Bentley,
Since you've decided that you love your time machine more than me, I've headed out in search of a new mate. It's time you found out what it felt like to sleep alone. Hopefully, I'll find someone who isn't a self-obsessed creep like you.
Penelope
Having read those words, he was stunned. He had allowed that stupid machine to take over his entire life. His attempts to turn back the hands of time may have cost him the only girlfriend he has ever had and the only person who truly understood him. Perhaps it was time for him to abandon this whole project, which seemed to be going nowhere anyway. He pondered these options as he wheeled into the bedroom for the night.
Todd and Penelope went through his house and out to the back and his shed. Todd was just about to unlock the door to his workshop, when Hector, his annoying coworker jumped in front of the door. "Hold it right there, turtle! I know what you're up to, and I won't allow it to happen!"
"I'm sorry I had to swipe those parts," said Todd. "But it was an emergency. I can pay for them if you like..."
"I will not allow you to foil Mr. Arpeggio's master plan!" said the bunny, who then grabbed both their supplies and Todd's keys.
"I don't know what you're doing here, but you better get lost!" Todd said, grabbing his things back. Hector then pushed Todd to the ground, knocking him on his shell so he couldn't get up. The rabbit then pulled out a gun and pointed it at the turtle's head. Todd withdrew his head into his shell.
"You leave us alone and get out of here!" Penelope shouted, kicking Hector in the stomach. He falls to the ground, and she recovers their equipment and helps Todd up. The two then quickly make their way into the workshop and lock the door behind them.
"This isn't over!" Hector shouted from outside, pounding on the door.
"What are we going to do about him?" asked Penelope.
"Relax," Todd said. "I'll take care of this." He picked up a telephone and dialed a number. "Hello, police? I'm calling to report a trespasser. Yes. OK. Good-bye." He hung up the phone. "OK. Let's get to work."
"OK." She set her RC car on the workbench and Todd took out the parts they had taken from his store. He took out a screwdriver and began to work on the car as Hector continued to bang on the door.
"Should we be worried," Penelope asked.
"The cops should be here shortly."
Todd quickly attached two mechanical arms to the car and some tools capable of installing the laser device. He reassembled the car and then picked up the remote control. He turned the car on and then used the remote to test the mechanical arms. Everything appeared to be in working order. "Nice job, honey," Penelope said. Now the difficult part began. He had never worked with one of those laser security things before. Hopefully it wouldn't be too difficult to figure out.
As he began to work, he heard sirens approaching in the distance. "That should take care of our bunny problem," Todd remarked as he assembled the laser device. He quickly finished the laser. "I hope this works..."
"We'll know soon enough," said Penelope. "Let's get going."
"So, just where are we headed?"
"Bentley's lab," she said. "I'll give you directions."
The two stepped out of his workshop and once again headed for his car, as Hector was being led away by police.
Unable to sleep, Bentley headed over to his assistant Oliver's house, hoping the wise older swan could perhaps offer him some words of comfort. After all, the guy had been dumped more times than he cared to remember. He knew it was a bit late, but that bird always seemed to be awake.
He wheeled up to Oliver's door and politely knocked on it. He waited several minutes without response before the swan finally answered.
"Why Bentley, my friend," he said. "What brings you here? Did you have another breakthrough with the machine?"
"No, no," Bentley said shaking his head. "Penelope left me..."
"Oh," said the swan. "Now, why did she do that? Another guy?"
"No," the turtle said. "She left me because I've been spending too much time working on our time machine."
"I see..."
"I'm thinking about abandoning the whole project," said Bentley. "We don't seem to be getting anywhere."
"If that's what you wish to do," Oliver said. "Then I'll support your decision. Why don't you come on in for a bit?"
"OK." The two of them then entered his house.
Todd and Penelope had arrived at Bentley's laboratory, which was located inside an old brick building close to the center of town. They then stepped out of his car. "This should be a pretty easy job," Penelope said, turning on the car and starting it up.
"I hope you're right," said Todd.
"Make sure nobody gets inside to interfere with our plan," Penelope said as she drove the car toward the building and straight up the wall, heading toward the roof vent.
