Cleo's POV:
"Relax, Cleo," I told myself. "It's only meditation. It's supposed to be a calming experience. Just stay focused... Did I just hear something?" "You're not focused, Cleopatra." I opened my eyes to look at father. He was sitting across from me, his legs crossed over, already in his deep meditation position. "Sorry, father," I said sheepishly. Father looked down at me. "What troubles you, my child?"

I sighed. "I don't know. I just can't seem to focus lately. It's like every little thing or noise just captures my attention, and I don't know why." Father closed his eyes, stroking his beard. "Hm... It is possible that your senses are becoming more adapted to your surroundings, therefore, it is able to sense even the smallest noise or movement. These things tend to happen as you grow older. But you must learn to block out all distractions as this continues and remain focused on the task at hand."

I nodded. "Yes, father." He smiled. "Again." I nodded. I closed my eyes, inhaled slowly through my nose, and slowly back out. "Okay... don't get distracted... clear your mind... focus... focus..." Suddenly there was a loud yell from the other room. I gasped and opened my eyes, and so did father. We both turned to face the exit of the dojo. Whatever the boys were up to, it was causing a lot of noise. I glanced over at father, and I could see clear annoyance on his face. "Uh... hold on, father!" I said as I quickly got to my feet. "I'm just gonna... um... yeah."

I turned on my heel and sprinted out of the dojo. "Dang it, guys! What are you up to now?" I walked into the living room and froze. The place was a complete wreck. Soda cans and empty pizza boxes scattered the floor, some of the boxes having a pizza slice hanging out of them. Right in the center of the room was what looked like a huge makeshift ramp. At the end was Raph, Donnie, and Leo, all crouched on the floor in a row. At the top of the ramp was Mikey, skateboard in hand, and a smile on his face. "And now, The Kid goes for the world record!" Mikey yelled. "He will attempt to jump three mutant turtles!" "I can't believe he talked us into this," I heard Raph growl. 

I let out an irritated groan as I shook my head. "Guys! I just cleaned this place up last night!" They all turned to look at me, shocked expressions on their faces. "H-hey, Cleo," Donnie said nervously. "Um, sorry about the mess." "What the heck are you guys even doing anyway?!" I hissed. "Mikey's doing his skate tricks," said Leo. "While we, on the other hand, are pretending to be roadkill." said Raph. I groaned. "Guys, father is right in the other room. If he sees you, you're all dead!" "Relax, Cleo!" Mikey put his skateboard into position at his feet. "We'll be fine!" I shook my head. "Mikey, don't-!" "BOOYAKASHA!" Before I could say more, Mikey leaped onto his board. He speeds down the ramp, and I started to back up from fear of being hit. 

"What is going on in here?!" I gasped and turned around. Father was standing there, a look of anger on his face. "Sensei!" Leo called fearfully. I turned my head around in time to see Mikey crash into the others, who had all stood up when father had yelled. I looked up and saw that Mikey's skateboard had flown off and was heading right for me. I gasped and held my arms up to keep it from hitting my face. But it didn't hit me at all. I opened my eyes and saw father holding the skateboard in front of my face. He stopped it. He threw the skateboard on the ground as he marched over to the boys, who were still laying in a pile on the ground.

"How many times have I told you not to skateboard in the lair?" "None, Sensei..." Mikey said lowly. "I shouldn't have to tell you!" Father snapped. All of the boys got off of each other and quickly got up to their feet. "You're right, Sensei," Leo said as he and the others glared at Mikey. "We definitely should've known better, and we deserve to be punished... some," he added quickly. Father stroked his beard musingly, narrowing his eyes towards his sons. "Cleopatra." I straightened up as I walked up next to him. "Yes, father?" "Seeing as how you were the only one who did not participate in this foolishness, you should be the one to give your brothers a fitting punishment." 

I blinked. "Is he serious?" "Wha...? I..." I didn't know what to say. I glanced over at the boys. Raph was pretending to read a comic, Donnie was whistling casually, Mikey was examining his fingers, and Leo was giving me a 'help us out' sort of look. I gulped. "Why me?" "Well... this room is a complete wreck," I said finally. "So, obviously, they should clean up the mess." I glanced up at father, who had his arms folded, waiting for more. 

"Okay, think! Something that's not weak, but not too strong." "And... they shouldn't be allowed... to go to the surface," I said. "For tonight." The boys stared at me, looking slightly relieved. Father, however, still appeared to be waiting for more. "And... tomorrow night?" I asked, hopefully. Father closed his eyes. "Hm... very fitting." I sighed. "Thank goodness..." "But not fitting enough," Father turned to look at his sons. "What about being grounded for a week?" I blinked. "Seriously? What are they, 5?" It seemed that the boys were thinking the same thing, because they all shook their heads. "Oh on, I don't think that's..." "I'm cool with just two days." "Really, that's not necessary." "Yeah, maybe next time." I shook my head.

"Should've kept your mouth shut, boys." "You're grounded for a week!" Father declared. "Aww...!" the boys groaned in unison. There was a creaking sound, and suddenly the makeshift ramp leaned over and collapsed to the floor in a puff of dust. The boys all flinched, then stiffened. "And you will clean up your mess!" Father added sharply. Folding his hands behind his back, father turned and started to head for the dojo.

