Radical Transformation
"We hoped you wouldn't mind, Master."
Leo bowed his head and kept it bowed before Splinter, that night. His brothers were one step behind him, their eyes agreeing to Leo, and bowing slightly too. They were standing in April's apartment, April herself was behind the kitchen counter, observing.
Splinter's face had no expression, so the guys could not tell what he was thinking, and if he was mad or not. He glanced at of all his sons before he blinked and sighed, his face now held a kind smile.
"I am happy for what you did," he finally said. His sons all breathed out in relief. "And I am, as any other parent would be, proud of you. You have made a real friend there." His smiled widened slightly, and his sons seem to blush faintly.
"Her sister was a great cook, the food was excellent!" Mikey said enthusiastically. "Inspires me to experiment more." He glanced at the kitchen, as though it was calling to him.
April stepped out from behind the counter. "Oh no, Mikey; I'm not having you blowing up my kitchen, or burning my food!" She knew it was only going to be a matter of time before the guys actually relaxed in their human forms and acted completely normal - in other words they were going to probably destroy everything breakable. Of course they would never mean to do it on purpose, but if you live with four ninjas, and teenagers at that, then there would bound to be accidents. April made a note to herself for later: Hide everything breakable and valuable where the guys wouldn't touch them.
Mikey only grinned at her, while his brothers smiled and shook their heads. Mikey was great in the kitchen; it was just that when he was trying something new there tended to be a lot more accidents; or when he had finished he would try out his cooking on one of his brothers and they would hurl; or he would throw it away so many times the bin would overflow and there would be no more food left for them, because they only had small amounts down in the sewers anyway. Mikey was reminded of these every time he hinted that he was going to try something new. But this time his brothers and Splinter only groaned.
Splinter smiled at his sons as three of them shook their heads and the other grinned. They all went over and sat on the couch, while April looked at her wrist, where she checked the time on her Rolex watch.
"Guys, it's getting late, and about this time the bad guys will be wanting to play, if there is any," she said, reminding them of their patrolling night.
"Oh yeah," Donnie said, staring at the ceiling. He and his brother got up again and headed to the door. They already had their sneakers on, as they hadn't taken them off when they came in a few minutes ago.
"Oh, I wanted to stay in the kitchen," Mikey moaned, moving slower than the other three.
April looked at Leo, Donnie and Raph, eyebrows raised. "You take him away from my kitchen, and wear him out if you have to so he won't be in the mood to mess up my kitchen."
Mikey tilted his head and gave April a look. She smiled and shooed him to the door, where Raph had already disappeared. Before Leo went, he bowed to his Master, and said bye to April and Splinter.
()()()()
The morning sun shone in through the windows past the curtains that Mikey had just drawn aside. He glanced happily down at the streets below, and made his way to the kitchen with springs in his feet.
It was very early in the morning, about a quarter to six. The reason Mikey was up at this time was because he really had to start working on some masterpiece of food in the kitchen. He wanted to have something new waiting for everyone when they woke up. Praise from his family was like gold to a poor man. He needed it, and appreciated it very much.
Humming quietly to himself, Mikey tiptoed past Donnie, who was still sleeping on the couch with his mouth open, and into the kitchen, where he took out April's black wok from the cupboard under the counter. He placed it on the cooker rings and turned on the electric. Then he began pulling all sorts of foods out from the fridge and the cupboards, all that looked to promise a delicious breakfast, and would get him his praise.
When he cooked, Mikey always tried to get the best possible dish he could think of out of the food. He always worked hard. His secret was that he imaged he was trying to please the most important of people, like the President, or Leo. Nah, Leo wasn't that hard to please, it was Raph who was the challenge; Raph was picky about certain foods, and Mikey enjoyed experimenting on him, trying to find out what he really liked.
After having all of his unusual ingredients out and ready to be thrown together, Mikey made no attempt of keeping the noise down. He would let the wok thud on the ring, but he wouldn't cause too much noise. He wasn't worried about Donnie waking up because his brother had been worn out more than him yesterday in their attempt to wear him out, in April's request. Donnie wasn't a light sleeper like Leo, but he wasn't a deep sleeper like Mikey and Raph.
As the bin piled high with the empty packets and unneeded food, the time went by quickly for Mikey. He had much fun experimenting, and he had come up with a highly praise-worth breakfast, that was laid on the kitchen counter, in full view to anyone, for when everyone got up.
Grinning as he imagined everyone's faces when they tried his cooking, Mikey slipped his apron off and looked up to a groan.
Donnie was stirring. His forehead furrowed as he lifted his head for a second, eyes still closed, and sniffed the air. Something smelled good. He opened his eyes and they seemed to open right on the plates that were placed on the counter. Donnie pushed himself up, and nearly had a heart attack when Mikey appeared in his face.
"Hey Donnie, smell something?" Mikey asked, grin on his face. He was bending his back to come down to Donnie's level. He straightened up and watched his brother climb off the couch.
