Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987

Exit the Fly

By Lucky_Ladybug

Notes: The characters are not mine and the story is! While getting back into the 1987 version of TMNT, which I know I watched as a kid even though I didn't remember it very well, I found myself fascinated with this series' version of Baxter Stockman and was rather sad that he never did get back to normal, as he so longed to. With him, there's actually a chance, as opposed to the horrifying and not fully fixable fates of his 2003 series' counterpart. And the 1987 Baxter is definitely more sympathetic in personality. I also decided to tinker with his canonical brother Barney. All around, this is definitely proving to be an interesting experience. It was supposed to take place between seasons 7 and 8, or be the start of a non-Red Sky season 8, but I forgot that the Technodrome gets sent back to Dimension X without anybody aboard, so I seem to have inadvertently written a new season 7 finale instead.

Chapter One

"This time you're not going to stop me, Turtles!"

All four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stood in the middle of the street, staring up at Baxter the Fly as he hovered just out of their reach with Shredder's newly rebuilt retro-mutagen ray gun. He was pointing it directly at Leonardo as he spoke.

"Like, what are you gonna do to us, Dude?!" Michelangelo exclaimed. "You don't even remember why you wanted revenge on us!"

"I . . ." Baxter paused, a look of immense confusion slipping over his insect features. "You kept me from becoming human again," he said at last. "I remember that much! The last time I had one of these guns in my hands, you took it away from me!"

"You know, if you'd just used the gun on yourself in the first place instead of trying to turn the whole world into insects, you'd be human again," Raphael said in annoyance, gripping his sai in each hand. "I'm getting sick and tired of being blamed for all the problems that everyone else causes! We wouldn't have taken the gun away from you if we hadn't needed to change all your victims back!"

Baxter gave him a blank stare. "What are you talking about? I didn't do that, did I?"

"You sure did," Raphael snapped. "You wanted to punish the whole world because of what happened to you. No one besides Shredder and Krang even had anything to do with hurting you! You just ended up hurting a lot of innocent people!" His eyes flashed.

"Hey, easy, Raphael," Leonardo said in concern, laying a hand on Raphael's shoulder. "He doesn't even remember."

"That's a poor excuse," Raphael shot back. "He still did it! He's been a bad penny from the first time we met him. I don't trust him from here to that manhole cover!"

"And none of us blame you," Leonardo said. "You're right that he did it and it was a horrible, twisted thing to do. But in his state, it's not that simple to say he did it and act like that's the only important factor. We'd have to see how he'd feel while actually being sane before really holding him accountable."

Raphael rolled his eyes. "Oh sure. As if he'll ever be in that state. I'm not sure we've ever seen him sane!"

Baxter still looked like he was trying to work out the original accusation in his mind. "I tried to take revenge on innocent people? How would that do any good?"

"It wouldn't!" Michelangelo exclaimed. "I guess you thought they weren't showing you any sympathy or something, but Dude, they didn't even know about you!"

"I should have focused on you Turtles," Baxter continued madly as though he hadn't heard Michelangelo. "You're not innocent! You're directly mixed up in my problems!"

"Would you listen to this guy?" Raphael said in frustration. "Everything goes in one ear and out the other!"

"He can't be reasoned with in his condition," Donatello spoke up.

"We have to try something," Leonardo insisted. Looking to Baxter, he said, "Why do you have to do anything about us now? If you really just want to be human again, all you have to do is use the gun on yourself. You don't have to use it on us too. What purpose will that serve?"

"Well . . ." Baxter trailed off, still deeply confused. Then, quickly distracted, he stared first at a cat walking down the street and then an airplane in the sky. The flickering lights on the plane seemed to completely captivate his attention.

"He's more fly than human by now," Donatello frowned. "Every time we see him, he's regressed worse."

"That's all the better for us," Raphael declared. "Come on, let's get that gun away from him before he uses it on us!" He looked to Leonardo, who seemed deep in thought. "Any time you're ready, O Fearless Leader."

"I don't know," Leonardo said slowly. "If we try to get it away from him while he's up there, it might accidentally go off and hit one of us anyway. It doesn't have a safety mechanism."

"So what are you saying?!" Raphael snapped. "We just let him keep us all at bay and threaten to deliberately zap us because we can't take the chance of it accidentally zapping us?"

"If we could get him to use it on himself, maybe he wouldn't even want to use it on us anymore," Leonardo replied. "His mind would finally be free of the fly's influence."