"Cleopatra," he said. "Come. We must resume to your meditation section." "Yes, father." I glanced over at the boys, who all looked miserable. "I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I really tried, but..." "It's okay," said Leo. "Don't worry about it. He probably would've made it worse if you hadn't given us two days." "Yeah, don't blame yourself, Cleo," said Donnie. "Besides, it's Mikey's fault," Raph pointed out. Mikey glared. "Hey!" "Cleopatra, come." I heard father repeat. "Coming!" And, giving my bros one last sad look, I turned and followed father back to the dojo.

(-)

(Theme song)

♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ♫
♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ♫
♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ​​​​​​♫
♫ Heroes in the shadows ♫
♫ Ninja power! ♫

♫ Here we go! It's the lean, skilled, ninja team ♫
♫ On the scene, cool teens doing ninja things ♫
♫ So extreme, out the sewers like laser beams ♫
♫ Get rocked with the pizza kings and queen ♫
♫ Can't stop these dudes and dudette ♫
♫ The secret of the ooze made the chosen few ♫
♫ Emerge from the shadows to make their move ♫
♫ The good guys win, and the bad guys lose ♫

♫ Leonardo's the leader in blue, ♫
♫ Does anything it takes to get his ninjas through ♫
♫ Donatello is a fellow, has a way with machines ♫
♫ Raphael has the most attitude on the team ♫
♫ Cleopatra, she's a special girl, ♫
♫ Does anything to protect everyone she loves ♫
♫ Michelangelo, he's one of a kind, ♫
♫ And you know just where to find him when it's party time ♫
♫ Master Splinter taught them every single skill they need ♫
♫ To be one lean, mean, skilled incredible team ♫

♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ♫
♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team​​​​​​​ ♫
♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ♫
♫ Heroes in the shadows ♫
♫ Ninja power! ♫

(-)

Cleo's POV:
Despite the fact that I wasn't punished, I didn't feel right going up to the surface without any of my bros. So, out of the goodness of my heart, I choose to stay in the sewers with them. But, I'll admit, I never realized how boring it could get now that we knew we could have some real fun on the surface. I sprawled on my back on the floor behind Leo, who was sitting on the couch. Mikey was sitting next to me, reading a comic. I was leaning next to him, reading the comic along with him. Raph was pacing in front of the couch, groaning with aggravation. 

"Gah! This bites!" he snapped. "I can't believe we're stuck down here for a whole week!" "Well," I propped myself up on my elbows. "Maybe if you guys didn't make a mess of the place, we'd all be out on the surface by now." "But it was Mikey's fault!" said Raph. "Hey!" "Shut it, Mikey," said Leo. "Guys, guys!" Donnie said excitedly as he ran into the room. "You wanna see what I made?" Raph gestured to Donnie. "This is how bored I am," he looked at his younger brother. "Yes, Donnie. I do."

"Okay! Okay, okay... Remember, the other day, I was scrounging in that military junkyard?" Leo, Raph, and Mikey all shook their heads and said, "no." But I nodded and said, "yes." The three boys turned, staring at me. "What?" I shrugged. "He told me where he was going." "Well," Donnie continued. "I found an incredibly advanced AI microchip made from... heheh, get this! Self-assembled, chain-linked copolymers!" We all blinked, staring at him. "That's my favorite kind of copolymer!" said Mikey, but then he whispered to me, "Not really." 

"Mine too!" Donnie was practically screaming with delight, bouncing on his toes with excitement. "And I used it to make this!" Donnie reached behind him and pulled out a small, hand sized object. It was made of silver and glowing bright blue in the middle. "The most advanced music player in the world!" At once we all jumped to our feet and ran up to examine the object closer. "Whoa..." we all breathed.

"So, who wants to try it?" Donnie asked, and he looked at me. "What about you, Cleo?" I grinned. "Sure, I-" "Cleo!" Mikey piped up. "Can I try it first? Please, please, please...?" Mikey was staring up at me with his puppy, his lip puckered out. I chuckled. "How can I say no to that face?" "Sure, Mikey." "Sweet!" Mikey clapped his hands. "Toss me the T-Pod!" Donnie blinked. "The... T-Pod?" "Turtle... Pod... T-Pod," Mikey chuckled. "I am so good at naming stuff." Donnie handed Mikey the T-Pod. 

Mikey took the earbuds and stuck them into his ear slits underneath his mask. "You're really gonna plug an advanced piece of military technology directly into Mikey's head?" Raph asked Donnie. "What if it melts his brain?" "It won't," Donnie folded his arm. "And even if it did, who'd know the difference?" "I would," I stated. We all remained quiet as we watched Mikey. His finger slowly lowered to the play button, and he pressed it. He then fell to his knees, reared his head back, and screamed in what appeared to be agony. It wasn't a good scream, either.

"What?! What's wrong?!" Donnie asked fearfully. "It's polka!" Mikey cried. "Make it stop! Make it stop...!" I stared at Mikey as Donnie walked over to him, looking annoyed. He raised his hand and pressed the next button, and Mikey's agony-filled expression faded. "Thanks," Mikey told Donnie, who rolled his eyes as he walked back over to us.

Suddenly, Mikey's eyes went wide, and he sighed with relief and satisfaction. Slowly, he stood up on the ground, and started busting out some moves. He moved from left to right, moving his arms and his hips. I covered my mouth, but that didn't stop me from giggling like a madwoman. I glanced over at the other three, and I saw Donnie and Leo staring in confusion. Raph looked... well, let's just say he didn't look amused in any way. 