Donnie stretched, and glanced at the clock. It was eight O'clock. His eyes shifted to the plates again. His stomach growled, and this only seemed to widen Mikey's grin. Donnie knew his brother had been up a while, probably testing some new cooking recipes for them.
"Okay, smells good, whatcha cooked?" Donnie asked, voice breaking slightly as he stretched.
Mikey shrugged. "I dunno, but you have to try it and tell me whatcha think."
Donnie groaned, but the breakfast Mikey had cooked up smelled delicious. He was a little wary of it at first when Mikey held out a fork for him. It was a mixture of things, and looked unappetising. However, it did smell nice, and when Donnie hastily and gingerly put a forkful in his mouth and chew, it tasted much better than it looked.
Mikey watched his brother. Sure, they all look like they're about to eat dung when they slowly take a bite, but it showed him how wrong their impression of his food was. Donnie's scrunched up face loosened and he tilted his head thoughtfully while he chewed. He began to nod.
"Mikey, this is REALLY great," he said, swallowing and taking another bite.
Mikey smiled smugly. "As usual!"
"Whassis noise?" A groggy voice spoke behind them.
They both turned to see April walking down the stairs, yawning widely, her dressing robe wrapped around her.
"Oh hey Ape, I made breakies!" Mikey said as April walked over to them, sniffing.
"Um, I can smell it, smells good Mike," she said, and Mikey beamed. He gave her a fork, and a plate and directed her onto one of the kitchen stools, where she ate it, praising him.
A few seconds after she had tucked in, Leo and Raph came tumbling down the stairs, landing in a tangled heap at the bottom, groaning.
"Raph, you klutz, you tripped me up," Leo moaned, pushing Raph's leg off his head.
"Ouch, well you pushed me," Raph said, putting a hand to his head and making no attempt to get up.
"I didn't, I stumbled."
"Well then I didn't trip you on the stairs!"
"Yes you did, I saw your foot!"
"It wasn't my fault, and why didn't you step over it then?"
"Guys," April said, putting her plate back down on the counter. She pulled her robe cord tighter around her thin waist.
Both Leo and Raph stopped arguing and looked up tiredly, eye half open.
"I smell -" Leo said.
"Something good," Raph finished.
They both scrambled to their feet (after tripping over themselves again), and walked over to where Mikey was grinning, and holding out two forks for them.
"Been experimenting again, Mikey?" Leo asked, taking a fork and digging into a plate full of food.
"Yep. Up bright and early to made you guys something worth eating in the morning." Mikey smiled proudly.
"And it was worth getting up for," April said, swallowing her last mouthful and putting the plate in the sink. "Thanks Mikey, that was great." She hugged him, and he kept his arm around her shoulders when they broke, still smiling. He told himself it would be worthwhile.
A soft padding behind them made them look up, and see Splinter observing them all, a smile on his face.
"Morning Master Splinter," all bros said together, bowing respectfully. The old rat bowed his head, and made his way to his armchair. Mikey hurried over to him with a fork and a plate of his excellent cooking.
"Ah, I heard wonders about this little feast," Splinter said, taking the plate. "Thank you, Michelangelo." Mikey beamed.
"Guys, you better go get changed," April said, looking at the clock. They were all still in their nightwear; completely indistinguishable.
"Okay," Leo nodded. "Guys, upstairs." They all tramped to the stairs where they climbed and disappeared. April and Splinters, eyes on the ceiling, listened to their voices.
"Ow, hey - Mikey, that's mine!" Raph's voice could be heard.
"Sorry, looks orange in the dark."
"Donnie, they're my pants."
"Sorry Leo, oo, money."
"Where? Gimme! Leo, how could you hold out on us!?"
"Mikey, gerrout of it! Donnie! Put that back in my pocket! It's April's money, not ours."
"Hey, these socks are odd. I got one blue on and one orange one I think."
"Mikey, that's my sock! Donnie THAT'S mine! Raph . . . those're yours, yeah."
April looked at Splinter, who was smiling, nearly laughing. April laughed.
A few minutes later, the guys thundered down the stairs, all wearing the correct clothes, and each looking slightly miserable and tired.
"Cheer up guys, you soon won't have to put up with this when you change back."
As soon as she said it she knew she shouldn't have. April cringed slightly when she saw the effect of that sentence on the guys. They all looked positively miserable now. Except Mikey, who was only looking miserable.
Leo decided to be positive about it. "Yeah, you're right Ape. I'll be glad when we don't have to do this every morning." Would he be glad? He put on a brave face anyway.
"Excluding Saturdays and Sundays," Donnie added, with a stretch and a yawn.
"You do not have to wait long, my sons," Splinter said, drawing all of their gazes to him. "Your time is near."
()()()()
"Man, I don't think I can take any more of Macbeth," Mikey moaned as they made their way to their first class, English.
"We've only had two classes on it," Donnie said. "I don't mind." He smiled.
"These words dost not surprise mine ears," Mikey joked in Macbeth language.
