Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.
Summary:"You'd think on a night like this that all bets would be off. But no, even on Christmas Eve, Leo has us training. Too bad there's a chance we might not walk away from this one alive."
A/N: This is my Secret Santa gift for Ruith. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Sorry that your gift is little later than I intended but it's still within the timeframe at least. I hope you haven't been too worried and that you enjoy it.
Ruith's prompt was 'Mikey being "Ninja Santa" trying to sneak reindeer antlers or elf ears onto Raph,' and it could be pretty much any universe. Since I had read something vaguely along those lines on FFNet before, I thought about it and decided to turn it into a game with all four brothers playing. I had a lot of fun writing this. Thank you for the cool prompt! :-)
Batsu – penalty.
Secret Santa 2017
Turtle Games
"Aw man! I can't believe you're makin' us patrol tonight! It's Christmas Eve, Leo!" Raph complained, rolling his eyes as he voiced his annoyance.
"Yeah, Leo, have a heart!" Mikey chimed in with a drawn-out whine. While he was more than happy for the chance to get out of a stuffy lair for a while, that didn't mean he wanted to work. Not with everything they still needed to do for the next day. "We should be having fun and relaxing tonight."
"Dunno about fun an' relaxin'," Raph snorted derisively. "Some of us still have presents and stuff to wrap and didn't you say you have food to make?"
"That is fun!" Mikey objected loudly, earning a look from Leo who motioned for him to lower his voice. "I'd say you should join me but then we'd probably all be poisoned tomorrow. Who wants that for Christmas?"
Before the developing argument could escalate, Leonardo tsked and stared at his brothers sternly. "You guys should be done with all that by now. I had mine wrapped more than a week ago."
Donnie coughed lightly and looked aside; he still had plenty to do to prepare, himself.
"It's alright for some," Raph retorted snidely, "but some people are harder to shop for than others."
"Besides, half the fun is in the wrapping!" Mikey protested, staring at Leo as if his head had been replaced by a bright orange pumpkin. "Why would anyone want to do it days in advance?"
"To avoid the panic when you realise you forgot someone or ran out of paper?" Leo asked dryly.
"Pft! One time, bro!" Mikey scoffed indignantly.
"Actually," Donnie said softly with an amused smile as he looked pointedly at Mikey, "that would be the last three years running if you also include the time you couldn't find a gift you had stashed away in a 'safe place' for someone."
"No way, Donnie! You're blurring the years together!" Mikey scoffed, waving a hand dismissively.
"You're claimin' Don to be the one with the bad memory, bro?" Raph asked incredulously, joining Donnie and Leo in eyeballing Mikey in disbelief.
Mikey grinned disarmingly at his brothers, "Anyway," he deflected quickly, "point is, we should be having tonight off, Leo. We've all got things to do; presents to wrap, food to prepare, decorating to finish, games to play..."
"Actually, I thought we could play a game tonight," Leo cut in, looking at all three brothers but particularly Mikey. "Unless, of course, you guys aren't interested?"
"Not interested?" Mikey echoed, staring at Leo both intrigued and disturbed all at once. He shivered and not from the frigid night air.
"All right, who are you and what have you done with our brother Leonardo?" Donnie asked dryly.
"I really don't know what you are talking about, Donatello," Leo replied smoothly.
"Right!" Raph sneered sceptically. He folded his arms and stared at Leonardo.
"The Leo we know would never let us play while topside," Mikey frowned. He darted up to Leo and grabbed his cheeks, lightly pinching and pulling as if determined to reveal a rubber mask disguising someone else's true identity. Raph sniggered in the background at Leonardo's obvious discomfort and annoyance.
"Seriously, guys! We've played topside plenty of times before," Leo protested, knocking away Mikey's hands and stepping away from his brother's immediate reach. "What about that time we brought our wheels up during that blackout?"
"Over four years ago," Donnie pointed out matter-of-factly. "And there was no chance of being seen since there was a blackout."
Leo blinked as Raph smirked and Mikey chuckled.
"Told, bro!"