When he next spoke, his voice practically screams, 'I give up!' "That's it. I gotta get outta here." "Where are you going?" Leo asked, following our brother. "We're grounded." "I don't care! I gotta do something or I'm gonna go nuts!" Raph stomped on his skateboard, which was launched into the air, and he caught it. "Let's find a skate spot." "Skate spot?" Mikey yelled over his music. "I'm totally in!"

"But what's Splinter gonna say?" Leo asked. "I don't know what's going on, because they snuck out while I was asleep!" Raph said, mimicking father's voice. I giggled as Leo snorted. "Real mature," he folded his arms. "But I'm your leader. And as your leader, I say nobody's going." But I had a feeling Leo's words didn't mean anything to the boys. The fact that Donnie and Mikey walked up to stand next to Raph didn't help his case, either. "Well, as your followers, we're going anyway," Raph said bluntly. 

Leo turned to look at me. "A little help?" "Pff! I'm a neutral party, dude," I raised my hands up in surrender. "I go where everyone else goes. And it looks like we're going skateboarding." Raph smirked. "See? You're out numbered, Leo." "Well, as your leader..." Leo paused, looking conflicted. "... I'm going with you... to lead you... away... from bad... stuff..." I snorted. "Nice leadership, dude." Suddenly Mikey screamed and collapsed on the floor. "Now what?" I asked. "What's wrong?" Leo asked. "It's back to polka!" Mikey whined, then he frowned at Donnie. "You gotta get some more tunes on this!"

(-)

One thing I always loved doing with my bros: skateboarding. Ever since we even found out what skateboarding was, me and the guys have loved it. Out of the five of us, Mikey was the real skating king of the group, but we were all very good at it. And my skateboard is so cool! It has yocaher graphic checkered white and black all over it.

And I know, normally you have to wear a skateboard helmet and protection gear, like wrist guards, elbow and knee pads, and gloves to ride a skateboard, but then I was like, what's the point of wearing those things if the rest of the body takes a hit if I fall off the skateboard? Plus, I'm a ninja, I've been hurt worse, so I decided not to wear them and only need things like tools, wax and lube for my skateboard. We were all running across the rooftops, our skateboards strapped to our backs. Well, all of us, except for Mikey. He was currently skateboarding across the rooftops, while listening to the T-Pod. 

I knew that he knew what he was doing, but that didn't stop me from looking behind my shoulder to make sure he was okay. "Hey, Donnie!" Mikey shouted below to a lower rooftop, where the other three boys were running. "Thanks for all the new songs!" "Wait... What new songs?" Donnie asked. "Keep it down, you guys!" Leo hissed. As expected, none of us responded to him. Donnie jumped up, landing in a handstand on Mikey's shoulders. He squinted down at the T-Pod and stared. "What the...?" "What's wrong, D?" I asked him. 

"It's the T-Pod. It's got thousands of new songs and it keeps downloading new ones every second!" "So?" Raph asked as he jumped up to the same level as us. "So, I didn't program it to do that!" Donnie jumped off of Mikey's shoulders and ran alongside us. "It's reconfiguring itself somehow..." then he gasped. "It's that chip!" "Whatever it is!" Mikey rode up a skylight and launched himself into the air as he shouted over his music, "It's awesome...!" "Guys!" Leo hissed angrily from the lower level. "We're ninjas! Remember? We move swiftly, and- here's the important part- silently!"

But suddenly, Leo yelled as he accidentally ran off the building. We ran up and skidded to the edge of the building and looked down. Leo had fallen through a skylight. I heard crashes and bangs coming from the building before he fell through the far end of the skylight. He then fell over the building and fell onto the fire escape, stumbling and tumbling painfully down until he fell off the escape, and landed in a dumpster. I hissed, winching slightly. "You know that had to hurt." All the boys flinched as well, but Raph had a gleeful smirk on his face the whole time. "That wasn't very silent, Leo!" Raph called down to our brother. 

After Leo was recovered from the dumpster, we continued to look for a good skate spot. After a while, we finally found a good spot just outside the TCRI facility. "Check it out," Raph nodded at the stair and handrails. "Let's grind it!" Mikey said excitedly. But just as we were about to jump down there, I heard loud noises. Like banging metal. "Who the heck is that guy?" Donnie said. I turned my head and saw a man walking down the street. He appeared to be wearing a pink sweater, but I could barely see it under the weird, metal armor he was wearing.

"I don't know," Raph frowned. "But he needs a beat down." "Hold on, Raph," said Leo. "We don't know if he's gonna do anything wrong. He... he could be on his way to... church." "Wearing powered battle armor?" Raph asked skeptically. "What kinda church is that?" "A really awesome one," said Mikey. I deadpanned at what Mikey said as Leo face palmed. "Look, it's my call. I decide who gets a beat down." 

But just as he finished speaking, we saw the man started using what looked like a built-in blowtorch on the backdoor of the TCRI building. "That guy needs a beat down," Leo stated. "Why am I not surprised?" I asked dryly. We ran up to the edge of the building and jumped down. By the time we got down the man was groaning in frustration. He seemed to be having a lot of trouble opening the door. He bent down and tried to force the door open, but to no avail.

