Author's Note: Whoo, building up to the big showdown! Hang in there with me, guys.
Japan, September 2012
He'd rushed all the way from New York City – gotten away as soon as it was feasible without arousing suspicion from Master Shredder – and nearly given himself a heart attack the entire trip halfway across the world.
But now, as Tigerclaw stood at the door to his home, he hesitated.
At last, he entered the home and left the late afternoon sun behind him, closing the front door and nodding to the housekeeper who passed him. When he was certain all indications of panic were gone from his features, Tigerclaw climbed the stairs towards Emily's bedroom. He heard her soft voice before he saw her.
"… 'the little green worm? said Mother Bear'," she read aloud from her bed, as Tigerclaw moved to the open doorway. "'Little Bear laughed. No, he said, it is Emily. Emily and I are friends.'"
The real Emily laughed and looked back to her upraised knees, and as Tigerclaw entered the room, he saw movement there. It was then that she noticed him, and her smile grew. "Tora," she said, beckoning him forward. He entered cautiously, rounding the edge of the bed as Emily set the book aside and pulled a swaddle of blankets into her arms.
"Look, Tora. Here he is," she murmured, shifting it into view, her features pink and happy. "Your perfectly healthy son."
Tigerclaw glanced at her just long enough to know that she was being a bit smug, but he saved the effort of rolling his eyes and instead sat on the edge of the bed, his movements slowed with wonder. The image in front of him was surreal.
The infant she held was small, with plump, pale cheeks and squirming limbs. Dark hair, and when his eyes opened, startling cat-like pupils.
Tigerclaw leaned back in surprise, looking quickly to Emily. She laughed softly. "Amazing, isn't he?" she asked, bringing up a hand to brush back a tuft of jet black hair from the infant's face. "Looks more like you than he does me, for certain." The baby mewled and swatted with gloved fists at his face before settling into his deep slumber, unconcerned about Tigerclaw's arrival.
Tigerclaw, on the other hand, could scarcely look away.
He hadn't spoken a single word since entering, but the disbelief finally faded and he regained the power of speech once more. "Is he… well? Does he – " Tigerclaw didn't really know what babies did or didn't do, so he didn't know what to ask, but Emily seemed to understand, as she so often did.
"He eats and sleeps well," she said tenderly, stroking the infant's cheek. "And he was a good weight at birth." She made a face. "He certainly took his time, though. I was in labor for hours and hours."
Tigerclaw glanced over at her. "Were you alone?" he asked, with only the slightest hint of concern in his tone. Emily picked up on it easily and she gave him a small smile.
"No, I wasn't alone. The midwife was here, and Akiko and Jun. They were all very kind and sweet."
The pair looked back to the infant. "But since you weren't here," Emily went on, "and – ahem, did not even believe he would survive birth – " she eyed him, and this time, Tigerclaw did roll his eyes. "You lost your naming privileges."
"Dare I even ask what you named him?"
"You should be happy! I gave him a Japanese name." She looked back to the infant. "His name is Tanaka."
Tigerclaw briefly closed his eyes, and the rare effort to suppress a smile actually made him grimace. "What?" Emily asked, giving him a glare. "That's a perfectly good name, isn't it?"
Tigerclaw raised a brow at her. "Tanaka is a family name, not a first name," he said, his normally grave features a bit amused. The woman next to him huffed.
"No, that can't be right,I read – there was this author, and I know it said – " she stopped, then slapped a hand over her face. "Oh, no. The names are reversed. I forgot!" Tigerclaw shook his head at her, and then raised a hand, which he dropped to her shoulder and let brush into her hair.
"Tanaka will work fine," he reassured her, and Emily pouted for a moment before she looked down to the baby and smiled.
"Tanaka. See? I told you it would all work out, didn't I, little one?" she brushed back his hair again. "My handsome little boy." She leaned forward and kissed his head, before relaxing against Tigerclaw's shoulder. He looked to her thoughtfully before shifting his gaze back to the infant, whose little hands were wrapped up in some kind of gloves. To prevent him from scratching himself, Emily explained later.
It looked so unexpectedly normal. And yet, the signs of mutation were there.
