Chapter 2

The Turtles walked side by side along the sewer tunnel in silence, thinking of nothing but candy candy candy! This obsession almost reminded them of the one Garfield Halloween special when the famous fat cat went out with his dog friend, Odie, to go Trick or Treating. Though, none of them were expecting to go on any boat rides to an abandoned shack where an unpleasant surprise would be arriving at the stroke of midnight. On topside, the sun had already set by 5 o'clock and the streets were full of children running around in wild and exotic costumes. The parents to the kids looked deranged after being dragged all over. They worked hard all day and wanted to be home curled up in a warm bed sound asleep.

Down by April and Casey's apartment building, they waited patiently for them to come outside. It took a few minutes, and a lot of persuasion, to get Casey out the door. He couldn't understand how and why he got talked into wearing--

"Oh, my God!" Michaelangelo's jaw almost hit the pavement when they turned around to see Casey walk out and down the stoop. "Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall building with a single bound! It's Superman!"

"Good evening, mild-mannered citizens." Casey boldly stated as he strutted over with his chest sticking out. "It is, I. Superman!"

"Nice outfit." Raph thumbed with a laugh. "You know, that blue color really matches your eyes--"

"Silence, turtle, or I shall melt you with my laser eyes!"

Raph quivered with flailing arms. "Oooh, I'm shaking in my shell!"

"Oh, they're here! Hi, guys!" April waved as she came trotting down the stairs next. The first thing they thought of was Wonder Woman just by looking at the design of her red, blue and gold skimpy costume. Another person followed dressed in what looked to be a very high-cut Egyptian outfit, complete with the jingling accessories and excessive make-up. "Sorry, we took so long. Shadow and I had to primp a little!"

"That's Shadow?" Michaelangelo gawked. After the name was given, the Turtles then realized who the shorter person was. Now at an age where she's more developed in the chest area, each stared at the sight of what they once knew as a little girl.

"Yep, it's me! Hi!" Shadow waved, the movement causing her jewelry to jingle. "Like our costumes? Dad's dressed as the Man of Steel!"

"I know, heh. More like the Man in Tights." Raphael shook his head while biting his lip.

"Oh, screw you, Raph!" Casey said, hearing more snickers.

April tried to make her laugh more quieter by covering her mouth. "He's going to get razzed about that all night. As you can see, I'm Wonder Woman and Shadow picked out this adorable Egyptian costume! Do you like it?"

"Um, sure, but I think you left the rest of it in the package." Donatello sized her up, ready to remove his coat and wrap it around her.

Shadow giggled. "No, this is all of it. I'm learning how to...." She started to sing the Bangles song. "...walk like an Egyptian."

"Wonderful." Michaelangelo looked away, trying to avoid seeing her half-exposed figure shake from side to side. "So, what time does the parade start?"

"7 o'clock." April said. "It starts up on Spring and 6th Avenue and goes all the way to 23rd Street. Shadow wanted to do some Trick or Treating first before we head over there. It's not that far but Bleecker Street is already crowded."

"Okay, okay. enough stalling." Raph complained. "Kids around us are getting all the good stuff! Can we start mov--oof!"

"Watch out!" April exclaimed.

"Outta my way loser or I'll kick yer butt good!" A boy ran by in a ninja costume, almost knocking Raph over.

"Hey! Loser?! Oh, yeah, oh, yeah?" Raph called after with flexing muscles. "Come back here and I'll show you some real ninja action, pal!"

Mike threw a hand down, grinning to them. "Eh, forget him. Let's go trick or treating!"

The group walked from doorstep to doorstep, getting mounds of candy from the awaiting people whom handed them out. Raphael was smart to take some pillow cases before they left, making it the perfect size to stuff loads and loads of candy in. And Leonardo worried about them getting sick from the cold? He should worry about them getting sick from eating too much candy!

Each struck at rich from the following houses up the block, catching some very cool costumes along the way. A witch ran by on her broomstick, a spaceman in full astronaut suit moon-walked by, a couple looking like Bonnie and Clyde came and passed them, a Marilyn Monroe winked as she guided a very short Charlie Chaplin toddler. The little boy even got the Chaplin walk accurately!

"I always forget how Halloween has become such a fun holiday for kids." Donatello looked around to the people in costume. "The older kids know it but the real little ones don't have a clue what the reason for this day is."

"I used to love Halloween when I was younger but now a lot of it has grown out of me." Leonardo sighed as he placed a hand in his pocket, swaying the other one freely to the side with the candy bag. "Not into candy as much, either. I'll probably give most of my stash to Mike or Raph. Or both."

"Are you not having fun, Leo?" Don asked when he noted he and his brother were lagging behind with April and Casey, the adults.

"Are you?" Leo asked back as they paused to think about it. As they stood there, a girl in a Raggedy Ann costume passed between the two, walking hand in hand with what appeared to be The Little Mermaid. A rag doll walking with a fish. Leo bit his lip. "Yeah, I'm having fun. Come on."

By 12th Street, it looked like a parade of costumed characters running to and from each doorstep. The area was a brownstone section with large houses still standing there from many centuries ago. They looked it too, by their worn-out drab colors. Michaelangelo paused by a tree to catch his breath, signaling the others to stop for a minute. Sure, he was in fine shape but the weight of his loot was slowing him down.

"Are you tired Uncle Mike?" Shadow asked him. "You still wanna go and watch the parade, right?"

"Oh, definitely!" He told her while raising a hand to signal the others to stop. "Hold up, guys. I think we have enough candy to open our own store! Wanna call it quits for now and head over to the parade?"

"Sounds good to me." As Raph started to rise, he felt himself get fully knocked over by a black object. "Ooof! Hey!"

"Gotcha that time, loser! Hahahaha!" It was the kid in the ninja suit again.