"It's just kind of sad," Donnie said simply. "Yeah," Mikey looked at the man sadly. "I don't know if we should pound him or buy him an ice-cream cone." I nodded. "I could go for some ice-cream." Leo unsheathed his katanas, point them at the man. "Halt, villain!" The man turned, surprised. But we were too busy staring at Leo to really notice. "Halt, villain?" Raph snapped. "When did we start talking like that?" Leo blinked. "We're heroes, that's... that's how heroes talk." I sighed. "I'm pretty sure we're not those kinds of heroes, Leo." The man pointed his blowtorch at us. "You will feel the fury of my powered battle-Holy cow!" he gasped. "You guys are turtles!" 

"That's right!" Leo jeered. "We're the Turtles of Justice!" I face palmed. "Really, Leo? Really?" "Wow..." Raph stared at his older brother. "I mean, just... wow." The guy in the armor ignored us and charged. I unsheathed my tessen and began to charge at the man along with the boys, but- "Wait!" Mikey cried. We all froze in mid-charge, staring at him. Mikey hummed happily as he removed his earbuds and wrapped the cord around the T-Pod. He tucked the item into his belt, took out his nunchuck. He whirled once and held both ends in his hands. "Okay."

Mikey jumped up and leaped over the guy as he smacked his armored head with his nunchucks. Donnie rode up on his skateboard and jumped onto the guy's shoulders. He stuck his Bo staff into some wires on the helmet and yanked them apart. He jumped off and landed back on his skateboard. Raph rode up and jumped over the guy, still on his skateboard. He used is sai to cut through more of the wirings as he landed back on the ground. I tossed my skateboard on the ground, jumped on it, and rode forward. 

The man tried to take a swing at me, but I ducked and swung my tessen up at his torso. It sliced through the metal front of his armor. I laughed as I jumped, flipping my skateboard, and then landing back on it. I turned my board around and looked back at the man and saw several pieces of his armor on the ground. Leo must've sliced them off. The man stumbled back into a door, his elbow braking through the glass. At once an alarm sounded, ringing like mad. "What do we do now?" I asked.

The guys didn't answer immediately. Then Raph, who was standing on the dumpster, opened one of the lids, gesturing inside. He didn't have to say anything, we already knew what he meant. All four boys ran up to the man, picked him up, and started to bring him over. I held the lid of the dumpster opened as they threw him inside. "You're not the first to ever throw me in the trash!" he yelled. "But I swear that you will be the la-" BAMB! The man was cut off as Raph slammed the lid shut. Suddenly blue and red lights began to flash. "Aw snap! It's the popo!" Mikey shouted. "Let's move!" said Leo. And just like that, we were gone.

(-)

I looked over the area, making sure that it was empty. I sighed as I slowly and quietly walked into the living room. "Finally," I breathed. Just then there was the sound of turning water. I looked over to see Leo's head sticking out of the pool. He and the boys had taken the path that took them below water, while I stayed on the dry path."Hey, dude," I whispered as I walked up to him. "Hey," he whispered. He slipped out of the water just as I saw the other three swimming up. "Alright! We made it home!" Raph said a little too loudly. "Shh!" Leo hissed. "It's 2am!" 

"And Splinter's still asleep," Mikey grinned. "This is epic." "It's not epic!" Leo snapped. "It was really bad idea!" "No, it wasn't!" Raph leaped up and landed on the beanbag. "We got out there and stomped a sleaze-ball. So, what's the problem?" I rolled my eyes. "Only you, Raph." I glanced over at Mikey and was surprised to see a worried expression on his face. "You okay, Mikey?" I asked him. "Huh? Oh!" Mikey cleared his throat. "Y-yeah! Yeah, I'm cool." I raised my eyebrow. Then shrugged. "Eh, probably nothing."

(-)

The next morning was, as we probably should've guessed, miserable. We all could barely keep our eyes open. Needless to say, it showed in our training. "Knees higher, Leonardo!" I heard father snap. "Extend, Michelangelo!" Me and Donnie faced each other, currently sparring. Or, at least, attempting to spar. Donnie let out a loud yawn, and then made to punch me. But it was a pathetic punch, and I slide out of the way. "More power in your strikes, Donatello!" Father said.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to keep them open. I went up to Donnie, held my arms out, but I didn't really know what I was doing. Donnie grabbed my arms, and used his foot to kick my legs, knocking me to the ground. "Defend your legs, Cleopatra!" I groaned as I reached up to grab Donnie's foot. I pulled, and he went falling. He yelped as he fell, but he ended up yawning tiredly.

"Yame!" I gasped. "Oh, boy..." I quickly sat up and got in a line with the others. We all took a knee as father stood before us, arms behind his back. "Is there something you want to tell me?" he said in his 'I know exactly what you've done, so don't make it worse' voice. "Something we wanna tell you?" Mikey asked. "Heh... Nope." "You all seem tired." "Oh great!" "We're not!" "Wide awake!" "Fresh as daisies!" "Couldn't be better!"

We paused and waited for Mikey to add something. But instead, he let out a loud yawn, and collapsed to the floor. Father's eyes narrowed. Then he stood directly in front of me and looked me dead in the eye. "Cleopatra...?" I gulped. "He'll know if I'm lying," I thought. "I can't lie to him. But... what about the guys?" I bit down on my lip, trying to think of something. I stared up at father, no doubt giving him my 'I'm sorry' face. I sighed and hung my head. "Very well," Father said slowly. "So, you would not object to a little... Randori?"