As they laughed, they made their way into their classroom, where the teacher was writing something on the board, in preparation for their class, or maybe for the next one. Prida was already in her seat when they walked in. She was talking to some guy, who seemed to be embarrassing her. When the four bros walked up to them, the boy looked at them and went back to his seat, across the room and a row back.
The bros took their seats as more people filed in the room.
"What did he want?" Mikey asked Prida, who had been slouched in her seat, but now sat up straight.
Prida went red slightly. "He asked me if I wanted to go to the disco with him." She glanced back at the boy, who had just glanced at her and turned back to his friends. "I don't even know him."
Mikey put on a pout. "But Prida, you're going with me, right? Please!"
Prida couldn't help it. She grinned widely. "Mikey, I'm - not - going!"
Donnie reached over and put his hand on Mikey's arm. "Easy tiger, she don't wanna go. You're gunna annoy her so much she's gunna punch you like she did Ci Ci."
They all chuckled, and then silenced as the last of the late people found their chairs and the English class started.
It was, as Mikey said at the end of the first period, a boring class for everyone except Donnie, who used all his ink in his biro that he had to ask the teacher for a spare. They spent this class writing out quotes from the play's first scene, which was pretty short; so how the hell did Donnie use all of his ink? Because he asked the teacher if he could go onto the next act, and the next, and the next, until the bell rang for period two.
As they came out of that classroom, Donnie was flexing his fingers, explaining to his frowning brothers that they were stiff from all the writing. They weren't surprised, and again Mikey said 'These words dost not surprise mine ears'. Prida found that funny.
"Er, Mikey, Raph, we've just gone past your room," Leo said, pointing behind him.
They both frowned. "What we got?" They asked.
"Maths," Donnie replied. His brothers groaned, and trotted back along the corridor, disappearing into a room where, a second later, shouts rang through the corridor, until the door was slammed shut.
Shaking his head, Donnie stepped into his own room, saying a quick 'see ya' to Leo and Prida, who continued down the corridor until they reached their room.
They class got started pretty quickly, and Prida struck up a conversation with Leo about this upcoming disco. She tried to hide it, but Leo could tell she was excited a little bit. He could see the brightness in her eyes when she talked about it. She wanted to go, he realised; then why was she always saying she didn't want to? Just because of wearing a dress?
"Are all of you going?" Prida asked. "I know Mikey is, I wondered if you, Don or Raph might go as well." She looked slightly shy, but then she got over it quickly.
Leo smiled and cocked his head to one side. "Yeah, I haven't been to a . . . erm, many discos. I wouldn't want to miss out, and see my brothers go crazy. Mikey always does when there's a party."
Prida laughed. "Yeah, just by knowing him I can tell he's a mental type. But he's cute." She giggled.
After Maths, they both walked out together and down the corridor, where they met Donnie just coming out of his room, and Mikey and Raph to ran out of theirs and around the corner. Mr Reily came out a second after they had disappeared, looking ready to kill. Leo, Donnie and Prida looked at each other, then walked past the steaming teacher and round the corner.
They met Raph and Mikey at the usual place; the lockers. They were both smiling to themselves, and Matt was with them, smiling too.
"Okay, what did you do?" Leo asked when they reached them. He raised an eyebrow.
"Sir was making fun of me," Mikey started, grinning. "So we writ down on a bit of paper the words 'kiss it or kick it', put some glue on it and laid it on Reily's chair -" he laughed. "He sat down, and about twenty minutes later, just as the bell rang he noticed all the other kids in the class laughing and pointing at him! He took it off just as we bolted out the door!"
He and Raph collapsed laughing. Matt was chuckling too, and Prida and Donnie looked at each other, rolling their eyes, smiling.
Their next class was R.E, and when the bell rang for it to begin, they all made their way to their room, saying bye to Matt.
"Hiyya Miss!" Mikey said cheerfully to the teacher. She smiled back at him, chuckling at his happy manner.
"Okay kiddie winkles," she said. "Since it's near the disco and since you have exams next week, I'm gunna let you watch a video." She was a nice teacher, sometimes sarcastic, smart, nice to everyone, funny and cool.
Everyone in the class cheered, and then the teacher pulled out the video The Fast and The Furious. While it played, some people talked and some people watched. A few were playing cards.
"Geeze, this feels like the holidays," Prida said, smiling. She was leaning on the table watching the film. She hadn't seen it before.
"This what you do when the holidays are near?" Donnie asked, his hand was on his side, massaging it; it ached.
"Yeah, don't you?" Prida looked away form the TV to him.
Donnie frowned. "We didn't go to - I mean no we didn't." He added quickly when he saw Leo, Raph and Mikey's faces behind Prida. She frowned and looked over her shoulder at them; they quickly sat back down, eyes on the TV.
Their next class was a not so fun one: Physics. Everyone except Donnie groaned, but that was probably because he was too busy trying to tune down the pain in his side. It seemed to be playing up today.
"Eugh, I hate Physics," Prida complained as she and the guys walked in, the teacher heard and shrugged.