"Well, what about the time we had that water fight on the rooftops just before meeting Renet?"
"Three years ago," Donnie stated, studying his nails as if bored. "Would you like me to break it down into exact months and days? Including all the time spent time travelling?"
"No, no! I'll be fine," Leo quickly answered before continuing. "Ninja tag," he offered.
"Training exercise."
"Hide and seek."
"Also a training exercise. You wouldn't even let me use my infrared goggles."
"Yeah and if you don't let Donnie use his toys, that doesn't count as playing for him," Mikey laughed, slinging an arm around Donnie's shoulders companionably.
"They are not toys," Donnie rebuked mildly, shrugging his brother off.
"Sure they aren't, bro," Mikey teased playfully.
"Well, what about..." Leo paused as he wracked his brain for another example, "that race home you and I had, Raph."
"Doesn't count! That was just us tryin' to outdo each other. 'sides, I had to stop and find a safe place to lie low for hours," Raph pointed out. "Remember?"
"Face it, Leo, you don't let us 'play' up here unless it's some super boring training thing that only you think is fun," Mikey pointed out, pouting.
"Well then, if you guys don't want to play, we can always run a standard patrol instead," Leo replied, turning to look out over the city in the direction they normally ran when starting patrols from this area. "There's always plenty of crime in New York, even on Christmas Eve."
"No, wait!" Mikey cried quickly at the threat. "We'll play!"
Raph elbowed Mikey hard, muttering, "What the shell did you have to go an' agree for when we don't even know the stupid 'game' he's got in mind? It's probably somethin' nasty if it's got him actin' this manipulative!"
Mikey paled as he realised Raphael was right and tried to backtrack. "Eh heh..." he laughed nervously. "Maybe you should tell us about it before we decide anything, bro."
Leo's smile was shark-like. "You already agreed, Michelangelo." He walked a few metres away, bent down and picked something up from a dark corner. To Mikey's surprise, in Leo's forest-green hand was a pair of Reindeer antlers complete with eight medium-sized bells decorating them. "We'll play a game of tag. Whoever is 'it' has to wear these and their goal is to get it onto someone else's head."
"And the catch is?" Donnie asked, staring intently at Leo.
"Whoever is still wearing it at midnight gets to clean up after Christmas dinner tomorrow."
"You can't be serious, Leo! A batsu game on Christmas?" Raph scowled. He turned on Mikey, annoyed, "Thanks a bunch for agreein' to this for us, Shell-for-brains!"
"Leo! We've got like ten people coming around tomorrow and April and I are cooking everything!" Mikey protested, feeling sick at the thought of having to clean up as well. "I shouldn't even have to help with the clean-up after!"
Leo's smile widened. "Then I suggest you work very hard not to be caught with the antlers at midnight. By the way," he shook the antlers lightly. "The bells do work. You will have to employ all your ninja training and stealth not to be heard sneaking up on anybody."
"Damn trainin' exercise! I knew it!" Raph snorted in disgust. "I'm really rethinkin' that really cool gift I got you, Leo! I'm sure I can find a lump of coal from somewhere instead!"
Mikey moaned loudly and dropped to the ground on his knees, throwing his hands up melodramatically. "I knew it! Leo secretly hates us! He's trying to kill us off!"
"I think I'd prefer the standard patrol, Leo," Donnie said coolly, ignoring Mikey's theatrics in a way the others envied. "Any chance of just doing that instead?"
Leo shook his head. "Mikey already agreed to play," he said, causing Raph to glare at the brother in question again.
After a moment to think the options through, Donnie sighed and nodded, "Alright then, but you are 'it' to begin with Leo and we get a five-minute head start."
"Stay within a two-block radius of this building," Leo agreed, planting the antlers on his head and walking away soundlessly to face the wall of a nearby stairwell access.
Raph and Donnie shot glares at Mikey once more before taking off and Mikey stared forlornly after them before realising the countdown had started. Then he jumped up and raced off in another direction.