I gasped and my head snapped up. Father was holding a long, wooden sword that me and my brothers knew all too well. I gulped loudly. "God, no..." Five large whacks later found me and my bros groaning on the floor. I was laying on my side, clutching my throbbing stomach. "I hope you have learned, children, that truth isn't the only thing that hurts." I curled up slightly, still holding my stomach.

"Okay... we kinda deserved that..." I heard the shuffling of feet and opened my eyes. I looked up to see father standing in front of me. I groaned as I sat up, rubbing my stomach gingerly. "Loyalty is a powerful thing, Cleopatra," said father. "There are times when it makes you strong, but there are also times where it can cost you dearly. You must be careful where your loyalties lie. Do you understand?" I blinked up at him. Then I hung my head shamefully. "Yes, father..."

(-)

Me and Leo were currently in the living room, watching an episode of 'Space Heroes.' 

"Captain Ryan! The rebellion is growing! We need to get off this planet!"  "No!" "But Captain-" Captain Ryan slapped Cranshaw. "I said no!" 

"We may have started this rebellion by accident," Leo recited with the cartoon. "But by the rings of Nebulan, we are going to finish it on purpose!" 

"Aye, sir!" 

Leo beamed at the screen, and I covered my mouth to hide my giggle. "Seen this enough times there, chief?" Raph asked. "Shhh!" Leo hissed. "This is the best part." But suddenly the cartoon was cut off. "We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news!" "Aww...!" Leo whined. "We've received shocking footage of an assault on the TCRI complex in Brooklyn." "Leo!" I hissed. "That's the dude from last night!" It was the same guy from last night. Except, last night, he didn't have huge, dangerous looking armor that made him ten times bigger. "At last! I will have my revenge!" "Who... wh-who are you?" 

"You'll never know! I'm the thing that haunts your nightmares! I'm the nameless shadow who-" "Baxter?" "... No." "Baxter Stockman?" "No!" "Hey, everybody! It's Baxter Stockman!" "I think his name is Baxter Stockman," Raph stated. "So much for 'the nameless shadow,'" I muttered. "Is this because I fired you?" "That copy machine was already broken when I... I mean..." Stockman cleared his throat. "I don't know what your talking about!"

"How did he upgrade his armor so fast?" Leo asked. Stockman on screen yelled and appeared to have lunge for the poor soul holding the camera. When he did, I ran up and quickly paused the TV. We all stared at the screen. There was no mistaking what that tiny, circular object on his chest was. "He has the T-Pod?!" I heard Donnie snap. I turned around. Donnie was towering over Mikey, who was looking sheepish. 

"Mikey," I said slowly. "What did you do?" "Oh, um... heheh... I might've dropped that during the fight..." "You dropped it during the fight!?" Donnie bellowed. "Nice going, Mikey!" "It's your fault!" Mikey snapped back. "How is it my fault?!" "You know I can't be trusted with nice things!" Donnie growled at Mikey, steam issuing out of his ears. Mikey gulped and shrunk away.

"So, the AI chip is upgrading his armor the same way it upgraded the T-Pod?" Leo asked. "If it keeps going, there's no telling how powerful he'll get," said Donnie. "What do we do?" I asked. "This has gone way too far," said Leo. "We have to tell Splinter about this." "What? That we turned some nut job into a super villain?" Raph asked. "Do you know what he'll do to us for that? I mean, he pounded us into the ground just for being sleepy!" I placed my hands on my hips. "Then what exactly do you propose we do then, Raphael?" He looked at me. "Not tell Splinter, for one!" 

"And how is that gonna help us? It was your idea to sneak out last night in the first place, then none of this would've happened!" I said as I poke him on his plastron. "Maybe you should've thought of that!" Leo separated us, so both of us doesn't start fighting each other more. "Look, we beat Stockman once, we can beat him again," said Donnie. "We track him down, grab the T-Pod, and get back here before Splinter knows anything." "If my opinion counts for anything," Mikey piped up. "Donnie's right." "Hey, thanks Mikey," Donnie said sweetly, then he growled. "But it doesn't!" "Didn't think so..."

(-)

I was surprised at how easy it was for us to find Stockman. But, then again, how hard can it be to track down a 10ft tall pile of walking metal. We had managed to track him down to an abandoned warehouse. He was just sitting there, apparently trying to come up with a new name for himself. "I'm not Baxter Stockman. I am... The Baxman! No, no... I am... The Suitinator! Aw, that's terrible! ... Captain... punch you... hard... Guh! Why is this so difficult?"

"I still kinda feel bad for him," I muttered to Raph. "I don't," he whispered. We all withdrew our weapons, and slowly surrounded Stockman. "I kinda like 'The Suitinator,'" Mikey said a little too loudly. "Shh!" we all hissed, but it was too late. "You guys again?" Stockman snapped. "Alright, Stockman," Leo said calmly. "Nobody wants to hurt you."

"We don't?" Raph asked, looking genuinely confused. "Did I miss a meeting?" "Correction; Raph wants to hurt you," I said, trying sound calm as well. "But the rest of us don't wanna hurt you." "She's right," said Leo. "We just want the T-Pod." "Give up my source of power?" Stockman growled. "Why? So, you can laugh at me again? Throw me in a dumpster!?" I gulped. "Okay, this isn't going well..."

We all started to back up, but Raph growled as he stood his ground. "Sounds good to me." With a yell, Raph charged at Stockman first. He leaped up and went to strike from above, but Stockman lifted his robotic arm, and with a powerful whirl, Raph was thrown across the room. He smacked into the wall and fell to the ground. "Raph!" I yelled.