The eyes, for one, were a bright, almost neon green, pupils narrow and sinister like a cat's. The faint appearance of stripes. The sharp little claws. Even his hair looked like Tora's had, many, many years ago, before the Kraang had taken him. Emily was right, Tanaka didn't look very much like her.
But he was her, Tigerclaw knew in that moment. Much more than he was like him. And that, he decided as Emily picked up the book and began to read once more, was a very good thing.
Hun's operations hadn't changed much over the years.
He'd made an effort to elude Tigerclaw after the incident in the tunnels, but his gang activities meant he was still forced to maintain some sort of presence, a schedule of enforcement.
And soon, he'd be here, thought Tigerclaw. His claws curled tightly over the top of the gun at his hip. That sorry bastard. Tigerclaw had warned him what would happen if he betrayed him. And tonight, Tigerclaw was getting answers. Tanaka sat patiently at his side, the stillest he'd ever been. He knew how to be invisible when it counted. It was something he had been trained to do from a very young age.
Some distance away, another group waited.
"Why are we watching them?" whispered Dani. "Tigerclaw told us not to follow them."
Roman, at the head of the group, stared hard at the perch where he knew Tigerclaw and Tanaka were hiding, high above a set of warehouses. They, too, were crouched in the shadows, weapons at the ready.
"Because I don't trust Tigerclaw," Roman said firmly. "I want see what he does."
As it turned out, they didn't have to wait long. Purple Dragons began to flood into the area, and before long, Hun himself rode up in a vehicle with blacked out windows. He got out, flanked by men on both sides, and entered the warehouse. From their hidden spot, Roman and the others saw the barest hint of movement. Tigerclaw and Tanaka were moving in.
"Come on," Roman gestured to the four other teens, and they followed dutifully until they reached the warehouse. He led them up and above, climbing to the high rafters so they could peer down at the dimly lit open room, stacked high with crates and other junk.
Down below, Hun handed off some money to one of the other men, giving him strict orders on what to do with it. Other men paced the area, guns in hand. For nearly twenty minutes, nothing happened, and Roman secretly considered that maybe Tigerclaw and Tanaka didn't plan to reveal themselves to Hun after all. Maybe they really just wanted information.
BOOM.
One large explosion was quickly followed by nearly ten smaller ones, following the line of the buildings so that each of the armed men pacing the perimeter were blasted off their feet, sometimes landing in a dozen different spots.
Roman's eyes widened. At his side, Mira and the others flinched, including Luka, who looked away from the sight. A vile curse entered Roman's mind. God damn it, Tigerclaw.
It was then that the other two mutants rushed in – all methods of stealth, skill and ease employed, with no inefficient movements or wasted ammunition. It truly was a marvel, watching them move together as effortlessly as can be imagined. Tigerclaw dropped down and shot three gang members in quick succession, with Tanaka falling right behind him, rolling to the left and disarming two more, snatching their arms when they went to strike at him and cracking the limbs behind the men's torsos before they collapsed to the floor.
Hun barely wasted a moment on surprise before he turned to flee, gun in hand, but Tigerclaw and Tanaka moved through his men like a knife through butter. Tanaka ducked beneath one gunshot, rolled up to the man and shot him in the stomach, which left such a clear and vivid hole in the other man's torso that even Roman felt the need to look away.
Hun tried to escape, but while Tanaka dispatched the last of the Purple Dragons, Tigerclaw leaped forward with a growl and tackled him to the ground, one large hand jumping to Hun's throat and pinning him there.
On the roof, Roman scowled. "Stay here," he told the others, and when Mira opened her mouth to protest, he shot a meaningful look at Luka's horrified face. "Stay. Here." Mira sighed heavily but nodded.
"Be careful," she told him lowly. Roman nodded and moved through the opening in the roof, dropping down a platform and a pile of crates.
Unfortunately, Hun's oxygen was waning under the weight of Tigerclaw's grip. He coughed and sputtered, but when he looked up at Tigerclaw, his expression was only dark amusement. "Go ahead and kill me," he gasped out. "It won't stop them."
"Who?" snarled Tigerclaw. "Who is coming after us?"
