Mikey and Angela walked into the principal's office, and Angela looked sternly at her sons.
"Mr. and Mrs. Hamato, I presume?"
Angela nodded at the elderly principal, glaring lightly at her sons.
"What have my boys done now?"
Angela hit Mikey over the head before he could congratulate his sons.
"They nearly set fire to one of the school buildings."
"…What?"
She glared at the boys.
"We saw them with burning sticks near a wall covered in posters, and we went to find their cousin trying to stop them."
'Good ol' Ruby…'
"The posters were for the Talent Show we're having in a couple weeks."
"None of them ever told US about that…"
She glared at them, and Mikey groaned.
"YOU KNEW?!"
"No!! Of course not!!"
She glared.
"…Okay, I did…but I don't WANNA go!!!"
Angela sighed.
"What can the boys do to make up for any damage?"
"They could help with things backstage. They'll need to come in every day after school."
"Of course!"
"BUT-!!!"
"I'll have none of that! You nearly burn something down, you pay the consequences!!"
The boys shut their mouths, and Angela turned to the principal.
"If there's anything my husband or brother-in-laws could do to help…"
"It's greatly appreciated, Mrs. Hamato."
"BUT-!!!!"
"Mikey."
She had that 'Do you WANT to sleep on the couch?' tone, and he shut his mouth.
"I'll tell them, and we'll come after school tomorrow."
After the goodbyes, they left, three of the four moping, and headed home.
"You can't make the others do it…"
"Amber."
"Well…you can't make Raph do it!" Mikey retorted desperately.
"Sapphire."
"…You're evil…"
"Only when our sons lie and/or try to burn down their school…"
Mikey pouted, and they were soon walking in the lair. Angela met up with the woman and went to talk in private, as Mikey told his brother's their fate.
"…I'm not doing that…"
"…She's evil…She'll find a way…"
The kids were on the couch, enjoying a good kung fu movie with Splinter, when Leo stood behind Ruby. Ruby looked up at him innocently.
"Yeah, dad?"
"You guys never told us about a Talent Show…"
Surprise flashed in her dark eyes, being replaced by guilt.
"We knew if you knew, then you'd make us enter, and we don't want to…"
"Well, if THAT'S all…"
She looked at him hopefully, along with her sister and cousins.
"You're ALL going to participate."
They all groaned, and Gem looked at him with the puppy-dog eyes, a trick she'd always performed best.
"B-But I don't HAVE a talent, daddy…and I wanted to tell you…"
He seemed to crack, saying, "Well…if you don't really have a talent, I suppose you don't have to…"
Alice and Cathy smiled, high-fiving each other, as Gem smiled and Anna returned her eyes to her homework, smiling softly. Rose growled, nearly breaking the pencil she was holding as she tried to do her homework, Anna beside her, probably helping her cousin out.
"WHY?" Ruby whined.
"Since when do YOU whine?" Don questioned.
"When my father's going to make me sing in front of my whole SCHOOL!!"
"I'd BETTER not be going onto that stage and dancing!!" Rose threatened, looking murderous.
"Well, you ARE!!" Raph countered.
"No I'm not!!"
"Yes you are!!"
"NO I'M NOT!!"
"YES YOU ARE!!"
"I AM NOT!!!"
"CAN YOU TWO STOP?!"
They both turned to look at Sapphire, who seemed pissed.
"If I hear you two shout ONE MORE TIME…"
Raph pointed childishly.
"She started it!!!"
"YOU started it!!"
"I DON'T CARE WHO STARTED IT!!!"
Both father and daughter stared at her in fear, and Sapphire rubbed her temples.
"Rose, you're going to this stupid Talent Show thing…"
"BUT-!"
Sapphire's glare cut her daughter off, and then turned to Raph.
"And you WILL help out!"
"Bu-!"
He stopped, thinking better of it, and nodded.
"Good, now I'll go meditate. Come on, Crystal."
Her daughter followed her, and they both left.
"Stupid Talent Show…stupid posters…stupid school…" Rose muttered, looking miffed.
"We'll have to deal with it…" Ruby answered, still looking unhappy.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TWO TRIED TO BURN DOWN A SCHOOL BUILDING!!!" Amber's voice echoed through the halls as she yelled at Michael and John.
"They're dead…" Alice stated, looking back at the magazine she was sharing with Cathy.
Mikey sat down, asking, "How'd we end up being ruled by them?"
"They are more mature and wise, as well as responsible…this place would fall apart without them…"
"…We were fine before…"
"There was still Amber, and she held you four together…and I was more active…"
Leo nodded at Splinter's response.
"She HAS helped us out…"
"Dad…"
Don looked to his daughter.
"Can you check my homework?"
He nodded, looking it over.
"They're all right…good job, sweetheart…"
She smiled, putting it away as the movie ended. Rose went to the bedroom, putting her stuff on her unmade bed before starting her homework. Ruby just went to the dojo, starting to practice her katas, katana flashing in the light.
"You REALLY don't want to do it, do you?"
She stopped, glancing at her father.
"Yes…"
"Why not? You know you have a great singing voice…"
"I just don't want to…"
She went back to her katas, but Leo moved in front of her, taking the swords out of her hands.
"Ruby…"
"I just can't!"
He sighed, putting the swords down before hugging his daughter.
"Why can't you?"
She buried her face in his neck, mumbling something.
"What was that, hun?"
She looked up enough to show her eyes, mumbling something louder.
"I still can't understand…"
"I'm scared!!"
He blinked.
"Scared of what?"
"…I just…I don't like being seen like that…in front of so many people…and I can't hide…"
"Hun…you don't need to hide…"
"Then why do you always tell us to?"
'It's finally come to bite me in the ass…'
"Because that's when we're looking for people who are evil…but no one at your school is like that, so it's okay…"
"…Okay…"
He smiled.
"Good, now try to calm Rose down. She might bite someone's head off."
Ruby nodded, smiling, and hugged him tight before going to find her cousin.
'NOW we just have to worry about that Talent Show…'
Leo sighed before picking up the twin katana, sheathing them.
'She's more like me than I'd like…If only she'd see how beautiful she is…inside and out…'