"You gotta admit he is staying in character." Mike breathed with eyes blinking.

"Ooooh, that does it." Raph rolled his body to stand up, charging after him with the others protesting behind. "Get back over here, you little punk!" Raph chased him for about two blocks, stopping on 14th Street to look all over. "Guys!" Raph turned to see them standing right behind him, squinting to the loud shout. "Eh, there you are. Look, the brat's going up to that house over there. Let's go--"

"Raph, wait." Leo sighed. "Don't you think we've stopped at enough houses?"

"Forget the house." He smiled evilly. "I was gonna wait around the corner and give him a good scare!"

"Now, that, I like!" Mike pointed with a grin. "Heh, you gave me a scare, I can't wait to see the look on his face."

Raphael trotted up against the side of the house to wait for him to come down. "Yeah, yeah, trick or treat an all that rot, now get over here!" Hearing footsteps approach, he jumped out too soon. "BOO!" Two girls jumped and back away, almost looking like they were happy instead of scared.

"Oh, sorry!" One of the girls said with a laugh. "We didn't see you there. Excuse us."

"Sorry?!" Raph frowned as his brothers walked up to them. "Sorry? I scared you and you're the ones who apologize?"

"I suppose." The girl looked back with a sweet smile. "You just caught us by surprise, that's all."

"Eh, no problem, ladies." Raphael took off the ghost mask to get a better look at their attire. They both wore short dresses, one wearing red, the other in purple. "Hey, nice get-ups. Where are you going? Ice skating?"

One of them blushed. "Yes, we both love to ice skate over at the ice rink in Central Park."

"Aw, that sounds like fun--wait, which one? Wollman?" Michaelangelo asked.

The girls frowned to him as one of them asked, "Wollman?"

"Is there an echo?" Mike frowned back, glancing to Don. "Uhhh, yeah, that's like one of the best rinks out there. You know? Wollman Ice Rink? Ding, ding? Ring a bell?" Both girls looked to him with confusion. "Forget it. Anyway, ladies, you gotta wait a few more weeks. The rink is closed till mid November."

"Closed? Don't be silly!" One of the girls lifted her smile again. "It's always open when we go there! You can come watch us skate, if you'd like." After that they started to walk off, laughing as they went.

"Great, now what?" Don asked, always aware he never makes the decisions.

"Maybe we should follow them, just to make sure they don't run into trouble." Leo suggested.

"But, what about the parade?" Shadow whined.

"Ladies?" April called to them as they paused to look at her. "Do you want us to give you a ride over to Central Park?"

"Really?" One of them asked. "No one's ever asked us for a ride before."

"Yeah, well, it's late and too many weirdoes are wandering around. Besides, we were heading in the direction to our apartment, anyway." April smiled, thinking to herself, what the hell am I doing? "What do you say?" The two girls nodded and turned to meet back with them.

As they walked on, Michaelangelo leaned in to Leonardo, whispering, "I don't get it. The rink is closed! What on earth are they talking about?"

"I don't know, Mikey. Maybe that's what we're gonna find out." Leonardo looked back to see if they were still following them. They both smiled and giggled to him. "Heh, so, what are your names, ladies?"

"I'm Janet and this is my sister, Rosetta." The girl pointed to herself then to Rosetta whom threw a friendly wave.

"Nice to meet you." Leo said as he pointed around to who's who. "I'm Leonardo, her name's April, he's Casey, that's their daughter, Shadow, and these are my brothers, Michaelangelo, Raphael and Donatello."

"Oh! Like the Renaissance artists!" Janet beamed.

"We just want to let you know we love your costumes." Rosetta said happily. "We've never seen anything like them before."

"This is Wonder Woman. You've never heard of her?" April looked surprised.

"Nope." Janet giggled.

"What about Superman?" Casey wondered.

"Don't know him." Rosetta laughed.

"Well, you've heard of Egyptian princesses, right?" Shadow tried last.

"Yes, that's one thing we know of." Janet replied, still with a giggle before looking to the Turtles. "As for you four....what are you supposed to be?"

"Mutant turtles in disguise." Donatello said flatly, getting a laugh out of it from the girls. "Heh, I guess you can just call us a one of a kind."

Minutes later, the group stopped back at the apartment building. Since all of them couldn't fit in the van, Casey and April offered to take them to Central Park while Shadow and the Turtles waited at the apartment. The two girls got in the back seat and waved to them as they left.

"This is a wonderful contraption you have." Janet said. "What did you call it again?"

"A van?" Casey said, looking in his rear-view mirror. He glanced to April with a weird expression. "Um, listen girls, why not stop with the jokes already? Why are we really taking you out to Central Park?"

"We told you why." Rosetta said softly. "We love to go ice skating! Been doing it for what seems like an eternity."

"That's real nice, but we're telling you the truth, the rink will be closed till mid-November. It would just be better to take you ladies home." April told them, not getting a response. Arriving on 59th Street, Casey stopped the van alongside the road and took a sigh as he gazed out the window. There was Central Park next to them, all dark and moody on the inside. "We're here, ladies.....ladies?" April looked in the backseat and gasped. "Oh, my God!"

"What, what?" Casey jolted in his seat. "What's wrong?!"

"Look!"

"What the hell..." Casey jumped out and ran around to the other side, throwing open the sliding door. A cool breeze only flew out with the backseat completely empty of any passengers. "Holy shit! Where the hell did they go? I've never lost a single passenger in my life!" He turned to her. "Was I speeding?"

"I don't think it was you, Casey." April also got out to get a better look at the backseat. "What are we going to tell the others?"

"Absolutely nothing." Casey mumbled. "If they ask, we'll tell them the ice rink was closed and we drove them back home. They don't have to know details."