"The only thing is, after all the time he's spent cross-fused with the fly and suffering its mind becoming his own, can he ever recover from it?" Donatello wondered. "This is different from us or Master Splinter or even Bebop and Rocksteady. With Baxter, it's really like he's made up of two different beings now, only his human side is almost completely gone. I'm surprised he can even still talk or function at all like a human anymore."

"You know, that's actually kind of sad when you really stop to think about it," Michelangelo said. "I mean, Baxter was working for Shredder and all that, but he wasn't the worst guy out there. Did he really deserve this?"

"That's not really the question right now," Raphael shot back. "He's been in La-La Land while we've been debating what to do with him, but it looks like he's coming out of it and he still wants to blast us! Look out!" He leaped out of the way as a beam flew down from the gun.

The others immediately scattered as well when more beams followed suit. Frowning, Leonardo looked out from behind some empty crates in an alley as Baxter blindly fired in every direction.

"Turtles!" Baxter screamed. "Must get the Turtles!"

Leonardo's eyes narrowed. "Alright. Everyone stay under cover!" He thrust one of his katanas into the sky, striking the ray gun and knocking it off-balance. As Baxter screamed and swore in gibberish, the gun flipped around and blasted him. He stiffened in shock and pain and a red light lit up the night sky.

"It got him," Raphael said in surprise.

"So . . . is it changing him back?" Michelangelo asked, cautiously peeking up from behind two trash cans.

His question was answered as the beam faded and a terrified human with long, light-brown hair screamed as he plunged towards earth. A tiny fly buzzed off in the opposite direction.

Leonardo immediately ran out. "Without wings, he can't stay up! He likely won't survive the impact!"

"So why are we interceding, exactly?" Raphael retorted as he chased after the others. "We're not really bosom buddies."

"No, but letting him crash wouldn't be the honorable thing to do," Leonardo retorted. He slashed an awning with his remaining katana and caught it as it fell. "Help me, guys!"

Donatello and Michelangelo each grabbed an edge. Muttering to himself about Baxter not caring to do the honorable thing and still being unsure about the whole venture, Raphael nevertheless took another edge. Leonardo held onto the remaining edge and pulled tight. "Brace yourselves!"

Baxter hit the awning in the next moment. He groaned, sprawling on his stomach with his arms and legs hanging over the sides of the canvas. "Ohhh . . . what happened to me?"

"You're human again, Baxter," Leonardo said carefully.

"Human?" Baxter stared at Leonardo. "You mean I . . . wasn't . . . ?" He slumped down, going limp on the awning. Somewhere behind him, the retro-mutagen ray gun hit the ground and smashed into pieces.

"Dude, he doesn't remember?" Michelangelo blinked.

"I guess that makes sense, considering how his victims didn't remember being insects either," Donatello said. "But maybe he'll remember later."

". . . Is he even still alive?" Raphael cautiously asked.

Donatello grabbed his wrist. "Yes, but I'd say he's suffering from serious shock, There's no telling what lasting effects the cross-mutation might have had on his body . . . or his mind. I don't think the hospital will know what to do with him."

"And we would?" Raphael shot back.

"We might have a better idea than they would," Leonardo answered. "They've never dealt with mutations. Of course, we'd have to ask Master Splinter's permission before we'd take him to the Lair. . . ."

"What?! We can't take him down there!" Raphael exclaimed. "He's a weak link. The first chance he'd get, he'd tell Shredder all about it!"

"I don't think he'll trust Shredder again, if his mind is back," Leonardo said gravely. "It was Shredder and Krang who were responsible for what happened to him. Shredder was only able to continually trick him before because the fly part of his mind was causing him to forget the truth."

"Yeah? Well, maybe Shredder would threaten to turn him back into a fly again," Raphael retorted. "He'd probably help then!"

"Actually, Shredder's been in the Lair several times," Donatello pointed out. "We're just lucky that he doesn't know the way there."

"Baxter does, though," Raphael reminded him. "He kidnapped Master Splinter with his Ratcatcher! We also figured out that he hung out there spying on us when he was stuck in that other dimension. It was him we were sensing when it felt like someone was watching us! He showed up right after that."

"That's probably true," Leonardo agreed, "but since he was a fly then, it's debatable if he'll even remember it when he wakes up."

"If he wakes up," Donatello said quietly.

Michelangelo looked to him with wide eyes. "No kidding? He's really that bad off?"

"I don't know," Donatello admitted. "I could examine him better at the Lair."

Raphael let out his breath in frustration. "Okay, we'll go talk to Master Splinter. But I still say letting this guy anywhere near our home is a really stupid idea."

