It took us a whole entire day and a half to fix up our new home. Despite many complaints, we had managed to work out a system in the end. Even though it has been a while since those robots attacked, I still can't help but think that it wasn't the end of them. I didn't have any idea how right I was, yet I should have.
I had just finished organizing my new room and I couldn't be happier to have it. Honestly, if you were in my position of living with boys and having to share a room with the same brothers, then you would be glad to have your own little space to customize yourself. A mattress was in one corner and there was a desk not too far from the entryway. I had a shelf placed right beside my desk. I had a few books, but there is something missing from the small shelf. Hmm, perhaps, I'll figure it out later.
Step by step, I walk out of the room. I turn around for a moment, expecting for the room to disappear or for Mikey to be nosy like he is. Speaking of my brothers, there they are. Donnie and Mikey were suggesting names for our new home. I chuckled at their attempts and watch as our rat father intervened before an argument could begin. "We will call this place 'home'." I hear his voice echo. "Hmm, catchy." Don nodded at Mikey's reply. "Now, what is keeping Leonardo and Raphael?" The gray rat asked them. "They just went to get the last of our stuff from the old lair," Mikey answered, picking up some pipes. "And with the way the new sewer slider is performing, they should be back any minute now," Don added.
I had climbed down to their level at this point and went to the genius who was messing with that robot. "You know, even with it offline, I still feel like it would just jump up and bite my tail." Splinter joined in with us. "Yes, Isabella. I agree that even though it is inactive, that thing still makes me uneasy, Donatello." He pointed at the robot. Donatello looked to us, "I highly doubt that would happen, sis. Besides, this is state-of-the-art robotics, Sensei. Brilliant work. I just gotta know what makes it tick." *Sigh* Good old Donnie. You can't ever take this turtle away from technology. I thought and smiled.
Just in time, the sewer slider flew in, holding our possessions and our brothers, Leo and Raph. "Hey! Good news, Mikey. Your DVD collection survived." Leo said, spinning the box around his finger before tossing it to Mikey. "Awesome! Let's throw in something light on story and heavy on gore-y." Mikey grinned holding the collection in one hand and the remote in the other. "Cause the video monolith is ready to rock and roll." He turned all the TV screens on. The screens turned to the news. It began explaining about Stocktronics and its new invention. We gasped once they revealed that same robot which destroyed our old home. It was called the Stocktronic Mouser. Our expressions consisted of shock and anger.
"I can't believe that the famous Baxter Stockman would try to pass off these killer robots as a good thing," Donnie said, holding the head in his hand. Mikey grabbed it out of his hand. "And what's up with those glasses?" Mikey asked before putting the head on his hand and moving it like a puppet. "Dork city." Raph had growled and ran up the screens before stabbing at one. "I say we head over to Stocktronics and kick some serious shell." Just as he was about to run out the door, our rat father had stopped him in his tracks by standing in the way. "Absolutely not." He said before hitting his head with his walking stick. "Your last venture to the surface was a disaster. You can ill afford to be seen by more humans." He explained.
My attention went back to the television, though I wished I hadn't. A red-haired woman released multiple rats into the maze and the Mouser had chased after each and every one of them before scooping them up and swallowing them whole like a mechanical serpent with legs. I looked away before it could get to the last few rats. I shivered while trying to ignore their desperate cries and the crunching of their fragile skeletons. "Man, I sure hate to be a rat in this town." I hear Mikey comment. I cleared my throat and motioned my head towards Splinter. "Oh, sorry, sensei."
Splinter had mentioned for us to train. At first, Mikey groaned, but turned off the television screens and went to the new training space. We pulled out our weapons while Sensei stood in position, waiting for us to attack him. Don jumped first and attacking him with his staff, only to be blocked and hit back out. "Do not lead with your shoulders, Donatello." Splinter began. Leo jumped next with his katanas raised above his head. The rat only swung his staff and Leo was sent flying out. "Faster on your counterattack, Leonardo." Mikey went in and fell back out, quite literally. "Mind your footwork, Michelangelo." I went next by leaping at him. He dodged and I swung around, trying to land a hit with my blade. He jumped again. I only wrapped my chain end around his staff, intending to take it, but instead, I was thrown to my side. "Act quickly, Isabella." He lectured at me. Why did I not think of that? I thought before quickly getting up, not intending to be in the way. Especially with Raph taking his turn now. He gave an angry yell and threw his sais at our sensei. Luckily, Splinter deflected them and pinned Raphael before any more damage could be done. "You are distracted, Raphael. You must learn to focus your attacks."
