It's Halloween, Bro's!" Mikey made an attempt at a werewolf like howl to emphasize his point.
"Actually, Mikey, it's October 27th, Halloween isn't for another four days." Donnie didn't look up from what he was doing, but he could tell that his brother was glaring at him. "Sorry."
"Guys! Look at this!" April ran in holding a newspaper article and slammed it down on the table. Casey was right behind her. The article was about Halloween, with a few pictures from different time periods.
Leonardo picked it up and skimmed the paper. "This is a little interesting April, but why is it so important?"
Mikey grabbed the paper. "It's important because vampires and zombies are going to kill us! They're everywhere now that it is Halloween. The person right next to you could be a vampire and you might never know it." He glanced to his right at Casey who grinned revealing plastic vampire teeth in his mouth. Mikey screamed and hid behind Raph.
"Wow." Raphael shoved him forward and onto Casey who already took the teeth out.
Picking the paper up from the floor, April pointed to the most recent picture. In the background, barely visible was a Kraang holding a glowing red vile. "That is what is so important." She pointed to the date the picture was taken. Yesterday.
Leo sighed. "Alright. We had better go check it out." He glanced at the TV one more time before turning off the show he was watching.
Inside the layer the four turtles, plus Casey and April, sat in the rafters and out of sight. There was a large tub of the same red liquid.
"What is it?" Mikey whispered.
"Shut up, they'll hear you." Raphael hit him in the back of the head causing him to lean forward and kick dirt off of the rafter and onto the floor below. Four Kraang glanced up at them.
"Nice going Raph." Leo said sarcastically, jumping down, the others following. "Destroy the … red stuff… and get out. Go!"
Even though they were outnumbered almost two to one, the fight seemed to be going in the turtles favor. But as soon as someone got close to the red liquid, they were hit with or blasted with something.
Donatello found a control panel close to the tub and began to hit levers and buttons randomly. When the Kraang saw that, they turned all their attention to him. "Guys!" He said, ducking under a blast. "Keep them dis…" He threw a Kraang to the side with his Bo staff. "Distract them for a minute!"
"Will do, D." Mickey jumped on the shoulders of the nearest Kraang and began hitting the head. But it threw him to the side and right into Raph, knocking one of his Sai's across the room. "Mikey!"
"Sorry."
He almost grabbed it back but was thrown against the giant tub. It rocked sideways knocking a good three gallons on him. Raph began yelling and freaking out, trying to wipe it off. "Get it off me! Get it off me! It burns!"
"Hold on Raph!" Mikey grabbed a bucket of water from who-knows-where and dumped it on Raphael. It washed some off but not all of it.
"Guys, I got it. Run!" Donnie pressed a red button and took off for the door. The others followed suit, with Casey and Mikey dragging Raph. Behind them there was an explosion and a lot of Kraang yelling.
It was night time so they could walk down the street without terrifying people, plus this close to Halloween, no one gave them a second thought. After about a block, Raph's quiet complaining turned into whimpering. In the streetlight, Casey noticed that the red stuff was still all over his skin. "Guys, we need to wash this off of him, you can actually see it burning."
"Alright." Leo pointed to a hose nozzle and Donnie turned it on, washing the liquid without touching it. In minutes they had the red off and were almost home.
Raph was laid down on his bed and they left him alone, shutting the door behind. When he came to, Raph would not be in a good mood, especially towards Mikey. Best to avoid any conflict.
"Pleeeeaaaase Donnie. You could be the Grimm Reaper! It'll be so cool! Leo said he'll do it, and April will help with costumes. I'm gonna be a pizza delivery guy and Leo will be the eye patch dude from Avengers!" Mikey wanted to go trick or treating, but Master Splinter said he could only go if they all went.
"Alright. I'll do it. And his name is Nick Fury."
"Whatever." Mikey sat down beside April who was looking up costumes. He wanted to paint Donnie's face white, but April thought black. Their budget was thirty dollars for everyone so the costumes had to be pretty simple. Donnie would use his Bo Staff as a scythe.