Leonardo gave him a weak smile. "You could be right."

xxxx

When the Turtles arrived at the Lair, Leonardo and Raphael went inside to talk with Splinter while Donatello and Michelangelo remained behind to watch over and guard Baxter. Inside, Splinter listened carefully to the tale and considered his answer for a moment in silence while Leonardo and Raphael tried to wait patiently.

"All of your concerns have merit," he said at last. "Baxter Stockman has been our enemy since his first appearance on the scene. He was weak-minded and Shredder was able to easily manipulate and threaten him in order to keep him in line. In addition, his own scientific abilities led to his ideas of highly destructive and disturbing inventions such as the one he used to abduct me.

"However, it's not as cut-and-dry as that. As I understand it, his original intention with his Mouser invention was simply to help the city with its rat problem. The Shredder tricked him by claiming that he wanted to market the Mousers. I doubt that Dr. Stockman had any idea what Shredder's true plans were. He was arrested and sentenced for the damage the Mousers caused across the city, even though he had not intended for them to cause such unwelcome destruction."

"I guess that's possible," Raphael frowned. "But that was in the past. After Shredder broke him out of the nuthouse, he sure was all into helping the guy."

"By that point, I'm not entirely certain that being incarcerated in the insane asylum hadn't taken its toll on him," Splinter said. "When he abducted me, he did not seem fully sane."

"And we've all seen how he went downhill after that," Leonardo said grimly.

"My point is that perhaps he will not be a danger to us now," Splinter said. "He does not trust the Shredder and Krang."

"And he sure won't trust us either," Raphael exclaimed.

"Perhaps." Splinter stood. "If we help him now, it may be beneficial to us in the end. And we are the most qualified for dealing with mutants. He would likely receive better help here than at the hospital, as Leonardo and Donatello surmised."

"And just what if it isn't beneficial to us, Master Splinter?" Raphael demanded as he stood as well. "He could be such a loose cannon that he'd turn against us in an instant."

"Then we will deal with that if it happens," Splinter said. "Under the circumstances, I am willing to at least give him a chance."

Leonardo suddenly looked worried. "It's true that he seemed to be heading towards insanity on some of our early encounters, especially the Eye of Sarnoth one. It wasn't just turning into a fly that did it. And that means that changing back likely won't have restored his sanity."

"Oh, so now even our leader is worried," Raphael grunted. "And he brings up yet another excellent reason to be worried."

"You have a point, Leonardo," Splinter agreed. "If his instability was caused by something such as a chemical imbalance, there is likely little we can do and he would be better off being treated by knowledgeable doctors. However, if it was instead brought on more by the cruelty of Shredder and others, we might be able to help him with kindness and patience."

Leonardo accepted that and got up. "I'll let Donatello know that he and Michelangelo can bring him in."

Raphael slumped back. "I sure hope we won't regret this," he said, half-under his breath.

He hadn't really intended for Splinter to hear, but it happened anyway. Splinter walked over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I hope not as well, my student. For my part, I believe it is worth the attempt to make a friend out of an enemy when there is a conceivable chance it might work. But even when that is not a viable option, it is honorable and good to assist those in need."

Raphael sighed. "I know, Master Splinter. It's not that I'm questioning your judgment. It's just that I don't trust Baxter Stockman no matter what form he's in."

Splinter nodded. "I understand, Raphael. It would be difficult to trust someone who has so consistently been a problem for us." He paused. "I just remembered that Dr. Stockman has a brother. Perhaps he should be contacted and informed of the current situation."

"I don't think Barney Stockman would care," Raphael replied. "All I got from him was that he was jealous of Baxter and hated that everyone recognized Baxter and not him. He didn't even seem to care that Baxter had turned into a crazy mutant, except for how it only made him even more notorious. Coming to think of it, I wonder how Barney even found out."

That brought a sigh. "It may be hard for you to understand when there have never been any serious problems between you and the others, but jealousy and anger directed towards a sibling does not mean there is no love there. I wouldn't be surprised if Barney has been genuinely concerned about Baxter's state."

"If you say so, Master Splinter," Raphael said doubtfully. "I know a lot of siblings have rivalry problems and all, and that some of them really care deep down, but I also know that there's really some who don't."

Splinter nodded. "That is unfortunately true. Oroku Saki most certainly cared nothing for his brother." He stepped back. "Very well. We will see how Dr. Stockman fares with us for a while. Then we will decide what to do about his brother."

Raphael moved back, then turned to look as Donatello and Michelangelo carried Baxter in, follow by Leonardo. "That's fair enough," he said, refraining from adding the half-sarcastic remark that was floating through his mind. We'll see how we fare after that 'while,' too.