This class wasn't as fun as the last. They spent this period doing revision, and even Donnie put his pen down on the table and began to massage his head, still with his other hand on his side. Leo looked at him, concerned.
"Hey, dude, are you alright?" Mikey asked, frowning.
"Yeah," Donnie droned. "Well - no, my side is killing me, I have a rotten headache, and this is the first time I can't be bothered to do any work, because I can't . . ."
"Sure you can, It's just your headache letting ya down," Mikey said, attempting to cheer his brother up. Donnie smiled, though it was a small one.
Physics seemed like the longest class so far, and it felt like two days later they were finally leaving it, and heading for a welcome lunch. The canteen couldn't have shone better in their eyes.
"Pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza!" Mikey chanted. He ran through the thin crowd of people (it was seconds after the bell so most people were still in their classrooms) into the canteen, closely followed by his brothers and Prida.
Donnie and Raph grabbed a table, while Leo, Mikey and Prida went to get grub. They came back a few seconds later with steaming pizzas for everyone (two for Mikey. "Only two!?" Raph looked amazed), a few little snacks for taking out with them and three drinks; one for Prida, and two for the guys to share, though Prida ended up sharing hers with Mikey, who drank a full one to himself.
"I'm so surprised you don't get indigestion eating like that," Prida chuckled as Mikey chomped on a slab of flapjack.
"He was born to eat like that," Leo joked, smiling as they all watched Mikey eat. He nodded in agreement to Leo.
After lunch they quickly registered and made their way to their fifth class of the day; French. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. The teacher told them to practise saying and memorising some words and testing a friend, while she went around correcting them.
"I'm still leaning how to say 'J 'mappelle Mikey," Mikey moaned. He looked enviously at Donnie. "He's just a boff!"
"C'est facile, Mikey!" Donnie said, beaming.
"C'est trop difficile," Raph muttered, head in his hands. "Et barbant."
"Didn't tell me you could say that," Donnie frowned, smiling.
"I saw it in a book and memorised it, that's not hard is it?" Raph said.
Prida smiled, as Mikey gawped. He at least thought, hoped, Raph would be as rubbish as he was at French. Maybe he should learn more. Leo smiled, reading Mikey's thoughts from his facial expression.
Their next and final class of the day was Business Studies, of which they all took, including Matt and his brother Owen, along with a new friend of Matt's, Ben Taylor.
Their class was boring, and was, as boring classes are, slow. No one paid any attention to the work, and even Donnie stopped, put his open down and joined din the conversation. They didn't get in trouble for not doing any work because their teacher didn't care. He was sat at his desk, puzzling over a crossword in the local newspaper.
The slow, what-seemed-like-two-days class ended forty minutes later, and everyone rushed out. But before leaving, Donnie stood behind the teacher, who had not moved, and stared thoughtfully at the crossword. Then he smiled to himself and whispered the answer to the teacher, then he rushed out to meet his brothers.
The teacher didn't move, but a second later he looked at what the kid had just told him, smiled and put it in. A crossword complete.
Okay, I'm finishing this chapter right here! I have had a horrible case of Writers Block, which kept bugging me, then going away, then coming back again. Damn thing, and I share my sympathy for HexAdecimal. Hope you recover soon ;). Okay, since my troubled Writer's Block issue thingy keeps annoying me, could I ask for some suggestions, just for something to happen for days Wednesday and Thursday, because I haven't got anything planned for this until I get to Friday. But I might have gotten over my writer's block (I'm trying to be strong about it) and have thought of something, but it's unlikely. So, just a few suggestions of what little events or scraps, or whatever for Wednesday or Thursday. Thankies ;) ------- Oh and since it's Christmas, I thought I'd conjure up a massive imaginary Christmas card to you all saying thanks for the reviews, thanks for adding me in their stories and overall thanks for updating YOUR stories! Lol, \hands over huge Christmas card which stands in the TMNT ff cabinet. It has a die-for cute pic of the guys on the front wearing read Santa hats and battling with candy canes, lol! (I wish there were such a card!)/ ------ Oh, and I have to say that throwing Legolas at me, Daydream, was not nice for poor Leggie! \Cuddles the action figure/ Mind you it did hurt, lol \rubs bruise on head/ Hehe, I got Sais, thanks Lenni! \Brandishes Sais at Daydream/ Hehe.
Ziptango, plz update Twisted again, I know I'm asking straight after you just updated, but it's so cooooool! ---- Just a quick note, I've been working on a little riddle fic about authors. It's pretty hard getting them to rhyme and so far I only have one person who I have down. C'est difficile! But I'll try and get more, if you want, you can give me some details that you think might be useful in a riddle. I have no idea if I'm even gunna upload it . . . I'm shy when it comes to those things, heh (.
So, have a great Christmas everyone! Have fun, get drunk, blah de blah, loads of presies, and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!! (It feels like it's the end of this story, or like I'm leaving!) \dissolves in tears/ SFAM
"We hoped you wouldn't mind, Master."