-:-
For the next hour and a half, Michelangelo used his speed and agility to stay well ahead of his brothers. There were several attempts on him from both Donatello and Raphael but they soon gave up in favour of slower, less evasive targets, namely, each other. Finally, Mikey saw the unthinkable happen as Donnie managed to sneak up on Leo, catching him unawares.
And yet, Leonardo was always aware, always alert.
A terrible shiver raced down Mikey's spine as he realised that Leonardo had for some reason just let himself be taken.
Mikey swallowed and stepped back behind a storage shed as Leo turned to scan the rooftops, ignoring Raphael who stuck out like a sore thumb and of course, Donatello. By their standard rules in these kinds of games, the one who was 'it' couldn't immediately turn on the one who tagged him; they automatically earned a minute's grace to get away.
He swallowed nervously. Leo obviously knew Mikey had yet to be caught and so was looking for him.
Mikey looked around quickly. He was safe as long as he wasn't caught. After a lifetime of training, all four of them were great at stealth but compared to his brothers... He knew if he ended up stuck with the antlers it would likely be him paying the penalty the next evening.
Leo couldn't possibly have seen him and yet he somehow seemed to know his general direction and was already heading this way. Mikey swallowed again and thought fast.
Stay within a two block radius, huh? Mikey smiled, barely managing to hold down a laugh of delight. He could manage that much easily!
-:-
Safe in the knowledge that he'd never be found, Mikey cheerily hummed 'Jingle Bells' as he played his Game Dude when, suddenly startled, he jumped, yelping frantically as something warm and furry slid silkily onto his head, causing him to hear the jangle of eight bells when he hit his head on the small pipe above.
"Ow!"
"I said to stay within a two block radius, Michelangelo," Leo admonished sternly from behind.
"I am within a two block radius!" Mikey whined, rubbing his head as he turned to look reproachfully at his brother.
"Above ground," Leo stated, reproving.
"You never specified that so the sewers totally counts," Mikey retorted instantly. "How did you find me anyway?"
"Besides the loud humming and electronic game giving you away?"
Mikey nodded.
"Big brother sense," Leo replied dryly, his mouth twitching at the corners with a mirth he tried to hide.
Mikey sighed despondently. "Cheater!"
"You cheated first," Leo pointed out.
Laughing, Mikey reluctantly admitted, "I guess technically I kinda did but like I said, bro, you never said we had to stay above ground so I was totally in my rights to hide down here."
Pinching the top of his beak, Leo fought back a tired sigh.
"Hey, Leo?" Mikey asked casually as he carefully put his Game Dude away. He looked up at his brother curiously.
"Yes, Mikey?"
Mikey darted toward Leo, bells jingling faintly with his rapid movement, "Time's up, bro!" he mocked, even as Leo easily sidestepped and swept his feet out from under him. Mikey quickly threw his hands down, springing instantly to his feet again as Leo tore up the nearby ladder to the surface above.
"Fine! Be that way, bro! I'll just have to tag Raphie instead!" Mikey called, grinning as he raced up after his erstwhile brother.
Within minutes, Mikey had scaled the nearby building once more. He peeped over the top, looking surreptitiously about and hoping his antlers of stigma weren't sticking out like a neon sign in the sewers. "Raphie!" he yelled, hooking an elbow through the ladder so he could cup his mouth as he called. He could almost feel Leo cringing at the volume from wherever his brother had disappeared to.
Mikey chuckled with delight when he heard a distant voice swear, "Stop callin' me that!"
Shifting his grip on the ladder, Mikey flipped up over it and onto the rooftop, immediately setting off in the direction of his brother, bells ringing faintly all the way. Raph really could be such an easy target sometimes and he always knew just which buttons to press to make him sloppy.
-:-
Raph felt the blood rush from his face as he realised he'd just unwittingly given his position away.
Donnie tossed him an amused look. "I guess Leo caught up with Mikey after all. You have no idea how thankful I am not to be his favourite victim," he chuckled. "Good luck, Raphie," he teased softly as he melted into the nearby shadows to slip away.
