leonardo said "You thinking it's strange he finds her attractive and she's not human like him?"

Raphael looked at his brother and opened his mouth yet he couldn't find the words to argue back.

"There's nothing wrong with human/mutant relationships." Sephie said "Look at Jake and Amber, they're not the same species, but they love each other all the same."

"That's true." Monalisa said "And Jake's never hurt Amber, well, he wouldn't have a chance if he did, due to Tyroth being so protective of his sister." she winked at the dragon who smirked.

"And I know my brother, he's a genuine loving man." the lizard lady added.

"Very true." Tyroth agreed.

"And I want to believe this Culpepper has genuine intentions for Pandora, my son." Splinter said "But I do understand your concern, as any father should be."

"Thanks Master." Raphael said.

"So what should we agree on?" Donatello asked.

"Put it to a vote?" Michelangelo asked.

Tyroth grunted as he mused and thought hard.

"Everyone." he said making them look at him.

"I think, we should give Culpepper the benefit of the doubt, let him take Pandora on this 'date'."

"What?" everyone asked in surprise.

"Big T?" Raphael asked.

"Look Raph." Tyroth said placing a large paw on the turtle's shoulder "Pandora deserves the chance to find someone special and as a mutant, there a very small pickings and it's a rare chance that a human shows interest in us rather than fear or hate."

"True." Donatello agreed.

Raphael pressed his lips together in emotion and Monalisa looked thoughtful.

"You can't keep her wrapped up forever." Tyroth continued in a gentle tone "Both of you, as much as you'd like to."

"I know the feeling." Sephie said as she looked at the geckolings who looked a little embarrassed.

"Me too." Leonardo agreed smiling at Kemeko who smiled back.

"Pandora's a big girl, a big tough girl, and I'm sure she won't let anything happen." Sephie said.

"I'd like to think that!" Michelangelo agreed.

Raphael and Monalisa looked at each other as they let the words of Tyroth sink in yet they still needed to come to a decision whether to let Pandora go with Culpepper to the drive-in theatre.

As the mutants spoke, the Autobots remained silent letting them talk.

Optimus glanced down at Pandora and Culpepper who were talking quietly together then looked at the Hamato Clan, Tyroth, Sephie and the Geckolings.

He wanted to put in his opinion but he felt it best to stay out of it and let Pandora's family discuss the situation, yet in his spark he hoped that they came to agree to let Pandora and Culpepper go on their date as it had warmed him to see such a friendship develop between the two species of Earthlings and he hoped that it continued.

Pandora and Michelangelo have been reprimanded and punished and apologised to Prime and Ratchet, who have accepted their appologies.

But now Culpepper has arrived and boldly asked Pandora on a date! Yet Raphael and Monalisa more than a little concerned and are in conference about it with the others.

Will it be a yes or a no? Well, you'll just have to wait to find out!