"OK." Todd had been equipped by Penelope with a shock pistol she had grabbed from the cops during her adventure with Sly, and a Binocu-Com with which to communicate with her should the two be separated.
Penelope climbed the car all the way up the roof and moved up to the vent as Todd watched. No sooner then she drove into the vent then Todd spotted a strange sight in the sky. It was a small bird flying on some type of rocket pack. This was the villain Arpeggio. He touched down on the roof and grabbed Penelope's car as she tried to enter. "What's this? It appears someone is trying to sabotage my master plan, using a toy?"
"Oh no!" said Penelope. She then remembered that the car was equipped with weapons. "Of course..." She fired the gun in the bird's face, knocking him down. She then blew the cover off the vent and raced down into the duct. As this was happening, Todd and Penelope were both surrounded by Arpeggio's thugs, all large and fierce-looking creatures. The turtle began to fire at them with his shock gun. He kept knocking down thugs, but they kept on coming.
"I don't think I can keep this up much longer!" he said to Penelope, who had moved down the street and out of sight of the enemy.
"Try to hold on just a bit longer..." She had now driven to the end of the duct, where the open vent led into Bentley's lab. She now put the mechanical arms in motion, to begin installing the laser device.
"I'll try," Todd said, jumping up on the hood of his car to avoid the mob of angry enemies.
Arpeggio's beak had been slightly cracked by Penelope's gunfire, but he was otherwise fine. "Stop these troublemakers at any cost!" He shouted into his radio. He then entered the vent and crawled down inside the building. He reached the car and grabbed it as Penelope worked on installing the laser. He then destroyed both the vehicle and device. "My plan will not be thwarted!" He then continued down into the laboratory and the time machine.
"Now what!" Penelope cried.
"I better go in there..." said Todd, blasting through the crowd of thugs and making his way over to her.
"But, the lasers..."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of things," he said.
"I hope you know what you're doing," she said.
"Just get to someplace safe." He then headed toward the building. The front door was locked. He kicked it in and stepped inside, stopping short as there was a wall of lasers just inside the doorway. He inspected the glowing red beams before him. It appeared there was enough space for him to safely crawl underneath them. He got down on the ground and made his way beneath the wall of lasers, with one of the beams lightly touching the top of his shell as he entered the building. It was time to get upstairs.
Bentley and Oliver were just sitting around in the living room of the swan's house. "Why don't we do something?" asked the turtle. "For an international rock star, you sure live a boring life."
"This is what happens when your five minutes of fame have expired," Oliver said. "No one calls or visits, and you don't get invited to the good parties anymore." He sighed.
"It seems we're both destined to be alone and bored," Bentley said. Just then, an electronic beeping sound came from his wheelchair. "It looks like there's been a breach at the lab. We should get going."
"OK." Oliver got up and both he and Bentley headed out.
Todd now made his way over to the staircase, which was covered by yet another wall of laser beams. This one was going to be tough, as there was no room at the bottom for him to crawl under. He thought things over and then came up with an idea. He was sure this would work... He removed his glasses and placed them into the laser field, deflecting the beams upward and leaving some room for him to pass through. He did so and then headed upstairs.
As Penelope waited outside, she spotted a strangely familiar sight. It was Bentley hovering in the air in his wheelchair. He flew by without noticing her and landed on the roof. He went to a door on the roof and then entered a code into a keypad alongside it. He then made his way inside to see what the disturbance was.
His assistant Oliver, to whom Bentley had never bothered to introduce her, arrived soon after, flying under his own power as his wings were very much suited for flight, unlike Arpeggio's. He also landed on the roof and entered through the doorway.
Todd arrived on the second floor of the building. Surprisingly, the entrance to the lab was completely unguarded, making the turtle wonder if all of this was for nothing. He stepped into Bentley's lab just in time to catch Arpeggio stepping into the time machine and attempting to start it up.
"Stop right there!" Todd commanded, pointing his shock gun at the bird.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Todd," Arpeggio said. "But I don't think there's much you can do to stop me."
"Wanna bet?" the turtle said, placing his finger on the trigger of the gun.
"Take your best shot, you foolish boy," Arpeggio commanded.