"Thanks, Don," Raph replied bitterly, glaring after him. He turned to follow Mikey's movement across the rooftops and was disturbed to find him vanished into the night. "Great," he grumbled, unhappy at letting Donnie distract him for those vital moments. Moments enough to ensure an easier target to track – Raph - while cementing his own getaway should the trickster suddenly decide to switch targets after all.
"Well, if you think I'm gonna let you lump me with the clean-up tomorrow, you got another think comin' Bonehead," Raph growled, looking all about and listening for any sign of his mischievous brother. Mikey was faster than any of them, sure, more unpredictable and had the capacity to be even sneakier than Leo should the mood strike him but thankfully, at times like this, he lacked focus. Add his disadvantage to Raph's superior strength and sheer stubbornness, along with the fact he was generally stealthier than Mikey in the first place and he should be okay. If only he could manage to stop rising to his brother's bait.
A faint half jingle of a single bell suddenly rang out from above. Giving in to his instincts, Raph dove to the side, rolling straight back to his feet and turning to face a broadly grinning Michelangelo.
"Gotta be quieter than that, bro!" Raph mocked, striking out with his right and then left fists and making Mikey jump back out of range.
"Don't need to be quiet with you, Raphie," Mikey teased back. "Just gotta be faster and that shouldn't be too hard bro!" He lunged forward.
Raph growled as he tried to predict which way Mikey would veer once he touched ground. In the blink of an eye, he saw how his brother held his body as he landed and blocked left as the other turtle bounced.
Mikey's eyes danced with merry laughter as his blow glanced off Raph's arm. "Nice one, Raphie. Guess you're finally learning to read me, huh?"
Raph felt cold as he realised in that moment that Mikey had let him see that. With such a penalty for being caught with the antlers at midnight, Michelangelo was for once fighting seriously, even if it didn't show in voice or actions. Raph then smirked, determined. Well, the knucklehead wasn't the only one. He wondered how long he'd have to hold out.
Subtly slowing his own movements just a little, Raph held his ground as the pair exchanged attacks, once, twice, thrice. Suddenly, as Mikey attacked from behind, Raph caught his arm in a vice-like grip, relishing in the now panicked look in his brother's eyes.
And threw him, hard, over his shoulder and into the rooftop where Mikey lay, stunned and unmoving.
"You okay, Mikey?" Raph asked cautiously, backing away a few steps; no way was he getting too close to that particular brother with so much at stake.
"Yeah..." Mikey finally groaned piteously. "I think you only... cracked my shell and half... the bones in my body with that throw," he ground out between clenched teeth as if breathing through pain.
Raph snorted derisively and stepped back further. "Drama queen! You goin' again or did you actually learn your lesson about attackin' and tryin' to take me?"
"Can't beat..." huff, "the Battle Nexus..." another huff, "Champion that easy," Mikey taunted, voice tight with effort. He worked his way slowly to his feet, wobbling slightly as he stared at Raphael.
"You two do realise this exercise is meant to be about stealth and strategy, right?" Leo stated dryly from some distance away. "It's not meant to be a head to head fight."
"You play it your way, Fearless, we'll play it ours," Raph sniffed, not daring to take his eyes off his tricky brother.
Mikey flicked his gaze over to Leo for a moment, smiling devilishly as he looked back at Raph, "You know who should be the one stuck with the antlers at midnight, right?" he asked surreptitiously as he watched Raphael.
"Yeah," Raph snorted, "but fat chance after he got that advanced trainin' with the Ancient One..."
"We could team up, you know, maybe convince Donnie to work with us?" Mikey suggested quietly with a mischievous glint spreading to his eyes.
"Never work! 'sides, I don't trust you not to turn on me with those things at the last moment!" Raph dismissed, motioning at the antlers of shame standing proudly atop Mikey's head.
Mikey's grin widened, confirming Raph's fears that his offer was just a trick to get close to him. "Too bad," Mikey mocked as he abruptly flew at Raph, all apparent injury forgotten.