Raphael brushed off his shoulder. "I'd like to focus my attacks on that Stockman guy. Why can't we just go topside and show him a little mean and green?" He asked. Really? I raised my eye ridge. "Because I forbid it." Splinter answered. Raph only groaned in disappointment. "We will resume your training in the morning," He said and left the room. Mikey chuckled and mimicked him, "We will resume your training in the morning." "I heard that," The rat spoke from inside his room. "Busted," Don teased Mike. Leo and I laughed at his little misfortune. "I'd liked to bust a few heads." Raph huffed.
Mikey had a grin, "Chill, bro. We don't need no stinking surface world. We got late movies, top ten video countdown, BMX highlights, some really weird Korean language soap opera." I commented, "Something tells me that sensei would like that." Don went to his work table and lit up his torch, "Or you could give me a hand with these Mouser parts. If I can get one working, we can trace it back to its source and find out what Stockman's really using them for." Raph only stretched and yawned, "Nah, I'm beat. I'm gonna rack." Leo tilted his head in question, "Since when does Raph turn in so early?" Right before Raph left the room entirely, he turned to me and said, "Hey, Lil' sis. You may want to look through the stuff. I think you might like what we found."
I lit up at that and went to the back of the sewer slider. Looking through the items rather quickly, I noticed what he was talking about. It's some of my things but most importantly, my little toy bear that I helped stitched up with Master Splinter when I was younger. "Patches! Raph, thanks, big bro." I smiled, looking to find him, only to not find him. You edgy turtle. "Aww, Raphie still cares for little sissy." Mikey teased. "Not like you don't either, Mike," I yell back, looking through the things. "Hey, Leo. You're dead! Why didn't you tell me that more of my books survived?" Yes, I'm a bookworm or a book-gecko as Mikey said. I looked at him, pouting at him while he scratched the back of his neck. "Well, it didn't come to mind when you hadn't asked about it." He chuckled nervously. I rolled my eyes and continued looking through the things.
After some time, I had finally found all of my things and set them perfectly in my room 'I swear if someone messes it up, I'll...' I sigh, not being able to finish the thought. The rest of my books had fit in the shelf perfectly and Patches sat on the little nightstand beside the bed. I smiled and grabbed my journal off the shelf. Yep, I have a journal. Mikey thought it was a diary. After a little roughhousing with him, he admitted that it was a journal and not a diary. Anyways, I sat down and began writing the latest events in. Everything that happened, from the Mouser attack to finding our new home, was written down into my own words. I sighed softly and placed my writing utensil back in its place and returning the journal back to my shelf.
You know, now that I think about it. That name.. Baxter Stockman. It seemed familiar to me somehow. I don't know why. I'd never met him before, but it feels like I have. Maybe Don will have an idea. I got up from my desk and climbed down from my room. My gray-blue eyes scanned around the room. Mikey's asleep on the couch. Raph's up in his room. Leo is who knows where and Don is, ah, at his work desk. I sigh, dusting off my gray ninja gi and going to him. He was still working on that dreadful robot.
"Any luck, Don?" I asked, trying not to interrupt him from working. "I almost have it done." He answered with his eyes still on the machine. "Could you pass me the screwdriver?" I nodded and handed him the tool. He grabbed it and continued with his work. "So... Don. I've been thinking of Baxter Stockman and I can't help but feel that..." I began, pausing to see if he was paying attention. "Go on," He insisted and pointed to his shell with his thumb. I sighed and leaned on it. Leaning on their shells while talking to them was a habit I grew fond with. It was much easier to talk to them while being close. I began speaking once more, "Well, every time I think about him or hear his name, I can't help but feel a sense of... familiarity."
"What do you mean?" He asked. I got off his shell and went beside him, to see that Don actually stopped his work to listen. I sighed, "I don't know, Don. I just... Every time I think about him, I feel like," I looked down. "I'm missing something very..." I felt my face twist into a troubled expression, "important." I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked to see the genius brother of mine. "Well, I don't know what to say about that, but once I get this Mouser up and running, it'll lead us to Stockman and he'll probably have the answers to your questions," He said before continuing to work on the Mouser. 'I hope you're right, Don.' I thought for a moment.
Right before I could say anything, the yellow eye that belonged to the Mouser blinked on and it tried to bite me by the hand. I jumped away from it, hugging onto Don for protection. What? He has a shell and I don't. So, don't blame me for using him as a shield. "H-hey. It's alright, Isabella." Donnie stammered. The robot jumped off the table and started running away. "We gotta follow it. Go and wake up Mikey." I nodded, grabbing his staff. "I'll use this if you don't mind." Don nodded back, "Go ahead. He needs it anyway." I took his bo staff before heading to Mikey and whacking him in the head. "Ow, hey! What's the big idea, sis?" He asked, rubbing the spot on his head. "Sorry, but now's not the time to explain. Long story short. Don got the little robot to work and now it's trying to run home. We gotta follow it before we lose it." The turtle nodded in understanding and got up quickly. He ran past me and I followed, tossing the staff back to Don. The genius caught it and led us out of our home.