Hun coughed against the tight grip. When he spoke, his voice was raspy and quiet, so that Tigerclaw had to lean forward to hear him.
"Should have… never… betrayed Shredder…" rasped out Hun. Tigerclaw's eyes widened in response, his jaw clicking tightly. Hun's bloodshot eyes slid slowly in the direction of Tanaka, who stood next to them. "Gonna lose… what little you got left…"
"Tigerclaw!" Roman shouted, reaching out a hand, but his voice was lost to the tiger's furious yowl. Tigerclaw yanked his clawed hand back from Hun's throat and ripped it to shreds, spraying his front with blood and scattering it on the floor.
Hun's head fell back against the concrete, motionless.
Roman skidded to a stop right next to them, his features etched with disbelief. Tearing away his eyes from Hun, Roman squared his shoulders and narrowed his eyes deeply on Tigerclaw.
"Wow, you guys sure now how to clear a room," he hissed, anger simmering just barely below the surface. Tanaka rounded Tigerclaw's still crouched form and looked to Roman, his gaze hardly what anyone might all friendly.
"And by that," Roman went on furiously, "I mean kill everyone! What the hell is your problem, Tigerclaw? You were supposed to get information!"
Tanaka stepped forward defensively, baring his fangs and hissing at Roman. He was stopped by Tigerclaw, who stood and observed Roman. When he spoke, Roman noted something off about his voice. Even his stance seemed odd, as if he were shaken.
"Hun would not have told us anything," Tigerclaw said at last, his words stiff and without their usual vehemence. "He is better off dead."
"Oh," said Roman in mock understanding, "You mean like the rest of the guys in here? Did you have to kill all of them, really? Hell, half of these guys were just teenage gangsters! You didn't have to blow them all the hell up!"
Tanaka growled again from his spot, his eyes bright with fury at Roman's aggression. Oddly enough, Tigerclaw reached up a hand and held him back. "I do not care for these other humans. You cater to your morals. They are not mine."
"You two have no respect for life," snapped Roman heatedly. "If this is how you do things, we're better off without you. Feel free to get the hell out of New York."
"A cub does not tell me what to do," Tigerclaw sneered, but most of his efforts remained with keeping at Tanaka at bay, as the younger mutant seemed every bit as ready to come to blows as Roman. They'd both reached for their weapons with the clink of a blade sounded and dove between the feuding males.
"Cool it!" exclaimed Mira fiercely, holding her katana between them all. She looked between them, her normally playful features stern.
Roman scowled and backed off, as did Tanaka, though he kept one of his guns in hand. Mira kept her katana held high, effectively closing them off from one another. "Look, what's done is done," she went on firmly. "We'll find another way to get information."
Roman looked ready to argue still, and Tanaka seemed equally unwilling to drop the quarrel, but they noticed the other teens now gathered a few feet away, and it caused both of them to step away from one another.
Damon stood with his arm around Luka, who was desperately trying not to look at the bodies surrounding them. He turned and pressed his face into Damon's ribcage, unwilling to see anymore. Dani stood on the other side of her twin, her eyes ducked low. When she glanced up and met Tanaka's gaze, the hybrid finally pulled back his hiss and turned away from Roman, instead pacing restlessly behind Tigerclaw.
"Fine," Roman huffed at last. The two parties turned away from one another, though Dani glance once more over her shoulder as they parted ways. Tanaka walked with Tigerclaw, but he looked for her as well.
"Let's go," said Roman, and Dani looked away from Tanaka and followed.
"So," Damon leaned against Dani's bed headboard and smirked. "Where did you and Tanaka disappear off to the other day?"
The incident in the warehouse had happened less than forty-eight hours ago, but they'd all made an effort to put it out of their minds. Tigerclaw and Tanaka had returned to the lair later that night, but they hardly spoken to anyone.
Except Tanaka, who had sent Dani a short message on her phone.
Can I see you tomorrow night?
She'd responded that he could, and so now she waited, outstretched on her bed with a magazine in front of her. "The farmhouse," she said, unable to hide her pleasure, though she cleared her throat and shrugged her shoulders in an effort to look casual. "He wanted to see the trees. I thought it would be nice."
