Balloons
In his life as a single father and Ninja master to four teenage mutant ninja turtles things had never been normal. Even in their younger days before venturing to the surface his four precious turtle sons could still cause havoc and chaos by the most simple of actions. As any parent would he dealt with such situations as they came usually by calmly asking for an explanation of what happened, before deciding on what action to take. He truly fooled himself into believing it was a phase they would grow out of as they got older, giving him some peace from the madness. However as the aged rat knelt across from his two oldest sons in the Dojo, he was starting to believe there would never be an end to it.
His eldest son Leonardo was sat before him with a look of deep thought on his face as he looked to be formulating an explanation as to why he had decided to replace his revered twin Katana swords with pink balloon swords instead.
Glancing to Leonardo's left he found his red masked son looking uncomfortable and refusing to meet his father's eyes, which was a clear sign to the rat this son was also considering how to explain the situation, which for Raphael appeared to be pink balloon wings attached to his shell. Deciding to break the awkward silence he figured now was an appropriate time to ask for an explanation.
"Well my sons, would either of you care to explain your current accessories?" Splinter asked, carefully concealing the smile on his face as both turtles were startled back into the present.
"Well you see..." began Leonardo clearly mortified at being caught by his father with pink balloon swords, the young leader's seemingly endless calm deserted him and he stammered to a halt.
"Mater Splinter" began Raphael straightening his posture to look his father in the face "Leo an' me were arguing about weapons, when Leo said he could take down anything with any weapon. An' I said what about a flying turtle with balloons. So we got some balloons out of the closet to test his claims. It was a matter of honour, Sensei."
At this explanation Leonardo seemed ready to melt through the floor in shame, where as Splinter had to admire Raphael for attempting to retain what dignity he could with wings on his shell.
"I understand Raphael. I take it, that it was testing these claims that brought about an early death to our coffee table and upturned most of the furniture in the living room?" questioned the exasperated rat.
"Mater Splinter I'm so sorry, we should never have..." answered the same faced leader, until Splinter held up a paw to silence him.
"It's quite alright Leonardo, I understand the situation perfectly well. You are both to clean up the mess in the living room and find a replacement coffee table. You are both free to go, although I would suggest Raphael in the future you refrain from standing on the coffee table and Leonardo, pink really does not suit you." decided Splinter with a slight smirk as he watched both turtles bow to him before moving to leave the Dojo. Raphael was still trying to maintain his image despite the wings attached to his shell, where as Leonardo all but scurried out of the Dojo in shame.
With a deep sigh the Ninja master could only shake his head at their antics, with Michelangelo and Donatello visiting April he had hoped for some peace to meditate. Closing his eyes to begin his meditation again Splinter could not help but ponder how many more ridiculous explanations for strange, irrational and frankly worrying behavior he would have to listen to. At 16 years old surely his sons could be a bit more responsible?