Leo bowed his head and kept it bowed before Splinter, that night. His brothers were one step behind him, their eyes agreeing to Leo, and bowing slightly too. They were standing in April's apartment, April herself was behind the kitchen counter, observing.
Splinter's face had no expression, so the guys could not tell what he was thinking, and if he was mad or not. He glanced at of all his sons before he blinked and sighed, his face now held a kind smile.
"I am happy for what you did," he finally said. His sons all breathed out in relief. "And I am, as any other parent would be, proud of you. You have made a real friend there." His smiled widened slightly, and his sons seem to blush faintly.
"Her sister was a great cook, the food was excellent!" Mikey said enthusiastically. "Inspires me to experiment more." He glanced at the kitchen, as though it was calling to him.
April stepped out from behind the counter. "Oh no, Mikey; I'm not having you blowing up my kitchen, or burning my food!" She knew it was only going to be a matter of time before the guys actually relaxed in their human forms and acted completely normal - in other words they were going to probably destroy everything breakable. Of course they would never mean to do it on purpose, but if you live with four ninjas, and teenagers at that, then there would bound to be accidents. April made a note to herself for later: Hide everything breakable and valuable where the guys wouldn't touch them.
Mikey only grinned at her, while his brothers smiled and shook their heads. Mikey was great in the kitchen; it was just that when he was trying something new there tended to be a lot more accidents; or when he had finished he would try out his cooking on one of his brothers and they would hurl; or he would throw it away so many times the bin would overflow and there would be no more food left for them, because they only had small amounts down in the sewers anyway. Mikey was reminded of these every time he hinted that he was going to try something new. But this time his brothers and Splinter only groaned.
Splinter smiled at his sons as three of them shook their heads and the other grinned. They all went over and sat on the couch, while April looked at her wrist, where she checked the time on her Rolex watch.
"Guys, it's getting late, and about this time the bad guys will be wanting to play, if there is any," she said, reminding them of their patrolling night.
"Oh yeah," Donnie said, staring at the ceiling. He and his brother got up again and headed to the door. They already had their sneakers on, as they hadn't taken them off when they came in a few minutes ago.
"Oh, I wanted to stay in the kitchen," Mikey moaned, moving slower than the other three.
April looked at Leo, Donnie and Raph, eyebrows raised. "You take him away from my kitchen, and wear him out if you have to so he won't be in the mood to mess up my kitchen."
Mikey tilted his head and gave April a look. She smiled and shooed him to the door, where Raph had already disappeared. Before Leo went, he bowed to his Master, and said bye to April and Splinter.
()()()()
The morning sun shone in through the windows past the curtains that Mikey had just drawn aside. He glanced happily down at the streets below, and made his way to the kitchen with springs in his feet.
It was very early in the morning, about a quarter to six. The reason Mikey was up at this time was because he really had to start working on some masterpiece of food in the kitchen. He wanted to have something new waiting for everyone when they woke up. Praise from his family was like gold to a poor man. He needed it, and appreciated it very much.
Humming quietly to himself, Mikey tiptoed past Donnie, who was still sleeping on the couch with his mouth open, and into the kitchen, where he took out April's black wok from the cupboard under the counter. He placed it on the cooker rings and turned on the electric. Then he began pulling all sorts of foods out from the fridge and the cupboards, all that looked to promise a delicious breakfast, and would get him his praise.
When he cooked, Mikey always tried to get the best possible dish he could think of out of the food. He always worked hard. His secret was that he imaged he was trying to please the most important of people, like the President, or Leo. Nah, Leo wasn't that hard to please, it was Raph who was the challenge; Raph was picky about certain foods, and Mikey enjoyed experimenting on him, trying to find out what he really liked.
After having all of his unusual ingredients out and ready to be thrown together, Mikey made no attempt of keeping the noise down. He would let the wok thud on the ring, but he wouldn't cause too much noise. He wasn't worried about Donnie waking up because his brother had been worn out more than him yesterday in their attempt to wear him out, in April's request. Donnie wasn't a light sleeper like Leo, but he wasn't a deep sleeper like Mikey and Raph.
As the bin piled high with the empty packets and unneeded food, the time went by quickly for Mikey. He had much fun experimenting, and he had come up with a highly praise-worth breakfast, that was laid on the kitchen counter, in full view to anyone, for when everyone got up.
Grinning as he imagined everyone's faces when they tried his cooking, Mikey slipped his apron off and looked up to a groan.
Donnie was stirring. His forehead furrowed as he lifted his head for a second, eyes still closed, and sniffed the air. Something smelled good. He opened his eyes and they seemed to open right on the plates that were placed on the counter. Donnie pushed himself up, and nearly had a heart attack when Mikey appeared in his face.
"Hey Donnie, smell something?" Mikey asked, grin on his face. He was bending his back to come down to Donnie's level. He straightened up and watched his brother climb off the couch.