"Hold!" Leo suddenly commanded, drawing his swords swiftly in a smooth motion as he whirled about to stare off into the shadows.
Mikey froze within striking distance of Raph and both turned to look where Leo did.
-:-
Suddenly serious with all thoughts of competition forgotten, Mikey glanced around to see Foot converging upon them from all sides. He instinctively moved closer to Raph so they could cover each other's shells more easily, pulling his 'chucks out and setting them awhirl as he did.
"Shell! Must be thirty of them at least!" Raph swore in annoyance. Sure, while he loved a good fight as much as his brothers, if not more, all he wanted was to get home safely without incident tonight. Damn Leo and his training 'games'!
"That means they were out looking for us," Mikey moaned as he watched them edging closer and closer. "They never come out in force like this unless they're actively hunting us!"
Raph grunted noncommittally and darted away to take on the closest of the approaching ninja.
Mikey sighed, knowing the conversation, such as it was, was over and stepped forward to meet the two ninja now rushing him. "You dudes are total killjoys, you know? It's Christmas! Don't you have like, families to get home to or something?"
There was no response, so ducking low beneath their first attacks, Mikey spun rapidly, one leg out in hopes of taking his assailants by surprise. He didn't but he hadn't really expected it to be so simple. Just as his leg reached the second of them, Mikey took the chance to spring up at the black-garbed ninja, leading knee aimed directly at his face. Startled by the sudden move, his foe ducked. Mikey grinned and caught the rapidly spinning sticks immediately prior to slamming both weapons down onto the ninja's head and leapfrogging over the collapsing human with a jubilant cry of joy.
His nunchakus were already spinning again as he landed and Mikey snapped one out, slamming the fast-moving weapon into the wrist of the next ninja who dared to take on the Battle Nexus Champion. Hearing a satisfying crunch of bone, Mikey kept moving; taunting, leaping, bouncing from foot to foot, position to position, never where anyone expected as he worked his way through the wave of attacking ninja, all while trying to stay close enough to Raph to help him should the need arise and vice versa, just as he knew Leo and Donnie were doing across the rooftop.
As the adrenaline flowed and the fight continued, Mikey soon lost track of time and his proximity to Raph. Suddenly, he became aware of them driving him towards the streetside edge of the building. Thinking fast, he turned and ran at the balustrade, gaining momentum. The wall was only a metre or so high but it was enough to step up and push off, somersaulting high over the heads of his murderous pursuers.
"Cowabun... GAH!"
His triumphant battle cry turned to terror as something thin yet spiky jagged his foot, tripping him up mid-jump and pulling him down with a painful thud into the concrete and brick below.
Stunned and seeing stars despite the overcast, winter's sky, Mikey couldn't move. He lay breathless with his head where his feet should be and his feet caught in the air, one foot tangled and jammed tightly against the top of the wall as Foot inexorably stalked him, blades held with lethal intent.
Mikey swallowed nervously as he tried to twist but he still couldn't move his feet and his shell was wedged between the wall and floor. "Ah," he gasped, "eh heh! You know, I didn't really mean that crack about Shredder and your mother, dude! Donnie keeps saying I have a form of verbal diarrhoea and that I can't control what comes out!" Mikey babbled desperately while surreptitiously reaching for a shuriken with his left hand. "I'm sure she's really a lovely woman who'd never fall for an evil alien squid monster! Shell! I bet she doesn't even like calamari!"
The three villainous ninja looked at each other and nodded. As one, they grabbed hold of Mikey cruelly, one at each arm and the third at his head.
"Wait! Mikey cried. They didn't even pause as they heaved him up to throw him over the wall. "Dude! You've got something in your leg!" Despite the painfully tight hold digging into his arm, Mikey managed to throw the shuriken across his body and into the ninja on his right.
It was a bad throw. Instead of sinking deep into the soldier's thigh like he'd intended, it merely nicked the man but it was enough to cause his grip to loosen. Taking the chance to rip his arm free, Mikey punched the groin of the head ninja as hard as he could. He yelped as his hand slammed into the hard plastic of the man's protection but the impact still caused the man to grunt and lose his hold and the third of his captors, unable to hold Mikey aloft alone, also dropped his burden.