"And was it nice?" teased Damon, unused to seeing Dani blush. Interesting.
Dani hummed thoughtfully as she turned a page in her magazine, but her smile remained. "It was nice," she said with a little nod. She paused a moment before adding, "And we kissed."
Damon snickered. "And how was that?" he probed further, which made Dani laughed.
"It was great, actually," she closed her magazine and sat up on the bed. "I really, really like – Oh, god!" She stopped abruptly when she spotted Tanaka at her bedroom window, sitting patiently, eyes on her and a pleased smile on his features. A flood of relief filled her to see him without the frightening glare he'd given Roman.
Dani hopped up, since Damon was too busy laughing. She opened the window.
"Hey, sorry," she bit her lip, sweeping her hair back from her face. "Forgot what time it was." Tanaka dropped into the room and glanced at Damon with a courteous nod, who was always agreeable enough. The incident in the warehouse hadn't made him hostile, as it had Roman.
"Well, I guess I should leave you two alone," Damon said kindly, before waving to Tanaka and slipping out of the door. Dani cleared her throat and brushed at her hair again once she was left alone with Tanaka.
"Did you, um, happen to be watching that whole conversation?" she asked curiously. When Tanaka simply smirked and sat on the edge of her bed without responding, she knew he'd seen every last word. Sneaky lip-reader.
Dani came to sit beside him, one long leg folding underneath her. They sat without talking for a moment before Tanaka touched her shoulder to get her attention. She looked up.
Are you upset about what happened before? At the warehouse?
Dani's eyes flickered. Honestly, she shared Roman's sentiment about the way things had gone down, but it didn't seem to her that it was Tanaka's fault. Tigerclaw was the one who'd raised him that way. Either way, she didn't feel too much pity for Hun or his thugs, so it was hard for her to hold it against Tanaka.
"I mostly feel bad for Roman," she admitted, in a rare moment of honesty. Tanaka's features darkened at the mention of her cousin, but Dani reached out for his arm and he let her pull him up further onto the bed. She squeezed his hand before letting go, so he could sign.
"Look, I know Roman is – way, way overzealous about most things, and he has a huge problem minding his own business, but…" Dani shrugged a shoulder. "He's just trying to do what's best for us. I mean, yeah, he's annoying, but he's the only one out of us that can make that annoying behavior actually mean something. He just wants to make sure people aren't getting hurt when they don't have to be."
Tanaka grimaced. Those were Hun's men. They would have killed us, too.
"I know," said Dani quietly. "But the way we were raised is a little… different. I mean, we don't…" she huffed, wishing she was as good at explaining this as she was at cutting people down. Insults were an art, and she had mastered them. Sensitivity, on the other hand, not so much.
"We don't want to be just like the people we fight, you know?" She asked at last. "And that's all Roman's trying to do. To make sure we all remember that there's a difference, and to keep us safe." When Tanaka made another face, she edged closer, not at all above using her more persuasive elements to convince him. The hybrid definitely noticed, and Dani tucked into his arm, which he pulled around her waist.
"I know he can seem like a total jackass, but try not to hate Roman. He's really a good guy," she said, turning her head enough to let him see her talk. Tanaka seemed to consider this, before at last he gave his own little huff and nodded.
I'll try.
Dani's lips turned up in a smile and she leaned over, kissing his cheek. For the first time since his arrival, Tanaka smiled, and it gave her the courage to work up to something else.
"Hey, I wanted to ask you something." Again, those damned nerves threatened to get to her. Was this what guys felt like when they asked her out? She had no idea. They did it all the time, and normally she shot them down. Poor saps. "Will you – Okay, so this is kind of short notice, I know, but – would you… want to go to prom with me?" she asked.
Tanaka's response was to tilt his head curiously at her. P-r-o-m? he spelled out curiously.
"Oh, yeah," she sat up straighter in front of him. "I forgot, you might not know – well, okay it's like… this formal dance at my school. And everyone goes with someone, like Damon is taking his boyfriend, and Mira and Roman both have people, and it's kind of… like a date."
