Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Senseless Repairs

Eeep! Help!

Donatello sat happily at his workstation, tinkering away at a new project. It was an unusually peaceful evening. Their afternoon practice had ended early as Splinter's soap of choice was airing a special two hour long episode. And even with the soft voices emanating from the TVs in the background, Donnie found solace in the quiet, relaxed environment. Best of all, his brothers were also preserving this silence. Raphael was carefully cleaning some of their weapons, while Michelangelo sat on the couch next to Master Splinter reading comics. He assumed Leonardo was meditating somewhere. Nothing could disturb him in this blissful time. Or so he thought…

A less than masculine scream erupted from the kitchen, one Don would normally have attributed to Mikey, only to be proven wrong as Leonardo came running out of the kitchen in a flurry, arms waving wildly like Kermit the Frog.

"Eeep! Help! What do I do?" Leo shouted to no one in particular as he pranced around from foot to foot.

Donatello shared a brief look with his other brothers, and they ran back into the kitchen. The purple-clad turtle's eyes widened considerably beneath his mask in astonishment. What the shell?

A small fire, sparking and sending black debris scattering across the kitchen, had erupted in the microwave. No, not the microwave. The same microwave Donatello had just fixed two weeks ago! Beside him, he heard his brothers begin to cough, and he felt his own throat prickling from the irritants in the air.

"What do we do?" asked Mikey fearfully, glancing back at a panicky Leo.

"Uh…" Raph began, breaking into a cough.

Don rolled his eyes and shoved past his frozen brothers to get near the entryway to the kitchen. Plucking the fire extinguisher from the wall, he hoisted it up, released the clamp, and sprayed the flames until they sputtered into lifeless ash. Exasperated at his brothers' stupidity, he laid the fire extinguisher on the floor and turned to address them.

"Guys, remember those safety plans I make us run through once a month?" Donnie prompted and waited for their nods. "Try applying that knowledge!"

Turning his attention to their leader, he rubbed his temples and asked, "Leo, what did you do?"

"I was microwaving leftover Chinese takeout," Leonardo said matter-of-factly.

"Okay, but what caused the fire?"

"Uh…?" was all the blue-clad turtle could manage. "Uh" was clearly a favorite word choice of his brothers today.

Slapping his forehead, Donatello moved to examine the charred remains in the microwave. Upon investigation, he discovered the cause of the problem.

"You covered the plate in tin foil?" Don yelled in disbelief.

His siblings shared confused glances, Leo began to shrug a "Yeah, so what?" response, but decided to refrain from doing so once seeing his brainy little brother's fierce glare.

"Um, yes?"

Releasing a sigh of frustration, Donatello unplugged the blackened microwave, lifted it, and moved to leave the kitchen. Looking pointedly at Leonardo, their own Fearless Leader, he questioned, "How is it you can face the Foot Elite, Hun, and the Shredder, but you decide to run away from a small kitchen fire? And then, you fail to realize how you started it in the first place! Unbelievable!"

Turning away from a stunned Leo, he addressed Mike and Raph. "And you two, will be helping him clean up this mess while I see if the poor, defenseless microwave is salvageable."

"Yes, Donnie," came the dutiful responses. As he left he heard Leo whisper to the others, "It's not my fault! You guys know how I do with kitchen appliances. They're evil — remember the toaster?"

Shaking his head, Donatello wondered if he really was gifted, or he was just smarter than his brothers.