Donatello set down his work and joined them on the couch. "You know, Mikey, You still need Raph to agree to this." Michelangelo's face fell and he glanced back toward their rooms.
"Oh yea."
Closing the Laptop, April put her hand on Mikey's shoulder. "It's okay. We can convince him. He's not that bad." She handed Donnie a black Grimm Reaper robe that they already bought, knowing he would give in. He was putting that on when Leonardo came out of his room, then tripped on the steps, landing on his face.
"Ouch." Leo was wearing the eye patch that April gave him. She helped him and took the eye patch off, setting it with her costume stuff. A door down the hall slammed shut and everyone froze. Raph was awake.
There was nothing on the computer, but all four of them crowded around it and acted completely interested. Raph was standing right behind them staring at it too, not saying a word. Someone had to acknowledge him. Leo was the only one to turn around. "Uh, hey Ra… whoa." Everyone cringed.
"Hey guys, what are you looking at? Halloween stuff?" He didn't sound mad. Slowly they all turned around. Raphael looked fine, no cuts or burns at all No evidence of the fight whatsoever. He jumped over the back of the couch and sat down with them.
April opened the closed tab but let Mikey answer. "Yea. We're going trick or treating, will you go with us?" He quickly added, "you don't have to dress up."
"Yea. I'll go! Do you have a costume idea for me?" They all glanced nervously at each other.
"I think that red stuff affected his brain." Mikey whispered.
Raph hit him in the back of the head again. "Shut up."
"Never mind."
Donnie got up and went to his lab. There was a loud crashing and he came back a minute later. "Raph, would you let me get a sample from where the red liquid hit you skin?" Raph shrugged and Donnie retreated to the safety of his lab, but the others had to face Raphael, just waiting for him to lose it.
April loaded a picture of Wolverine, from The X Men. "Raph, we were hoping you could be him? You could even use your Sai's for claws." Grabbing the laptop he flipped through different pictures before grinning.
"Yea. I can do that." He handed the laptop back.
Their victory was short lived though when Donnie's lab door flew open. "Leo, I need to talk to you!" Everyone looked worried except for Raph. Who was now holding his Sais like claws and poking Mikey with them.
"What's up, Donnie? Everything okay with Raph? He seems alright." Donnie was typing something into the computer and ignoring Leo. He bumped an empty glass bottle while reaching for a paper. The bottle shattered on the floor, but he didn't even glance at it. "Donnie?"
"There is something wrong with Raph. I can't exactly pinpoint what. Look at this." He slid the computer over toward Leonardo. The screen flashed a bunch of charts and numbers that made no sense to the team's leader. Donnie was looking at him like he had answers. But Leo's expression was blank. "Look, the red stuff is reacting with his system sort of like, a virus or an allergic reaction."
"Two different things, D. Just explain what you found out." There was a crashing outside the lab and April was yelling something. Then more crashing. Then Master Splinter was yelling something. "Hide!" Leo stood and turned off the lights, the boys sat in the corner with the laptop.
"Okay, what it looks like is some sort of failed super serum stuff. Like improved strength, agility, even intelligence. But with a lot of side effects. That's sort of vague, I know, but it's all I can say for right now. Should we tell Raph?"
It was quiet outside now. "No. We'll tell Sensei first, see what he thinks." Donnie closed the laptop, Leo opened the door a crack, and they both peered out. April and Raph were sitting on the couch looking at the laptop. Splinter was in his room again. "Uh, hey guys. Where is Mikey?"
Neither of them turned around but Raph answered him. "Getting pizza." Donatello grabbed Leo's arm and pointed towards Splinters room. They both turned around quietly and backed into his room, shutting the door.
"Leonardo, Donatello, what are you doing?" He was sitting down, meditating, but looked rather worried.
"Sensei, what happened out there, minutes ago?" Leo sat across from Splinter and motioned for Donnie to do the same. "Did something happen with Raph?"