"Hey guys, I got one working." He told Leo and Raph, who were laying on the floor from what looked like rough housing. "Come on, he's faster than he looks." We ran pass the two turtles. It didn't take long for them to catch up to us. We chased after that little robot from one tunnel to the next. The Mouser ran across the pipe like a bridge while we only followed him. "Watch your step here guys. Don't want to end up as Turtle soup." Leo said with caution. 'Okay, he either forgot that I was a lizard or he knew that I still had those special pads on my feet.' I thought. I suddenly heard the sound of crunching and I looked to see that the robot used its feet to climb up the wall.
"Resourceful little critter." Don criticized the robot. "So what do we do now?" Raph asked. Leo was the first to answer, "Like Master Splinter says, a ninja is always prepared." He pulled his shuko spikes out and put them on his hand. Everyone else, except me, got the climbing gear on. "I thought that was the Boy Scouts." Mikey joked. I rolled my eyes at him. They began to climb the wall and I followed after them. Why didn't I get my shuko spikes on? Well, I'm a Leopard Gecko, I have my own climbing gear. It's kinda hereditary in the Lacertilia suborder.
"Next time, let's leave the wall crawling to the dude in the blue and red tights," Mikey commented. "You read way too many comic books," Leo replied. We kept climbing after the Mouser before it went into a pipe. Mikey was the first to climb after it, then Leo, Don, me and lastly Raph. And back to the tunnels, we go. I thought.
"Just curious, Don. What's to stop ol' turbo jaws from munching up another six-point-two on the rector scale?" Mikey inquired. "I shut down its jaw servos. It couldn't even chew through a stick of gum," Don said it all too soon because the Mouser screeched to a halt before turning to the pipes and eating straight through the metal. "You were saying?" Raph commented. "But I-... I'm sure I shut it down." Don sighed with a defeated expression on his face. Mikey put a hand on Donnie's shoulder, "Don's finally lost his techno-mojo. Sad really."
Donatello thought for a moment with his hand on his chin. "It must have some kind of security override routine. Come on," He said, running forward before stopping. "Oh no." "What is it, Don?" Leo asked. "If I'm not mistaken, that's a serious water main hanging right over our heads," Don answered. I immediately caught on, "Uh oh." "So?" Raphael questioned. "So, our little Mouser friend just ate through the pipes support," Don added on. I could hear the metal being pressured and breaking. "Incoming!" Don yelled over the noise right before the water rushed through and washed us out of the tunnel.
Don grabbed for his weapon and I followed suit with my own. I swung my chain as it wrapped around before the weight hit the pipe and stuck itself in place. "Grab on!" Don yelled and the turtles had no other choice but to grab onto one another. Thankfully, they hadn't grabbed me. Strength isn't my strong suit. Right below us, there was a whirlpool. "Ow! Watch where you point those shuko spikes, Mike!"I heard the hothead yell at the youngest of the turtles. "Oh keep your shell on, Raph. I got an idea." Mikey said. 'Oh no.' Usually, Mikey with an idea isn't a good thing. I watch as the turtles swung around and they fell into the water one by one.
"Guys! You okay?" Don beat me to it. "Peachy," Raph replied. I sighed in relief, knowing that they were okay. 'Mikey, you idiot.' I thought before using my chain and swinging myself up on the pipe. Hey if it could hold five mutants, then I think it can hold just one. I carefully crawled on all fours while they had to climb back up.
(Third Person Point of View)
"Hey, guys. Anyone noticing Bella?" Mikey asked, pointing up to the Leopard Gecko. Leo looked to see her, only to regret it. He couldn't look away. With her leopard-like patterns and the way she was stalking, it made her look like she was a predator on the prowl. Her grey-blue eyes focused on the path ahead of her and her tail gently swayed to keep her balanced. Luckily, his skin was already green and they were cold-blooded, so the turtles couldn't really blush, but that didn't stop the leader from feeling flustered on the inside. His thoughts were interrupted by a certain brother. "Boy, she sure does look hot like that," Raph chuckled. Leo was the first to react. "Now isn't the time, Raph." The hot head only glared, "Says you, Splinter Junior." If they weren't climbing, then there would've been a tussle between the two.
(Isabella's POV)
I don't know what took them so long, but they finally arrived. "When I get my hands on that metal menace, I'm gonna grind him into little bot burgers," Raphael said, pulling off his shuko spikes. Everyone else did as well. "Easy, Raph. We still gotta keep him in one piece." Don explained. "What makes you think we're gonna find that little blender butt?" Mike asked, putting his spikes away. Leo pointed to the hole in the wall. "I think he left us a few clues." I nodded and went in first. The others followed through.