Mikey twisted as he fell, managing to land shell down. Then grateful for all the inverted sit-ups he'd endured over the years, reached up for his trapped foot and froze, shocked.
Suddenly, two successive thumps sounded, followed by black-garbed bodies crumpling to the ground beside him and Mikey slowly turned.
"Focus on the damn fight, Shell-for-brains!" Raph snapped caustically.
Wide-eyed and heart pounding – in his shock he'd forgotten about the Foot that had nearly tossed him off the building – Mikey turned just in time to see his brother slam the hilt of a sai into the temple of the third ninja. "Tha... thanks, bro!" he breathed.
Raph gave a sharp nod and darted away, charging to meet two more ninja racing directly for them.
Shuddering over his close call, Mikey pulled another shuriken from his belt and cut through the wiring holding him captive. Then, finding his feet again, raced back into the fray.
-:-
"Is everyone alright?" Donnie asked in concern once the last Foot Soldier was finally down for the count.
Mikey couldn't help but notice his brother's gaze linger on him the longest. He smiled broadly, trying to dismiss any worry the others still held after what had happened. "I'm fine, bro. Ankle's a bit tender but it's nothing worth worrying about," he promised.
"Couple a nicks," Raph grunted dismissively. "Not even deep enough to need stitches. I'll slap a band-aid on 'em when we get home."
"Get Donnie to check them regardless," Leo commanded firmly, fixing his gaze on Raph. "Just in case of poison."
Raph pulled a face.
"You know the Foot have been known to stoop to such things on occasion," Leo reminded sternly, arms crossed as he stared Raph down.
"Yeah, I know," Raph sighed, "but I'd a felt it by now if that was the case."
Donnie nodded in agreement. "From past experience most likely but still, humour us, Raph. It'll make the rest of us feel better to be certain."
"Yeah, yeah," Raph agreed, waving a hand dismissively. "What about you an' Fearless?"
Donnie smiled and twirled his bo before slamming it home into the holster at the back of his shell. "They didn't even get near me."
"Nor me," Leo added, looking around at the littered bodies everywhere.
"Show off!" Raph grunted good-naturedly as Mikey grinned.
Suddenly fixating on something, Leonardo stalked away.
"Aww, come on, Leo, let's just go home. It's been a really long night," Mikey groaned piteously. "I've still got food to get ready so I can just throw it in the oven in the morning."
"That sounds good to me," Donnie agreed, "and the sooner I can check Raph over, the better I'll feel."
"Alright," Leo conceded as he walked back up to them, hands by his side and holding something.
As one, the four brothers began heading for the nearest manhole when suddenly, Leo spoke up again nonchalantly. "Oh and Michelangelo?"
"Yeah, dude?"
"I think you lost something."
Mikey's heart sank as Leo held out the now bent and half crushed reindeer antlers. "Figures that you couldn't just forget about it," Mikey muttered as he reached out to take them, placing them gingerly on his head once more.
-:-
Mikey trudged wearily through the sewers behind his brothers, the bells jangling softly with every heavy step. He sighed tiredly, imagining how exhausted he'd be the next day after both cooking and cleaning and glanced down at the time on his Shell-cell miserably. All that on top of a late night out fighting evil ninja, wrapping the last of the presents, mixing cookie dough, stuffing the turkey, cooking the sponges and setting jellies to make trifle with.
"So what exactly happened to you up there tonight, Mikey?"
"Huh?" Mikey whipped his head up, looking at Leo in surprise.
"The bonehead somehow got his feet caught in Christmas lights," Raph guffawed raucously. He practically doubled over as he remembered the sight of Mikey staring at the string of lighting in sheer disbelief.
Leo and Donnie stopped to stare back at him, incredulous.
"Seriously?" Donnie asked, eyes wide and fighting a small smile of amusement.
"They weren't turned on so I didn't see them," Mikey retorted defensively.