Donnie stretched, and glanced at the clock. It was eight O'clock. His eyes shifted to the plates again. His stomach growled, and this only seemed to widen Mikey's grin. Donnie knew his brother had been up a while, probably testing some new cooking recipes for them.
"Okay, smells good, whatcha cooked?" Donnie asked, voice breaking slightly as he stretched.
Mikey shrugged. "I dunno, but you have to try it and tell me whatcha think."
Donnie groaned, but the breakfast Mikey had cooked up smelled delicious. He was a little wary of it at first when Mikey held out a fork for him. It was a mixture of things, and looked unappetising. However, it did smell nice, and when Donnie hastily and gingerly put a forkful in his mouth and chew, it tasted much better than it looked.
Mikey watched his brother. Sure, they all look like they're about to eat dung when they slowly take a bite, but it showed him how wrong their impression of his food was. Donnie's scrunched up face loosened and he tilted his head thoughtfully while he chewed. He began to nod.
"Mikey, this is REALLY great," he said, swallowing and taking another bite.
Mikey smiled smugly. "As usual!"
"Whassis noise?" A groggy voice spoke behind them.
They both turned to see April walking down the stairs, yawning widely, her dressing robe wrapped around her.
"Oh hey Ape, I made breakies!" Mikey said as April walked over to them, sniffing.
"Um, I can smell it, smells good Mike," she said, and Mikey beamed. He gave her a fork, and a plate and directed her onto one of the kitchen stools, where she ate it, praising him.
A few seconds after she had tucked in, Leo and Raph came tumbling down the stairs, landing in a tangled heap at the bottom, groaning.
"Raph, you klutz, you tripped me up," Leo moaned, pushing Raph's leg off his head.
"Ouch, well you pushed me," Raph said, putting a hand to his head and making no attempt to get up.
"I didn't, I stumbled."
"Well then I didn't trip you on the stairs!"
"Yes you did, I saw your foot!"
"It wasn't my fault, and why didn't you step over it then?"
"Guys," April said, putting her plate back down on the counter. She pulled her robe cord tighter around her thin waist.
Both Leo and Raph stopped arguing and looked up tiredly, eye half open.
"I smell -" Leo said.
"Something good," Raph finished.
They both scrambled to their feet (after tripping over themselves again), and walked over to where Mikey was grinning, and holding out two forks for them.
"Been experimenting again, Mikey?" Leo asked, taking a fork and digging into a plate full of food.
"Yep. Up bright and early to made you guys something worth eating in the morning." Mikey smiled proudly.
"And it was worth getting up for," April said, swallowing her last mouthful and putting the plate in the sink. "Thanks Mikey, that was great." She hugged him, and he kept his arm around her shoulders when they broke, still smiling. He told himself it would be worthwhile.
A soft padding behind them made them look up, and see Splinter observing them all, a smile on his face.
"Morning Master Splinter," all bros said together, bowing respectfully. The old rat bowed his head, and made his way to his armchair. Mikey hurried over to him with a fork and a plate of his excellent cooking.
"Ah, I heard wonders about this little feast," Splinter said, taking the plate. "Thank you, Michelangelo." Mikey beamed.
"Guys, you better go get changed," April said, looking at the clock. They were all still in their nightwear; completely indistinguishable.
"Okay," Leo nodded. "Guys, upstairs." They all tramped to the stairs where they climbed and disappeared. April and Splinters, eyes on the ceiling, listened to their voices.
"Ow, hey - Mikey, that's mine!" Raph's voice could be heard.
"Sorry, looks orange in the dark."
"Donnie, they're my pants."
"Sorry Leo, oo, money."
"Where? Gimme! Leo, how could you hold out on us!?"
"Mikey, gerrout of it! Donnie! Put that back in my pocket! It's April's money, not ours."
"Hey, these socks are odd. I got one blue on and one orange one I think."
"Mikey, that's my sock! Donnie THAT'S mine! Raph . . . those're yours, yeah."
April looked at Splinter, who was smiling, nearly laughing. April laughed.
A few minutes later, the guys thundered down the stairs, all wearing the correct clothes, and each looking slightly miserable and tired.
"Cheer up guys, you soon won't have to put up with this when you change back."
As soon as she said it she knew she shouldn't have. April cringed slightly when she saw the effect of that sentence on the guys. They all looked positively miserable now. Except Mikey, who was only looking miserable.
Leo decided to be positive about it. "Yeah, you're right Ape. I'll be glad when we don't have to do this every morning." Would he be glad? He put on a brave face anyway.
"Excluding Saturdays and Sundays," Donnie added, with a stretch and a yawn.
"You do not have to wait long, my sons," Splinter said, drawing all of their gazes to him. "Your time is near."
()()()()
"Man, I don't think I can take any more of Macbeth," Mikey moaned as they made their way to their first class, English.
"We've only had two classes on it," Donnie said. "I don't mind." He smiled.
"These words dost not surprise mine ears," Mikey joked in Macbeth language.