I glared up at Stockman. "Okay! Now I wanna hurt him!" Without hesitation, me, Leo, Mikey and Donnie all charged at Stockman. But the dude just extended his robotic arms and slammed both Mikey and Donnie into the wall. Leo continued on and charged from the front, running up the long arm. He jumped up, swung his swords down, and sliced his robotic arms off. I jumped up and landed above Stockman's head. I jumped again, spun in the air, and managed to get a few good kicks to his face. I landed back on the ground and stood before the robotic man. 

The spots where Stockman's elongated arms once were, they were now replaced by very large hands. Then, from behind me, I heard a small whirl. I turned around and saw that the remains of Stockman's previous arms had become a little robot. "Leo, watch it-!" Too late. The little sucker had jumped up and landed on Leo's head. Or, rather, put itself on Leo's head like hat. Before I could do anything, Leo started running around, screaming in panic. I glared up at Stockman, who was laughing at what was happening. "You... you little...!"

I growled as I ran up and threw my tessen at his head. He gasped and ducked just in time. The weapons spun around and headed back towards me. I reached up and grabbed it in time. Then Stockman threw both of this large arms down at me, but I jumped out of the way. I landed back on the ground, but this time he managed to just graze me with his metal arm. I tripped and fell on the ground. My tessen slide away, far out of reached. I looked up and saw Stockman raising his arms again. "Hey, Stockman!" I turned to see Mikey leaping over and landing in front of Stockman, nunchucks whirling. "Back off my sister!" 

I quickly got to my feet and ran over to retrieve my tessen. I grabbed it and turned around. Mikey's kusarigama chain was wrapped around Stockman, holding his metal arms down. For a moment it looked as though Mikey had the upper hand. Then Stockman straightened up and started spinning around. Mikey, who was still holding the chain, was whipped around along with Stockman. I let out yell as I flung my tessen forward as hard as I could. The fan flew forward, and with a loud clang, it sliced through the chain. Mikey fell to the ground and slid on his shell. He sat up and beamed at me as I caught my tessen. "Thanks, Cleo!"

But before I could answer one of Stockman's large hands ramped into me. It knocked me off of my feet and I slammed into the opposite wall. I couched. The wind was completely knocked out of me. Suddenly Stockman grabbed me by one of my ankles and hoisted me up. I nearly dropped my tessen as he lifted me into the air. I glanced around just enough to see all four of the guys standing in front of Stockman. And they looked pissed! 

They all withdrew their weapons and ran up to Stockman. Leo and Donnie tried to go for his head, but Stockman simply knocked them out of the way with his arm. Mikey threw his chain up and wrapped it around the arm that was holding me and pulled it down. Then Raph jumped up and drove his sais into Stockman's robotic hand. Sparks flew out as the metal claws finally let go of me. I yelped as I began to fall, but Mikey caught me before I hit the floor. "Thanks, Mikey!" "No prob, dudette!"

I stood up on my feet as Raph jumped back down and landed beside us. Donnie came up, and his naginata blade shot out of his Bo staff. But just as he lunged it forward Stockman grabbed it and crushed the entire end of the stick. "Hey!" Donnie snapped. He backflipped out of the way. Stockman stomped forward. Donnie tossed the remainder of his staff away, holding his fists up. We charged at Stockman, and he charged at us. I don't necessarily recall what happened after that, but I'm sure I don't to know. All I remember is this; one second, we were fighting Stockman, and the next we were thrown into a dumpster. 

"That hurt..." I groaned. "Foolish ones!" Stockman bellowed. "Did you really thing you could defeat me?" "Well, yeah!" Mikey spoke in a voice that said, 'duh.' "All my life, people have laughed at me," Stockman growled. "The other kids at school, my coworkers, the woman who fixes the copy 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...!"

There was a flash of red light, and suddenly Stockman looked a lot bigger, and a lot more dangerous! "What's happening?" Leo asked. "Stockman and the T-Pod..." Donnie breathed. "They're... merging... they're becoming one, single entity..." "The Stockman-Pod..." Mikey said lowly. "Guys," I said fearfully. "I'm pretty sure I don't have to say this, but... RUN!" They didn't need to be told twice. We all quickly scurried out of the dumpster and ran into the street, screaming for our lives. 

"The Stockman-Pod's right on top of us!" Mikey yelled. "Stop calling him that! That's a stupid name!" Raph snapped. "Split up!" Leo ordered. "He can't follow us all!" "No way!" Mikey yelled. "He's gonna follow me!" "Why would he follow you?" Leo asked. "They always follow me!" "Stop being paranoid and just do it!" And so, we did. One by one, we each went to a different alley. Raph went to one, Donnie went to a second, and Leo went to a third. I almost went to my own when I heard Mikey scream. 

"Ahh! I told you he was gonna follow me!" I growled. "Oh no, you don't!" I took out my tessen and sprinted into the alley that Stockman had chased Mikey into. I followed them as they ran through a couple blocks. Then, when it looked like Stockman was about to get Mikey, I hollered. "Hey, Stockman!" He turned to look at me as I ran towards him and flung my tessen at him. He blocked the fan and I jumped up kicked my leg out in an attempt to kick his head. But he grabbed me before I could do anything. "I've had enough of you!"