"But... Christmas lights?" Leo couldn't help but laugh.
Mikey scowled. It was too late and he was too tired for this right now. "Hey! Don't call the kettle black, dude! I got photos of you caught up in strings of Christmas lights last year, remember? They're tougher than they look and not so easy to break free from, you know!"
Leo baulked at the memory but still added, "That's a completely different story. That was at home safe in the lair, not topside while in a fight for our lives. You really need to start focusing more, Michelangelo. Especially in battle situations."
"Yes mother," Mikey sighed miserably, turning away. At least Donnie had tried not to laugh, unlike Leo who took the chance to rub salt into the wound.
Raph grinned and threw an arm around Leo's shoulder as he began describing the scene in minute detail, proving just how much he'd really noticed at the time.
"Is that how you injured your ankle? Donnie asked softly as he fell into step beside Mikey.
Mikey nodded. "Yeah, it kinda cut in... oh! Not literally cut!" he added quickly, realising how that sounded from Donnie's sudden attention. "It was just really tight and the bulb covers were pointy and trapped me. I had to cut myself free."
"I see," Donnie murmured as he tried to peer down at Mikey's ankle in the gloom.
Mikey glanced ahead as a louder burst of laughter rang out from his brothers in red and blue. He glanced at his phone again as a mischievous smile split his lips.
"Hey, Don?"
"Mmm?"
"Mind if I use your printer tonight? I still need to print out the Christmas cards and I have the perfect photo in mind!" Mikey explained, a hint of laughter in his voice.
"Uh... sure," Donnie replied, head askance as he stared at him curiously.
"And as for Raphie..." Mikey murmured. Abruptly, he ran forward, not a jingle, nor a jangle and leapt, flipping through the air and over Raph's head to land neatly in front of him. Raph and Leo both stopped short in surprise, cold shivers racing down their spines at the impish grin lighting Mikey's face.
Mikey held up his phone, the time eleven fifty-nine showing clearly in the dim lighting of the sewers.
"I've got a minute's grace," he reminded Raph obnoxiously.
Raph's jaw dropped and his hands rose to his head, feeling the antlers now firmly in place. Leo quickly stepped out of immediate reach of Raph.
"No!" Raph spat. "Game's over, remember? We stopped playin' when the Foot attacked us!"
Mikey nodded, grinning gleefully. "It was just on hold. We never actually said it was over, dude!"
"It was a freakin' given! All games stop when we're attacked! You know that!" Raph exploded furiously. "Tell 'im, Leo!" he demanded, whirling to face him.
Leo opened his mouth to agree but Mikey cut him off.
"We finished the Foot off ages before midnight, bro and no one officially declared game over so... since the rules said 'last one wearing it at midnight' and it's midnight now and you're the one wearing them..."
"No way, Mikey! You changed the time on your Shell-cell!" Raph accused angrily. "We all know how much of a trickster you are!"
"Actually," Donnie spoke up calmly as he joined the rest of them, "Mikey didn't change anything. Check my phone if you don't believe me or even your own." He held up his own Shell-cell where both Raph and Leo could see.
Leo smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry Raph, it looks like you lost this one after all." Then, as Raph sighed, finally accepting his defeat without further argument, Leo turned to Mikey in surprise. "If I hadn't seen that with my own eyes, I never would have believed it. How did you manage to sneak up on us without a sound like that?"
"I'm capable!" Mikey sniffed indignantly, affronted by the very idea that he couldn't be quiet when he absolutely needed to. At the disbelieving looks from his brothers, he quickly added, "How do you think I pull off all those pranks?" he asked gleefully. Then he opened the door and trounced inside, chuckling as he heard his brothers behind him.
"Figures... can only do it when he gains something out of it..."
-:-
The moment Raphael had been dreading had arrived. After bidding farewell to the last of their guests, he plodded miserably into the kitchen and stared around at the mess left after Christmas dinner. He sighed despondently and headed to the sink to start filling it when he heard light footsteps approach from behind.
"Come to gloat, have you Mikey?" he asked acidly without turning.