As they laughed, they made their way into their classroom, where the teacher was writing something on the board, in preparation for their class, or maybe for the next one. Prida was already in her seat when they walked in. She was talking to some guy, who seemed to be embarrassing her. When the four bros walked up to them, the boy looked at them and went back to his seat, across the room and a row back.
The bros took their seats as more people filed in the room.
"What did he want?" Mikey asked Prida, who had been slouched in her seat, but now sat up straight.
Prida went red slightly. "He asked me if I wanted to go to the disco with him." She glanced back at the boy, who had just glanced at her and turned back to his friends. "I don't even know him."
Mikey put on a pout. "But Prida, you're going with me, right? Please!"
Prida couldn't help it. She grinned widely. "Mikey, I'm - not - going!"
Donnie reached over and put his hand on Mikey's arm. "Easy tiger, she don't wanna go. You're gunna annoy her so much she's gunna punch you like she did Ci Ci."
They all chuckled, and then silenced as the last of the late people found their chairs and the English class started.
It was, as Mikey said at the end of the first period, a boring class for everyone except Donnie, who used all his ink in his biro that he had to ask the teacher for a spare. They spent this class writing out quotes from the play's first scene, which was pretty short; so how the hell did Donnie use all of his ink? Because he asked the teacher if he could go onto the next act, and the next, and the next, until the bell rang for period two.
As they came out of that classroom, Donnie was flexing his fingers, explaining to his frowning brothers that they were stiff from all the writing. They weren't surprised, and again Mikey said 'These words dost not surprise mine ears'. Prida found that funny.
"Er, Mikey, Raph, we've just gone past your room," Leo said, pointing behind him.
They both frowned. "What we got?" They asked.
"Maths," Donnie replied. His brothers groaned, and trotted back along the corridor, disappearing into a room where, a second later, shouts rang through the corridor, until the door was slammed shut.
Shaking his head, Donnie stepped into his own room, saying a quick 'see ya' to Leo and Prida, who continued down the corridor until they reached their room.
They class got started pretty quickly, and Prida struck up a conversation with Leo about this upcoming disco. She tried to hide it, but Leo could tell she was excited a little bit. He could see the brightness in her eyes when she talked about it. She wanted to go, he realised; then why was she always saying she didn't want to? Just because of wearing a dress?
"Are all of you going?" Prida asked. "I know Mikey is, I wondered if you, Don or Raph might go as well." She looked slightly shy, but then she got over it quickly.
Leo smiled and cocked his head to one side. "Yeah, I haven't been to a . . . erm, many discos. I wouldn't want to miss out, and see my brothers go crazy. Mikey always does when there's a party."
Prida laughed. "Yeah, just by knowing him I can tell he's a mental type. But he's cute." She giggled.
After Maths, they both walked out together and down the corridor, where they met Donnie just coming out of his room, and Mikey and Raph to ran out of theirs and around the corner. Mr Reily came out a second after they had disappeared, looking ready to kill. Leo, Donnie and Prida looked at each other, then walked past the steaming teacher and round the corner.
They met Raph and Mikey at the usual place; the lockers. They were both smiling to themselves, and Matt was with them, smiling too.
"Okay, what did you do?" Leo asked when they reached them. He raised an eyebrow.
"Sir was making fun of me," Mikey started, grinning. "So we writ down on a bit of paper the words 'kiss it or kick it', put some glue on it and laid it on Reily's chair -" he laughed. "He sat down, and about twenty minutes later, just as the bell rang he noticed all the other kids in the class laughing and pointing at him! He took it off just as we bolted out the door!"
He and Raph collapsed laughing. Matt was chuckling too, and Prida and Donnie looked at each other, rolling their eyes, smiling.
Their next class was R.E, and when the bell rang for it to begin, they all made their way to their room, saying bye to Matt.
"Hiyya Miss!" Mikey said cheerfully to the teacher. She smiled back at him, chuckling at his happy manner.
"Okay kiddie winkles," she said. "Since it's near the disco and since you have exams next week, I'm gunna let you watch a video." She was a nice teacher, sometimes sarcastic, smart, nice to everyone, funny and cool.
Everyone in the class cheered, and then the teacher pulled out the video The Fast and The Furious. While it played, some people talked and some people watched. A few were playing cards.
"Geeze, this feels like the holidays," Prida said, smiling. She was leaning on the table watching the film. She hadn't seen it before.
"This what you do when the holidays are near?" Donnie asked, his hand was on his side, massaging it; it ached.
"Yeah, don't you?" Prida looked away form the TV to him.
Donnie frowned. "We didn't go to - I mean no we didn't." He added quickly when he saw Leo, Raph and Mikey's faces behind Prida. She frowned and looked over her shoulder at them; they quickly sat back down, eyes on the TV.
Their next class was a not so fun one: Physics. Everyone except Donnie groaned, but that was probably because he was too busy trying to tune down the pain in his side. It seemed to be playing up today.
"Eugh, I hate Physics," Prida complained as she and the guys walked in, the teacher heard and shrugged.