Tanaka raised both brows in surprise. You want me to go to a dance with you? He asked, before a hint of uncertainty crossed his features. I don't look normal.
He seemed to think she might not be sure about asking him, as if she might have forgotten that he wasn't entirely human. But she hadn't, of course, and Dani found herself smiling as she edged a bit closer. "You look pretty normal to me," she said gently, and Tanaka's lips quirked. "Then again," she went on as her smile grew. "I'm a little weird, so."
She paused. "Will you go…?"
After what felt like several long minutes to Dani – but in reality was only a few thoughtful seconds – Tanaka nodded. I would like that, he signed with a smile, and Dani giggled before reaching for his shirt, drawing him to her and placing a soft kiss on his lips.
His arm moved around her torso and pulled her close, causing Dani to curl her fingers in his shirt and deepen the kiss. His hand reached up to gently cup her face, and she tugged on him until his body turned and he was lying partially over her on the bed.
They each paused, their faces closed, bodies humming with energy.
Dani's bare toes curled against the comforter on her bed, and Tanaka leaned down to kiss her again, more slowly this time as his hand traveled cautiously down the length of her side. The touch was distracting, so much so that Dani took a moment to process the sudden sound of voices down the hallway.
" – SURE, Dad! I'd LOVE to go say good-night to Dani with you!"
"Why are you talking so loud, Damon?"
"NO REASON!"
Dani pulled away from Tanaka, her eyes wide. He blinked at her, confused, but Dani shoved him away. My dad, she mouthed, and Tanaka yelped before he turned and sprinted for the window, which he only barely made it out of before Dani's bedroom door swung open.
"Daaaaaaad!" Dani swiftly turned to face Donatello, who stood at the door with Damon at his side. "I am so glad to see you!" She choked a little, but managed to cover it up.
Donnie looked between his twin children. "You two…" he said, pointing at the redheads. "You two are suspicious."
"Who, us?" asked Damon, looking at Dani, who shared his disbelieving expression.
"Mmhm," Donatello scanned the room, walking all around slowly. "I just came to say good-night," he said before swiftly pulling up Dani's sheets and peering under the bed. When he straightened, both teens blinded him with innocent smiles.
"Well, I guess that's it, then," said Dani cheerily. "Good-night, love you!" she kissed Donnie's cheek, then Damon's. "Gotta get to bed, don't want to be tired for school tomorrow!" She hopped into her sheets and pulled them around her shoulders.
"Right," said Donatello dryly, before he finally gave up on investigating the room. "Love you too, sweetheart." He left the room, giving Damon just enough time to share a grin with Dani before he, too, left and closed the door.
Tucking into her bed, Dani giggled against her pillow.
"Hey handsome," Will smiled, pushing off the wall he was leaning against as Damon approached, Roman and Tanaka trailing behind him, each unwilling to really pay attention to the other, but peaceful enough for now. Damon smiled and kissed him briefly before catching his attention and saying quietly, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, we have a family friend here from Japan and he's going to prom with Dani, so he's here to pick up a tux, too. He wears weird contacts, it's a Japanese fad, just ignore them."
"Oh," said Will with a nod.
"Also, he's deaf, but he can read lips, so just look at him when you talk and he can understand you just fine," went on Damon, his back to Tanaka and Roman as they approached. Will paused to consider this and then nodded.
"Cool, I handle that."
The other two stopped outside the rental shop, and Will waved to Roman before he extended a hand to Tanaka, who hovered nearby with an obvious air of apprehension. "Hi," said Will with a friendly smile. "I'm Will, nice to meet you."
Tanaka blinked in surprise, glancing over at Damon, before he accepted Will's hand and relaxed a bit. He signed something to him, and Damon translated.
"He said it's nice to meet you."
Roman sighed heavily, not at all excited about the prospect of trying on tuxedos. "Come on, let's get this over with." The four teens stepped inside the shop and began to work with the salesperson to find their fits. Roman kept his distance from Tanaka, and neither of them acted openly hostile, but it was no secret that Roman didn't want to be there.