"OK..." He fired his shock pistol at the villain. The parrot was clad in an unusual looking suit of armor. He hit the bird square in the stomach, but the blast was deflected off of him and headed straight for Todd, who dashed out of the way.
"Uh-oh..."
"Indeed, my boy. Your time on earth is numbered," the villain said, taking out a sword and moving closer to the turtle.
"You fool!" Todd said. "You think you can kill a turtle with that?" He then pulled inside his shell and lay on the floor.
"That's exactly what I expected you to do." Arpeggio headed back into the time machine and began to activate it. Just then, Oliver and Bentley entered the room.
"Step out of that machine right now!" Oliver said, pointing a gun at Arpeggio.
"It's about time you fools arrived," he said, pressing buttons on the machine.
"Arpeggio?" said a stunned Bentley. "But I thought..."
"Yes, yes," the villain interrupted. "You thought I was killed by Clockwerk. Well, I wasn't and now I'm going to make sure that my original plan is implemented."
Todd popped out of his shell and aimed his gun at Arpeggio's head, which was unprotected. "It's time to end this." He fired, but missed the bird, instead hitting the time machine and setting off a massive explosion, destroying it and a significant portion of the lab. Arpeggio had flown up on his rocket pack, just missing the blast, and hovered above everyone else. "Damn you all!" he said.
"Looks like no rewriting history for you," Todd said.
"You haven't heard the last of me!" Arpeggio warned. He then took off and flew away.
"You ruined my lab!" said Bentley, who had been knocked out of his wheelchair.
"And you allowed the villain to get away," Oliver said as he helped him up.
"Sorry," Todd said.
The explosion had knocked out the security system. Penelope had now entered the ruins of the laboratory. "What happened?"
"This idiot blew up my time machine and half my lab with it," Bentley whined. "And what are you doing here?"
"Todd and I tried to protect your time machine from evildoers," she said.
"Well, it looks like you've wrecked everything instead," Bentley said.
"Well, at least I stopped that guy from time travelling," said Todd.
"Who is this asshole and why is he here, anyway?" asked Bentley.
"This is my new boyfriend Todd, and he's kinder and sweeter than you are," Penelope said, patting Todd on the head.
"You left me for this moron!" Bentley said angrily.
"I'd thank you if you'd stop insulting my Todd," she said.
"Look Penelope," Bentley said, wheeling over to her. "I'm sorry I've spent so much time away from you. Now that there's no time machine, I'm prepared to spend my whole life by your side." He reached out and held her paw.
"I don't know..." Penelope said.
"The choice is up to you," he said. "You can stay with me, or go with this loser."
"You're lucky you're in that chair," Todd snapped. "Or else I might have to mess you up."
"Don't let that stop you!" Bentley shouted.
"Enough of this," said Penelope. "Bentley, I didn't mean to leave you... We've been through so much together... I think we could make this work..." She looked into his eyes as they held hands.
"So, you're taking me back?"
"Yes," she said and then kissed him on the forehead. She then turned to Todd. "I'm sorry, but Bentley's my one true love. Please try to understand. We can still be friends if you like."
"OK..." he said sadly. "I guess I better be going now." He started to leave the destroyed laboratory building, setting down the shock pistol before departing.
"Bye," Penelope said, waving.
Tears began to fill Todd's eyes as he began the long, slow, painful walk home. In his sadness, he had forgotten that he drove there. He thought he had finally found someone to end his loneliness and be his lifelong companion, but it wasn't to be.
As he walked, he heard an anguished female voice call out. "Somebody help me!" It was coming from the park. He followed the sounds of the voice through the darkened woods and reached a walking path. There he found a rough-looking muscular bulldog standing over a young female turtle who had been knocked on her back and could not get up. "You shoulda just handed it over, lady!" the bulldog said, grabbing her purse.
"You leave her alone!" Todd said assertively, approaching the two.
"Another turtle?" the dog said. "You better stay out of this kid, unless you want your shell broken."
"Give her back the purse and get out of here!" Todd yelled.
"Why don't you make me?" the bulldog said, snickering.
Todd ran over and kicked him hard in the knee, knocking him down. He then climbed up on the thug's chest. "I've had a rough night tonight, and I don't need you messing with me. Now give this back and get lost!" He grabbed the purse away from him.