He tossed me onto the ground, and I landed face first into the concrete. At that moment a sharp, stinging pain shot through my right cheek. "Ah!" I hissed as I brought my hand up to my cheek and looked up. Stockman started to stomp towards me. "Stockman!" I heard Mikey yell. "What'd I say about backing off my sis?" Stockman turned and I looked down. Mikey was standing at the other end, holding what looked like two pizza boxes in his hands.

Stockman laughed and stomped over to him. "I've got you now!" "Oh, yeah? Well, I've got..." Mikey popped open the boxes. "Hot cheese!" Mikey jumped and threw the pizzas at Stockman, and they slammed into his face. He skidded to a halt and tried to scrap the smeared cheese off of his face. I grabbed my tessen as Mikey sprinted over to me. "Come on!" I quickly got to my feet, and we ran off.

(-)

"Shh! Guys, quiet... we don't wanna wake him." "I'm not making any noise." "Don't tell me to be quiet." "Guys," I whispered. "You know if he finds us, he's gonna be so pissed." "Why are you worried?" Raph asked. "You're not the one who's grounded." Then the lights flashed on, and we froze. Father was standing right there, waiting for us. "Ah! Sensei!" I inhaled sharply as I quickly pulled my hood over my head more. I had kept it up since we outran Stockman so that the boys wouldn't see me hurt. "And where have you been?" Father asked. "Nowhere...," said Raph. "How did you get so hurt?" "Oh! That!" Leo spluttered. "Um... Well, we were..." "Hit..." "By a..." "Bus," Mikey finished. 

Father raised his eyebrow, clearly not believing it. I close my eyes as I groaned. "Hit by a bus?" Donnie hissed. "Well, what was I supposed to say? Meteor? Cow? Flying building?" I rolled my eyes. "Geez, Mikey..." "Cleopatra, what is that on your face?" I inhaled sharply as I feel father was staring directly at me. "N-nothing," I said, but the stutter in my voice was a dead giveaway. "Remove your hood, Cleopatra," said father. "Now." I gulped. "Aw, man..." I took a deep breath, and sighed as I slowly grabbed my hood and remove it. The second I did this, all of the boys gasped.

"Cleo, you're bleeding!" Leo said, horrified. "It's nothing!" I said quickly. "It's just a cut, I swear!" "Your whole cheek is red, Cleo!" Raph snapped. I stared at him. I lifted my hand up to my cheek, and I felt it was completely wet. I pulled my hand away and gasped lightly at what I saw: my hand was covered in blood... my blood.

I stared at the blood on my hand in shock, but second later father was standing in front of me. He lifted a hand under my chin and raised my face slightly. He examined my face for a moment, then looked at Donnie. "Donatello, get the first aid kit." "Hai, Sensei!" Donnie ran off without hesitation. "It doesn't look serious. Just needs to be cleaned and suppressed," said father. "Once I've taken care of Cleopatra, you all can tell me what happened."

()

"... And then I threw hot cheese in his face and ran away," Mikey finished. "Very resourceful, Michelangelo," Father said. "But I am still highly disappointed in you all. The first rule of being a ninja is do no harm... Unless you mean to do harm, then do lots of harm! Not only that," he continued. "But your foolishness got Cleopatra hurt." I gulped. He didn't have to bring that up.

After my face was cleaned it was revealed that the cut wasn't long, just deep enough to bleed as much as it did. Still, it wasn't bad. A large piece of cotton taped to my cheek, and I was fine. "It was my fault, father," I muttered. "And... it was just a cut..." "But it could've been much worse," Father said firmly. "And your brothers know that." 

I glanced over at the boys and saw they all had shameful looks on their faces. It tore my heart to see that. "You're right, Sensei," said Leo. "I guess we did make a mess of things." "So, what do you think would be a fitting punishment?" Father asked. Leo paused. "We need to clean up our mess," he said finally. "Yes. You must stop this Stockman-Pod." "But, Sensei, that guy's already kicked our shells," said Donnie. "And, now he's even more powerful. How are we supposed to stop him?"

"I know! I'll hit him really hard!" Raph said, punching a fist into his hand. "And end up breaking your hand?" I said as I raised my eyebrow. "Brute force is not the answer," said father. "You will need to rely on your ninja training." "Excuse me, Sensei," Mikey piped up. "But ninjas never had to go up against guys in armor." Father raised an eyebrow, and I rolled my eyes. "Mikey..." Mikey looked over at me, and I pointed to the dojo tapestry behind father, where pictures of ninjas were fighting a warrior wearing armor. 

"Ooh..." Mikey rubbed the back of his head. "I mean... ninjas always had to go up against guys in armor!" "Nice save," Raph muttered. "Sensei," said Leo. "What was their secret?" "They understood that you do not fight the armor, you fight the man inside." I glanced over and exchanged a look with all of my bros. Except for Mikey, who looked confused. "Why are we all lookin' at each other?"

(~)

Leo's plan was simple. Mikey made Stockman chase him, and we were to wait on the rooftops. "Are you sure this is gonna work?" Donnie asked. "Like Sensei said," Leo told us. "Don't fight the armor, fight the guy inside. And one thing we know about bad guys, they love chasing Mikey." "That doesn't boost my confidence," I told him. "Guys! Stockman-Pod's got...!" Mikey landed in front of us. "Missiles!"

No sooner had he spoken then several large missiles started heading our way. "In coming!" I yelled as we all scattered to a safe spot before the water tower on the roof was blown sky-high. I looked up and saw Mikey swung his nunchucks over a power line and was now handing over the fire. Then through the smoke and fire, Stockman appeared. 