Not just because of Tanaka, but because he wasn't even excited about prom. He could barely remember the face of the girl he was going with. Plus, he had other stuff on his mind. I wish Mira was here. At least then he'd have someone to vent to. Damon was always occupied when Will was around. No wonder Dani felt left out. Those two were like a greeting card couple.
Roman smirked to himself. Mira would like that one. He would have to remember it.
Tanaka eyed the hanging suits in the shop's window with a great deal of dismay, and Damon was equally appalled, so it was up to Will to help them both out, because neither knew enough about fittings or formal wear to do it themselves.
"Why are you letting this guy feel me up?" asked Damon, smirking at Will's growl.
"It's called an inseam, now be still and stop talking."
"Seems a little touchy for a fitting," muttered Damon, making Tanaka snicker, though he quickly stopped and tried to hide when the store clerk came for him. Will and Damon dragged him out from behind a coat rack and made him stand still.
"Hey, you said you would go to prom, you've gotta sit through the torture like the rest of us," said Damon, holding the twitchy hybrid in place. At last, they were finished and the four teens gathered near the checkout register to pay for their tuxes.
It was at this moment that Tanaka chanced a look up through the large shop windows. His eyes widened, but it was too late for a warning.
The explosive crash sent all four teens – plus the shop clerk – flying off their feet, crashing to the floor in a scattered pile of splintered wood and broken glass. Damon and Will landed behind the counter on the ground, with Damon covering Will's head with his arms. When he looked up, he spotted Tanaka, who jumped to his feet and signed furiously.
ATTACK!
"What the hell was that?" exclaimed Will, but the words had barely gotten out of his mouth before Damon leaped up, snatched the back of Will's shirt and all but threw him into a dressing room. "What the – DAMON!" he shouted, but the redhead turned swiftly and braced himself against a wall, kicking hard with both feet against a heavy cabinet, which covered the dressing room door and shut Will inside.
"DAMON, LET ME OUT!"
Another pair of hands snatched Damon out of the way just before a laser blast lit up the area he'd been. "Whoa – Roman!" The two ducked behind some shelves just as more gunfire rained down on them, and a loud whirring sounded outside of the shattered shop walls. Tanaka motioned to them from his hidden spot behind the counter.
Ten fighters!
He pulled out his guns, one in each hand and turned, firing over the counter and receiving fire in return. Each loud blast shattered a piece of the store and debris flew into the air. Roman reached for his own hidden weapons.
"Will's safe! Take them out!" he ordered Damon, who groaned only for a moment before pulling out his nunchucks and leaping out behind Roman. The very same droids that had attacked them the night in the tunnel leaped off small, hovering platforms, and the gunfire began in earnest. No surface in the shop was safe from the explosions, but Roman ducked skillfully around them and reached the droids, chigiriki swinging at lightning fast speeds.
He dismantled one and then another, forcing them to fight up close, as Damon did the same, running and leaping over the counter. He took down one with a kick and swung around, moving his chains around the neck of a droid and yanking it off its feet.
Tanaka emerged then, hurdling the counter and turning his weapons in his hands when the fight grew too close for gunfire. One, two quick hits to a droid, and then another, but more appeared and one of them fired off a large blast of laser fire that sent all three teens flying through the air and onto their backs.
Down the street and up a block, Luka walked calmly with his mother, steadily working his way through a Fruit Roll-Up.
"You did very well at practice today," Ame told him with a smile. "I am so excited for your next recital."
"Mmhm," Luka was a bit more concerned with his candy, but when he and Ame rounded the corner, he paused to unstick it from his hand. At that moment, a loud crash and blast sounded, and they both looked down the street to see two droids fly out of a shop window.
Luka rolled up what was left of his candy. "Can you hold this?" he asked his mother, who nodded and took it with a look of concern. Then Luka raced off down the street, already reaching for the hidden bo staff under his shirt.
Inside the shop, Damon struggled with a droid as it bore down on the weight of his kusarigama chain, cold mechanical hands too close to his neck for his liking. "Roman!" he called out, but his cousin was busy with three droids of his own. Damon finally managed to push the droid off, but it knocked his weapon out of his hand and raised a blaster.
