Three Months Later

Donatello was dead to the world, fast alseep on the bottom bunk in the room that he and Mike shared. He was startled suddenly awake by his cell phone, and for a moment thought that his alarm was going off. One glance at the time confused him a great deal. 5:00AM? No, that wasn't his alarm either, somebody was calling him. Still feeling a little groggy, he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Morning Donnie." Mike chortled on the other end.

"Mike? What are you doing? Where are you?"

"Downstairs, in the kitchen. Can you come down here for a sec? I wanna show you something."

"Are you out of your mind? It's 5AM!"

"Nope. Now I can't bring it to you, so would you come down please?"

"I'll be there in a minute." He grumbled, and slapped the phone shut.

Donatello rose gingerly and started across the room, nearly tripping over a skateboard once again. He grunted in sheer irritation and pushed it aside with one foot, shoving it back towards the closet. He yawned widely as he trotted down the stairs.

This had better be good.

He saw a light coming from underneath the kitchen door, which suddenly shut off when he got closer.

"Mike?" He called out curiously.

"C'mon in Donnie!" He called back through the door.

Donatello pushed it open with a little confusion. "Hey Mike, what happened to the--"

He was simply trying to ask what was up with the lights, but was instantly cut off by a whipped cream pie that he didn't even see coming. Before he had a chance to recover or make a sound, he was converged on from three different directions at once, pummeled by various pastry missiles. The attack probably lasted less than two minutes, and he didn't bother fighting it. It had come to be expected around this time every year - just not this early. After a few seconds his own laughter joined with his brothers, who were already dying by now.

He struggled to get whipped cream out of his eyes, while laughing so hard he could hardly stand up straight. Mike shoved a towel into his hands and he wiped his eyes fiercely, then directing an accusing gaze at his three brothers, as one of them hit the light switch to bring the room back into focus.

"Not fair!" He proclaimed loudly. "My birthday's not for two weeks!"

"Sorry about the wake up call Donnie - it's getting to be too hard to surprise each other anymore!"Mike said with a wide grin.

"Well it worked - only now I'm gonna have to kill you!" He answered.

"Who, me?" Mike asked innocently.

"This was all your idea - I know it!" Donatello said, pouncing on top of his brother with no further warning.

"Ow! I couldn't let the game die Donnie! OW! That's gonna leave a mark!"

"I'm gonna leave a mark alright!"

The door pushed open suddenly, and Master Splinter looked inside. He had been wakened by their commotion only a couple of minutes prior. He caught sight of his sons, then rolled his eyes and backed out of the room.

Boys. Do they ever grow up?

Meanwhile, Donnie was still trying to teach his younger brother a lesson.

"Get offa me ya big lummox!"

"Not until you give Mikey - I'm still waitin' to hear it."

"You'll never take me alive!"

"Who said I was tryin' to?"

Raph stepped over to Donatello, tapping him lightly on the shell. "Saved something for you Donnie."

Donatello smiled when he saw the pie in his hand. "Much obliged!" He proclaimed, and promptly shoved it in Mike's face.

Between coughing and laughing, he still struggled under Donatello's weight, as his brother wiped whipped cream all over him.

"Okay!" He gasped breathlessly. "Okay I give! You win!"

"Hey Donnie, I saved something for you too." Leonardo told him as Donnie finally let Mike up. He turned around to face Leo, only to be plastered unexpectedly one last time.

"Oh you are so in for it! C'mere!"

Leonardo backed away from him, holding up his hands defensively. "Hey, watch the arm bro! Walking wounded, I'm walking wounded!"

"Not yet, but you will be when I'm finished!" He retorted, snatching a half-full pie tin off the floor.

His brother had already backed into a wall, and had nowhere left to go. Leo held up his arms and was a good sport about it, letting Donnie get him without a fight. Then wiping his own eyes, he pointed over at the counter where two perfectly good missiles were still intact. Donnie saw them, and then shot a glance at Raph, who was inching toward the door.

"Oh no, no, no! You can't think you're getting out of here." Donatello said mock-threateningly.

"Take it like a man Raph!" Mike shot from the side.

"I don't see any men here." Raph said wryly.

"You know what I mean!"

Raphael ignored him and faced off with Donatello cooly. "Tell y' what bro. If you can touch me, you can have your way with me."

"That sounds like a challenge." Donnie exclaimed. "And I accept!"

He bore down on his brother with a small leap, and Raphael darted to try and get out of the way. As he tried to move swiftly, his feet shot out from under him on the slippery surface, and he hit the floor hard.

"Ow! That doesn't count!"

"Raph, are you okay?"

"Yeah sure, I gotta tough shell."

"Good!" Donatello said evenly, cramming both pies on either side of his head.

"Now that's just low, hittin' a turtle while he's down!" Raph complained.

But he took Donatello's proffered hand, allowing him to haul him upright.

"You learn to take opportunity when it presents itself." Donatello said with a grin, and his brother threw an arm over his shoulder.

"Happy early birthday bro." Raphael told him. "Now go get cleaned up."