Space Time Continuum
The cake was cut and immediately seized by the grabbing of three fingered hands around it. April hardly had time to react as the swift ninja tore the treat away from her. She could only smile in response, though. It was their birthdays, however.
"Happy Twentieth Birthday, my sons!" Master Splinter chuckled at the boys' reactions with a glitter of age and joy in his eyes. His boys had grown.
"Yeah, now hand ova' some cake!" Casey responded jokingly, though one could argue his seriousness as he grabbed for Mike's extra piece.
"Cool it, Casey," April warned as she reached him a piece. "Happy birthday, guys!"
"'Bout time!" Raph muttered.
"You're telling me," Mike whined as he shoved half of the entire cake into his mouth for one bite. "I'm sick o' being treated like a baby!"
"It will be interesting to not be teenagers anymore," Don agreed.
"We've really gotten the chance to mature," Leonardo joined his brothers' consensus.
It was at this point, just as always, their happy, small celebration would find its interruption from thin air. In this particular case it was literal as the ground shook beneath their feet, causing them to glance toward the corner where a massive light revealed a specific, familiar type of portal.
It did not take long for the voluptuous timestress to step out before them and flash them a happy grin. Renet waved to the turtles, clutching to the time scepter with a more reassured ability than the last time they had met her.
"Happy Birthday! Again," Renet greeted her friends and sometimes pawns.
To this even happy-faced Michelangelo had to frown and raise an eye ridge. "You've never been to any of our birthdays before," he reminded the time traveler. "In fact, I don't think you've celebrated much of anything with us before."
"What are ya here for, Renet?" Raph muttered, already sensing business was on the mind of the air-headed assistant.
She waved her hand and the company eased up, somewhat willing to believe that it truly was not as bad as usual. Perhaps she did just come to wish them a happy twentieth birthday. "Oh, I'm just here to fix a small thing," she attempted to assure them though it only brought the party back into alert.
"What kind of small thing?" the leader asked defensively. He was not really ready to be sent on a mission on his and his brothers' birthday.
"Just the space time continuum," she summarized easily.
There was a distinct silence in which the sinking, impending feeling that this was not working out for them. When Renet and her blasted time scepter were involved it rarely didwork out for them. They had come to expect no better.
"That seems like an awfully big thing, Renet," Don admitted at last.
"Oh, yeah," Renet nodded before flashing a smile at them. "But you usually don't remember it."
This was not nearly as assuring as she had thought it would be, though. Instead, she simply received the darkened expressions of the party guests and the honored recipients of the celebrations. In the mix of the confusion was a hint of irritation.
"What do you mean?"Leo demanded.
"You know how you guys have been a real big help with all of my little time traveling escapades?" she inquired.
"Yeah," Mike backed up his brother.
"Well, as it turns out, all your time traveling has sort of messed up your own place in the space time continuum," Renet explained before tapping the head of the scepter against her opposite hand. "You see, you're not really twenty. You're more like…twenty-five. Or supposed to be."
They stared at her.
"Excuse me?" Don asked.
"I think we know how old we are," Raph muttered.
"Not entirely," Renet concluded quickly. "You see, you've not really been able to get past your teen years just yet…it's almost like you're in this perpetual state. We just don't know what to do with you to be honest. We keep rewinding your lives but the same things keep happening and you mess up your ages again."
"But it's your fault when that happens, isn't it?" Leo pointed out.
"Well…usually," she admitted slightly embarrassed before holding out the scepter. "But this time's the last time I'm sure! We'll do our best to make sure you guys don't do any time traveling in this life time, just think of it as a new incarnation! Or something…"
The turtles and their family tensed, ready to resist the change about to be forced upon them. Leonardo even bothered to pull out his katana when he felt a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention to his red masked brother.
"Just forget it, Leo," Raph growled. "Let her do whatever – she's got the bigger gun here."
"I have to agree with Raph, Leo," Don spoke up somewhat lazily as Renet began to work her magic.
"It was good cake, Bros, but let's just admit it," Mike sighed as they began to fade from existence yet again. "We're always going to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…"
A/N: This was in honor of the Ninja Turtles' 25th Anniversary. I don't know, just a funky idea that wouldn't leave me alone with the TV movie coming up and what not. Hope I wasn't the only one to enjoy it ;)