"SHIT!" Damon covered his face, but the whistle of a staff soaring through the air cut off his panic as it sliced through the droid and staked it in the ground. Luka dropped down from a window and yanked out his staff as Damon laughed incredulously.
"Luka! You are amazing."
"What's going on?" Luka exclaimed, dropping behind a shelf with Damon. "What did you guys do? Set off the security?"
"Hey, this was totally not our fault, okay? I don't know how these freaks found us!"
At that moment, Damon rushed forward and rolled across the floor, retrieving his fallen weapon in the process. Another blast caused him to duck down again, but Roman appeared and with an amazingly swift motion, dispatched the last three droids as Tanaka fired a blast through the chest of another.
The hovering platforms were gone, and with them, the rest of the droids.
Roman panted for a moment, but immediately looked to Damon and Luka to make sure they were okay. "Nice assist," he complimented his youngest cousin. Tanaka moved over to them cautiously, stepping over destroyed robots, burned plastic and broken glass.
What was all that about? He asked, shaking his head in dismay. Damon exhaled heavily. "No idea," he said, before his eyes suddenly widened. "Damn it – Will!" Rushing over to the dressing room, Damon climbed over some rubble and pushed aside the cabinet.
Will burst out, but Damon deliberately stepped in his way as Tanaka slyly edged the nearest robot carcass out of sight with his foot.
"What – in the hell," Will looked around slowly at the destruction, his eyes wide. "Damon, what the - You locked me in a dressing room!"
"Well, I was going to lock you in a closet, but I figured you wouldn't appreciate the joke."
Will glared. "What the hell happened in here?"
The other four teens stood in varying states of awkward uncertainty. Behind them, a piece of lighting fell and crashed loudly, making everyone except Tanaka wince. "Well?" prompted Will crossly. Then Tanaka clapped his hands behind them and gestured animatedly, pretending to drive, then swinging his hand, pointing to the destroyed wall closest to the street and then miming an explosion. He paired his "explanation" with a very confident nod.
Damon pointed. "What he said."
"A car," deadpanned Will. "You're telling me a car drove into the store and crashed through the wall."
Roman tutt'ed loudly. "Drunk driver, dude. No respect for daytime shopping hours."
Will folded his arms. "Oh, really? Then where is this car?"
"It drove off!" Damon yelped. "Hit and run. I was – I was just about to call the police, seriously." Will's eyes narrowed on Damon, and it was very clear he didn't believe him. He opened his mouth to argue again, but at that moment, Ame entered the wasteland of debris with a loud, distraught noise.
"Oh, no! My poor son and nephews! I was so scared for you!" She yanked Luka to her in a teary hug, looking desperately to Will. "Oh, are you alright, William? That car was moving so fast! I was so – so frightened!" she touched her chest, real tears edging at the corner of her eyes as she almost painfully stroked Luka's head.
"I – " Will glanced at the others, but his expression immediately softened. "I'm fine, Mrs. Hamato. Are you okay?"
"I am just so upset!" she cried out, wiping at her face and finally releasing Luka, who regained the ability to breathe and touched his mother's shoulder sympathetically. "That horrible drunk driver! I feel like I am going to faint!"
Roman and Damon exchanged wry glances.
"Will, can you help me get her back to our car?" asked Luka with a deep frown. "I won't be able to hold her by myself. She seems pretty distressed."
"Sure, sure," Will said, rushing to Ame's side and immediately helping support her. Together, the three of them exited the shop, and Damon remained behind with Roman and Tanaka, all of whom looked to each other.
"She is the most dangerous one out of all of us," said Roman with a nod.
"For sure," Damon exhaled, shaking his head. "Also, I am the worst boyfriend ever." Roman patted his shoulder.
"Will's alive. That's what matters." He glanced around. "Hey!" he said in delight, "Our tuxes made it!" He picked up his from a rack, and the shop clerk emerged from the back of the store, terrified but relatively unharmed. Roman pointed at him. "Oh, good. You're still here. So can we pay now?"
Damon and Tanaka both stared.
"I'm just asking!" Roman defended. "Cause, uh, I don't think my mom's going to give me the credit card again."