This class wasn't as fun as the last. They spent this period doing revision, and even Donnie put his pen down on the table and began to massage his head, still with his other hand on his side. Leo looked at him, concerned.
"Hey, dude, are you alright?" Mikey asked, frowning.
"Yeah," Donnie droned. "Well - no, my side is killing me, I have a rotten headache, and this is the first time I can't be bothered to do any work, because I can't . . ."
"Sure you can, It's just your headache letting ya down," Mikey said, attempting to cheer his brother up. Donnie smiled, though it was a small one.
Physics seemed like the longest class so far, and it felt like two days later they were finally leaving it, and heading for a welcome lunch. The canteen couldn't have shone better in their eyes.
"Pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza!" Mikey chanted. He ran through the thin crowd of people (it was seconds after the bell so most people were still in their classrooms) into the canteen, closely followed by his brothers and Prida.
Donnie and Raph grabbed a table, while Leo, Mikey and Prida went to get grub. They came back a few seconds later with steaming pizzas for everyone (two for Mikey. "Only two!?" Raph looked amazed), a few little snacks for taking out with them and three drinks; one for Prida, and two for the guys to share, though Prida ended up sharing hers with Mikey, who drank a full one to himself.
"I'm so surprised you don't get indigestion eating like that," Prida chuckled as Mikey chomped on a slab of flapjack.
"He was born to eat like that," Leo joked, smiling as they all watched Mikey eat. He nodded in agreement to Leo.
After lunch they quickly registered and made their way to their fifth class of the day; French. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. The teacher told them to practise saying and memorising some words and testing a friend, while she went around correcting them.
"I'm still leaning how to say 'J 'mappelle Mikey," Mikey moaned. He looked enviously at Donnie. "He's just a boff!"
"C'est facile, Mikey!" Donnie said, beaming.
"C'est trop difficile," Raph muttered, head in his hands. "Et barbant."
"Didn't tell me you could say that," Donnie frowned, smiling.
"I saw it in a book and memorised it, that's not hard is it?" Raph said.
Prida smiled, as Mikey gawped. He at least thought, hoped, Raph would be as rubbish as he was at French. Maybe he should learn more. Leo smiled, reading Mikey's thoughts from his facial expression.
Their next and final class of the day was Business Studies, of which they all took, including Matt and his brother Owen, along with a new friend of Matt's, Ben Taylor.
Their class was boring, and was, as boring classes are, slow. No one paid any attention to the work, and even Donnie stopped, put his open down and joined din the conversation. They didn't get in trouble for not doing any work because their teacher didn't care. He was sat at his desk, puzzling over a crossword in the local newspaper.
The slow, what-seemed-like-two-days class ended forty minutes later, and everyone rushed out. But before leaving, Donnie stood behind the teacher, who had not moved, and stared thoughtfully at the crossword. Then he smiled to himself and whispered the answer to the teacher, then he rushed out to meet his brothers.
The teacher didn't move, but a second later he looked at what the kid had just told him, smiled and put it in. A crossword complete.
Okay, I'm finishing this chapter right here! I have had a horrible case of Writers Block, which kept bugging me, then going away, then coming back again. Damn thing, and I share my sympathy for HexAdecimal. Hope you recover soon ;). Okay, since my troubled Writer's Block issue thingy keeps annoying me, could I ask for some suggestions, just for something to happen for days Wednesday and Thursday, because I haven't got anything planned for this until I get to Friday. But I might have gotten over my writer's block (I'm trying to be strong about it) and have thought of something, but it's unlikely. So, just a few suggestions of what little events or scraps, or whatever for Wednesday or Thursday. Thankies ;) ------- Oh and since it's Christmas, I thought I'd conjure up a massive imaginary Christmas card to you all saying thanks for the reviews, thanks for adding me in their stories and overall thanks for updating YOUR stories! Lol, \hands over huge Christmas card which stands in the TMNT ff cabinet. It has a die-for cute pic of the guys on the front wearing read Santa hats and battling with candy canes, lol! (I wish there were such a card!)/ ------ Oh, and I have to say that throwing Legolas at me, Daydream, was not nice for poor Leggie! \Cuddles the action figure/ Mind you it did hurt, lol \rubs bruise on head/ Hehe, I got Sais, thanks Lenni! \Brandishes Sais at Daydream/ Hehe.
Ziptango, plz update Twisted again, I know I'm asking straight after you just updated, but it's so cooooool! ---- Just a quick note, I've been working on a little riddle fic about authors. It's pretty hard getting them to rhyme and so far I only have one person who I have down. C'est difficile! But I'll try and get more, if you want, you can give me some details that you think might be useful in a riddle. I have no idea if I'm even gunna upload it . . . I'm shy when it comes to those things, heh (.
So, have a great Christmas everyone! Have fun, get drunk, blah de blah, loads of presies, and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!! (It feels like it's the end of this story, or like I'm leaving!) \dissolves in tears/ SFAM