"Aw, don't be like that, bro," Mikey wheedled. "Fair's fair."
"Why the shell shouldn't I?" Raph whirled about angrily. "You cheated and you know it!"
"No, I didn't. I played by the rules! Even Leo said so," Mikey replied, coming into the kitchen further and walking to the drawers as he defended himself. He crouched down to pull out the Gladwrap before going to the bench and beginning to cover up the leftovers.
"Well, if you ain't here to gloat, why are you here?" Raph asked through clenched teeth. Last thing he needed was Mikey close by and rubbing him the wrong way right now. Honestly, he'd been fine most of the day, enjoyed himself even, until people had begun to go home and he remembered what he was in for. Seeing Mikey now only rankled at his nerves.
"To help with cleaning up, of course," Mikey answered, canting his head as he paused in what he was doing to look at Raph.
"What?"
"No one should have to deal with all this alone," Mikey replied, cringing as he glanced around the room at the mess.
Raph's jaw dropped and he felt a warmth rise in his chest. "Really? You ain't just yankin' my shell?"
"That penalty was totally unfair and besides, I don't need you destroying my kitchen trying to clean it," Mikey explained with a chuckle. "Come on, the sooner we get started, the sooner we'll finish and I've got serious gaming to get to after this."
"Thanks, bro," Raph said sincerely. He turned back to the sink to find it about to overflow and hurriedly turned off the taps. "Shell!"
Mikey laughed as he continued packing away the leftovers when another set of footsteps approached from behind.
Raph looked around, expecting to see Donnie and started with surprise when he saw Leo with him, smiling self-consciously. Raph narrowed his gaze.
"We came to help," Donnie offered calmly. "What do you want us to do?"
Raph turned disbelieving eyes on Leo, who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.
"I always intended to come help whoever lost," Leo admitted with a shrug. "It's too much for just one of us to deal with."
"Then why use the clean-up as a penalty?" Mikey asked in surprise, exchanging a shocked look with Raph.
"To make sure you all put in your best effort last night," Leo admitted with a small, sheepish smile. "Forgive me?"
"Would ya do it again?" Raph countered menacingly.
"Shell yes!" Leo chuckled immediately.
"Then bite me!" Raph grinned.
"Hey, it got Mikey to actually try," Leo explained dryly.
"True."
"Hey!"
"So what do you want us to do?" Donnie asked again when they finally stopped laughing.
Raph gave his brothers jobs, only to stare as Mikey turned and ran out the room. "Hey! Where do ya think you're goin', Shell-for-brains?"
"Be right back!" Mikey yelled back, completely ignoring the question.
A short time later, he was back and standing, grinning mischievously in front of Raph with his hands behind his shell.
"You forgot something, bro," Mikey laughed, suddenly reaching forward and placing the bent and damaged antlers on a bemused Raph's head before he could blink. "Merry Christmas!"
There was a sudden flash and Raph blinked, noticing the camera in Mikey's hands aimed at him.
"For next year's Christmas card!" Mikey cackled, fiddling with the camera happily as Raph stood there shell-shocked. He stepped towards Donnie, holding it out to show him. "Perfect! Right?"
"Not bad," Donnie admitted thoughtfully after a moment.
Coming to life again, Raph grit his teeth and lunged. "Give me that!" he growled.
"Not a chance!" Mikey laughed obnoxiously as he sidestepped. Then he took off, Raph close on his heels as he screamed and continued laughing.
Donnie and Leo could only stare after them as they tore off out the kitchen.
"Five minutes?" Leo asked in resignation after a few moments.
"I'd give him ten but it really doesn't matter," Donnie chuckled. "That camera has wi-fi and Mikey's already uploaded the photo to his cloud."
Leo gawked at him. "What?"
"How do you think he still had that shot of you tangled in the decorations from last year, despite you taking the camera from him and deleting it once you caught him?"
"I had wondered," Leo admitted dryly.
"It'll definitely make a great addition to the collection."
-:-
Owari
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and New Year!