As soon as he was out of the fire, we all charged at him. We swung our large chains up at him, wrapping him in them, pinning his large arms to his body. I took several steps back, keeping the chain tight, and the others did, too. Mikey then landed in front of Stockman, grinning. "Now who's trembling in terr-Whoa!" Snap! Stockman broke through the chains. He then grabbed Mikey by his head, reared his arm back, and tossed the young turtle. Mikey went flying and slammed into a wall. "Mikey!" me and Donnie cried. "That's it!" Raph growled. "You're goin' down!"

At once we all charged. Stockman turned and charged towards us as well. Donnie pushed himself up with his staff and kicked Stockman several times before smacking him with said staff. Leo ran up and sliced his katana at Stockman's sides, but that didn't make any progress. Using my kamas, I ran at Stockman and swung and stabbed at his legs all I could. I got a few good hits in, but none of it was enough to cause enough damage. 

Stockman then swung at Raph, who blocked it and tried to stab at the robotic man's front. Stockman tried to throw him off, but Raph jumped, landed on top, and stabbed his sais into the metal to keep from falling. Raph then did a back flip and landed in front of Stockman. He lunged forward, ready to stab with his sais. But Stockman dodged and hit Raph in his shell. Raph flew and smashed into a wall.

"Raph!" Leo yelled. He and Donnie went to attack, but Stockman extended his arms and push them away, and they fell over the edge of the roof. "Guys!" I cried. I ran to go help them, but one of Stockman's hands grabbed me and yanked me back. He laughed in my face, and I glared at him. I glanced up, and I saw Raph helping Leo and Donnie back onto the roof. Stockman saw me staring and turned his head. He let out a groan and threw me at them. I landed on the ground and tumbled over to them. Raph put a hand on my shoulder and helped me to my feet. 

Suddenly Stockman was in front of us once more. "Any last words?" he growled. "Just one," said Leo. "Bees." Stockman stared. "Bees?" "Bees...!" I heard Mikey shout. I looked up and saw him sliding down and electric cable, a large beehive in his hands. He landed on the ground, jumped all over Stockman, and shoved the beehive through the hole where his face was. Stockman screamed and flailed about. His movement caused the suit to extend, revealing the T-Pod.

"The T-Pod!" Leo shouted. I gripped my kamas tightly and ran forward. One by one, me and my bros all swung powerful hits to Stockman. With each powerful blow, he stumbled backward more and more until finally, he fell off the roof. We ran over to the edge and looked down. Stockman was lying on the lower level, still flailing slightly. We all jumped down and joined him on the lower rooftop. Leo walked up to him and stood on his chest. He pointed his katana at Stockman's face, then and the T-Pod. He stabbed it, twisted, and pulled the device out. There was a flash of red light, and the suit powered down. 

Stockman groaned as he struggled his way out of the large suit, his face covered in large, painful whelps. He looked up as me and the other three went to stand next to Leo. "So... We'll call it a tie?" Stockman asked hopefully. Leo turned to smirk at Raph. "Wanna call it a tie, Raph?" Raph cracked his knuckles. "Not yet..." Pretty soon, Stockman was back where he belonged. In a dumpster. "Now it's a tie," Raph said before slamming the lid shut. "That's what I'm talking about!" I jeered, and I double fist bump with Leo as Donnie and Raph shared a high-three. "Yeah, boy!" Mikey cried, jumping into the air.

(-)

"You all showed wisdom and great skill in defeating the Stockman-Pod," Father told us. "I'm proud of you all." I bowed my head. "Thank you, father." "Does this mean we're not grounded anymore?" Leo asked hopefully. Father stroked his beard for a moment, his eyes closed. "Yes," he said lowly. The boys looked at each other with glee. "But first, Randori!" The boys turned and screamed, sprinting out of the room as father held the wooden sword up.

I watched as they all disappeared, their screams dying with them. "It seems your brothers fell for it, Cleopatra," Father said, humor in his voice. I laughed. "They sure did, father." Father chuckled as he tucked away the wooden sword. He smiled at me and gestured to the exit. "You are free to go." I bowed my head and left the dojo.

All the boys were hiding in various places, no doubt to stay away from father and his wooden sword. But once I told them it was all a joke, they all revealed themselves. "That explains why you didn't run," Donnie said as he walked up to me. "Oh, by the way, I got something for you, Cleo." I turned. "What is it?" Donnie smiled as he reached behind him and pulled out something small and silver. "The T-Pod?" I asked. "But Leo stabbed it." "And I fixed it," Donnie said simply. "I didn't want my hard work to go to waste. And I want you to have it." "Wow, cool!" 

I grabbed the T-Pod from Donnie's hands and looked at it. It looked the same as it did before. But the silver seemed to be lighter, and the lights were glowing white instead of bright blue. "No fair!" Mikey whined. "Why does Cleo get the T-Pod?" "Because I know she won't lose it and let it end up in the enemy's hands." Mikey frowned, staring at our brother. "... Well played," he said.

"Besides," Donnie continued. "One of the main reasons I made it was to give it to Cleo anyway." I blinked. "Really?" Donnie nodded. "Yeah. No one likes music more than you, so, I thought-" But he was cut off as I flung my arms around his neck in a large hug. "Donnie, you're the best!" Donnie chuckled as he hugged me back.