"So Bella, mind telling why you waited for us?" Mikey asked. "Well, I can't leave you guys if I tried. Besides, Mike, you would've fussed thinking little sis was hurt or how I got an adventure without you." I answered. "Right- Hey. I do not fuss." He complained. "Yeah you do, Mikey," I replied. "She got you there, Mike." Raphael agreed. I chuckled at him, "Kinda sad how big bro agrees with me." Mikey looked a little distraught, but right before he could say another word we exited the tunnel, looking around for the Mouser. "There!" Don yelled, pointing at the robot. We ran towards it before I stopped, hearing the subway. "Guys!" "Look out!" Leo and I yelled while the hothead was pulled right before the train rushed past us.
"Whoa! robo-Houdini!" Mikey yelled. "Wrong, robo-hitchhiker." Leo pointed and we all saw that little robot holding onto the train. "We'll never catch him now," Mikey complained. "Two can play that game," Raph said as another subway came through. He jumped up and stabbed the top of the train as it sped ahead. "What a maniac!" Leo yelled. "You're related to him, Leo!" I yelled. "Yeah, wait for us!" Donatello yelled. We followed after him and jumped on the train. It didn't take long for the Mouser to jump off. "There's our stop!" Raph yelled over the wind and jumped with all of us followed after the robot, going through the hole it left in the wall.
We trailed after the robot into another area full of rushing water. I saw it just across from us, but then... another appeared? "Whoa. Who invited him?" Mikey asked. The robot seemed to have answered his question with its robotic hiss. "I got it!" Raph said a little too excitedly and threw a shuriken through the metallic head. It fell over and the small victory was a little too early because I watched as it got up and hissed at us. "This is not good, guys," Leo said. "Neither is that," Don pointed and I could hear the sound of other Mousers marching up to us. "These chrome-drones are a lot tougher than the last batch," Don explained. "Yeah and there's a lot more of them too," Raph added while we got out our weapons, surrounded by the multiple robots.
They snapped their jaws, hissing at us. "Great. Just great." Raph commented right before we all jumped into combat. Raph stabbed at one to another, Leo sliced their heads off, while Mikey and Don smashed the robots' heads with their respective weapons. I used my chain to wrap around one before pulling it close and slicing its head off with the scythe. I luckily let go of it before it could send small shocks through my already injured hands. "These Mousers are incredible. The servo mechanics. The circuitry. The articulation." Don kept on complimenting the Mousers while we still continued to fight them. "Geez, Donnie. Why don't you just marry one already?" Raph muttered. I chuckled at that before slicing at a Mouser which leaped at me.
"Guys, the only way to stop them is to slice their heads off," Leo said. "I kinda figured that out a while ago," I replied. "Well, ain't that great news. For the ones with the blades." Mikey commented sarcastically. "Drive 'em this way. We'll slice and dice." Raph said, tossing a Mouser to Leo then the eldest of the turtles sliced it with his katana blades. We gathered up at the top of the stairs while the Mousers marched up to us. Don swung hard with his bo staff, making two robots fly into the air. A few hissed at Mikey before he smashed as hard as he could with his nunchaku. Raph stabbed while Leo sliced. I swung the weight at the end of the chain around, making it hit a few heads. We smashed, sliced, and diced the Mousers. One only remained.
"Great job guys. Just make sure we leave one," Don was interrupted by Raph's angry yell and him stabbing the little robot before stomping down on its head multiple times, "intact." He shook his head at his brother. "So much for tracing them back to the source," Leo spoke while we put away our weapons. 'No kidding.' I thought to myself, kinda disappointed of this fruitless attempt to get to Stockman and his answers. There was silence at first but then I suddenly hear a familiar screech. It belonged to a Mouser. "You guys hear that?' I ask the others. "Hear what, Bella?" Mikey inquired. I didn't even bother to answer. Instead, I ran towards the noise. "Bella, wait for us!" I hear them follow after me. It was farther than I had initially thought. It wasn't until I heard a womanly scream to take a turn but that's when I saw it.
The same red-haired woman from the news was cornered by a small group of Mousers. They screeched at her, chomping their jaws down. She screamed in terror while they continued forward. It didn't take my brothers and I long to destroy those metal menaces. The Mousers were left in a mess of circuitry and wires while we once more put away our weapons. None of us left the gaze of another human. "Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. You saved my, my." The woman tried to speak, only to have Mikey smile and greet her. "Hey, how you doing?" He grinned, coming into the light. She fainted at the sight of him. He only picked her up, holding her bridal style. "Hey, so, can I keep her?" He asked.
I facepalmed at him. 'Michel, we had one job. ONE JOB. And you couldn't do it.' I wanted to yell at him, but it's too late to tell him that now.