"You think you're tough guy, huh?" the dog asked, grabbing the purse back and pushing Todd aside as he got up. Todd then grabbed the thug as he tried to leave and slashed him across the chest with his beak. "I told you... Don't mess with me!" He took the purse back once more.
"Ow!" the bulldog exclaimed. "Fine. Fine. This has gotten too hard." He then ran away. Todd then went over to the fallen turtle and helped her up.
"Thank you for saving me," she said. She was a young, pretty and delicate creature with beautiful blue eyes. Like Todd, she wore glasses. She was wearing a nice blue dress, which was slightly torn and stained from her encounter, and a pair of matching high-heel shoes. "I'm Mary."
"Nice to meet you," said Todd. "And it was no problem."
"It's been quite a night for me," she said. "First, my boyfriend dumps me, and then this thug attacks me and tries to take my purse."
"You got dumped too?" he asked. "My girlfriend ditched me for some cripple."
"Oh..."
Todd gazed into her blue eyes for a moment. He had never seen a turtle quite so beautiful. Could she be the one for him? "Uhh, would you like to join me for a cup of coffee?"
"Um... OK..." she said. "That would be nice."
He smiled and took her paw. "Let's go." They walked down the path together, heading out of the park.
"You're the bravest turtle I've ever seen," Mary said.
"Thanks..." said Todd, blushing slightly.
"And I really like your shoes," she said, looking a his bright red Converse high tops.
"Why thank you. That's a very pretty dress you're wearing," said Todd.
"You're so charming..." They soon arrived downtown and walked together down the darkened streets. Todd led her to an small coffee shop, the only business still open. They went inside and took a seat at the counter.
and Penelope were now back at their apartment, reunited at last. Penelope was sitting on the edge of the bed when the turtle wheeled in. He parked his wheelchair at his side of the bed and then she lifted the small turtle out of it and set him down. She then covered him up and kissed him. "I'm so sorry I left you..."
"It's OK," he said. "I deserved it." He took off his glasses and set them on the nightstand. "Things are going to be different from now on." She hugged him and slipped beneath the covers. "Good night, my love." He turned off the lights.
"Good night, Bentley." She held him tight. The two quickly fell asleep, exhausted by the day's events.
In all the excitement with Bentley and the lab, Oliver had completely forgotten that he and his band (or what was left of it.. But that was another story) had a performance that night. He quickly arrived back at his house, gathered up his things and then t raced down to the nightclub where he was to play. He was greeted at the door by the club's owner, a short-tempered duck.
"It's about freakin' time you got here, Featherstone," the duck said. "You go on in less than a minute!"
"I'm sorry I'm late, sir," said the swan.
"It's not me you need to apologize to," the owner said. "It's your fans."
"What fans?" The club was empty except for its employees and two or three patrons.
"Enough of this nonsense," the duck said. "We have a deal. Now where's your band?"
"My... band?" the swan responded. "That's a good question." His bass player, Randy, was probably laying passed out drunk somewhere. His drummer was none other than Todd, the Radio Shack employee and wannabe hero. How could he let that turtle get away like that? It didn't matter. He couldn't have been in any condition to play after all he'd been through, the battle, the explosion, being dumped like that.
"If they don't show up in 30 seconds, then I'll make sure you never play this town again!" the duck warned.
"It looks like I can't play tonight then," he said.
"I don't believe this!" the club owner remarked. "Get out of my sight, you worthless has-been! I never want to see you again!"
The swan then sighed and walked out of the club. His life was a complete wreck, and he had no one to blame but himself. He never should have gotten involved in this whole time machine project. But that Bentley fellow had come begging him for help. Apparently, no one in the scientific community took the guy seriously. It didn't help that he had spent most of his life running around with a thief like Sly Cooper blowing things up and killing people. Anyhow, the turtle looked so pitiful, in that wheelchair and all, so he decided to help him out.
And he had paid dearly. With his career in ruins, Oliver climbed back into his jeep and headed for home. "Every time I help a turtle, I always end up getting screwed," he thought as he drove down the deserted streets. "First Todd, then this Bentley. No more."
THE END