Chapter Two

Breakfast was finished. It was time. Raph and Leo was solemn, pilling their dishes on top of the ever growing tower. They had not exchange a word since yesterday, which caused for a high tension practice and breakfast. Mike couldn't stop smiling though, this was just to perfect. Don too, was smiling. With much persistence last night, he was able to guess to what Mike had been thinking. His guess was conformed when he saw Mike go over to April's late last night to pick up some sweaters…

"Are you guys ready!?" Mikey asked, his excitement barely contained. Leo and Raph nodded solemnly as Mike continued. "GOOD!!…you'll be needing these." Mikey popped four sweaters out from no where and stuffed them into his brothers' hands. Raph looked at him puzzled.

"What are these for?" He asked, eyeing his brother in orange. Mikey only smiled.

"You'll see! Ok, is everyone finished?" no answer. "Alright! Then all of you follow meeeee!!!!" Mikey marched out of the room, but no one followed. Donny eyed his brown and gold sweater wearily, he was not wearing that. There were white puffs coming out of the sweater, representing snowflakes. Mikey came back in the room.

"OK, when I say 'follow me' that implies that you all should follow me." Leo looked up at him, his sweater in his grasp.

"Mikey…what is this?" He pointed to the sweater. Mike did not hesitate in answering.

"Your sweater." he stated just as simply. Leo blinked.

"…but it's pink." Leo stated, not believing his brother.

"It will keep you warm." Was his response. Raph guaffed, laughing hard while pointing at Leo's sweater. When he looked at his own though, his laughing stopped. He was appalled.

"MIKEY, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" Raph shook his rainbow colored sweater at his brother. Mike nervously backed into the den before explaining.

"There were so few sweaters to chose from at the Salvation Army, those were the best of the lot." Raph blinked.

"Well then why is your sweater just plain brown. That's way better then any of this crap." Raph glared at him, Mikey backed up further, running into the couch of the other room.

"Only one of us could afford to get a sweater from JC Penny." Raph got up from his seat, bomb rushing towards Mikey. Mikey yelped, and smiled. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for. Mike ran out of the door, and out into the tunnels, Raphael at his heals in hot pursuit. Leo and Don looked at each other when they realized that the other two might not be coming back.

"Maybe we should follow them…" Don suggested.

"Yeah" Leo and Don got up, grapping everyone's coats and their own sweaters before heading out of the door, following their brother's tracks and Mikey's yelps.

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"Where the hell are we?" Raph asked, looking around. Mike had lead them off into the near by woods. They walked for some time, Don and Leo had caught up easily, and now they found themselves in a clearing filled with snow.

"This…" Mikey motioned to the snow covered clearing, " is our battle ground. There are going to be two teams, probably Me and Raph, vs. Don and Leo. The game? Ultimate Snow Warfare!" Mike was excited. Everyone else just gave him blank looks.

"What is that!?" Don asked, he spoke up first, closing his jacket around himself. It was cold. He was thankful for the sweater, despite how ugly it was. Mikey blinked.

"WHY IT'S ONLY THE BEST GAME THERE IS!!" Still blank looks. Mike sighed. He hated explaining trivial things like rules and directions.

"Ok…we are split into two teams, Me and Raph vs. Don and Leo. At the beginning of the game, both teams have about a half an hour to build snow men troops and devise plans and tactics. The object of the game is to destroy as many of the other team's snow man troops as you can while keeping them from destroying your own. The team that destroys all of their opponent's snow man troops before the opponent destroys theirs, wins. You can make as many troops or as few as you want, but remember you have to use strategy. Any questions?" Raph raised his hand.

"Yes Raph…"

"We don't have any gloves and stuff, it's freaking cold."

Mike rolled his eyes, and pulled out blue, red, purple, and orange mittens and hats from out of no where. They were all immediately grateful and put them on fast. Mike noticed, that Raph was still shivering. He looked at Raph's open coat. "Raph, where's your sweater?"

Raph looked at him angrily. "I'm not wearing that crap!!"

Mike rolled his eyes. "Whatever, are there any more questions?" Don raised his hand. "None? That's great! Lets get started then!"

"But, I have a quest-"

"Raph come on, we have planning to do!" Mike grabbed Raph, of whom smiled. This was going to be even better than beating Leo into a bloody pulp…well maybe not better, but sill pretty close to satisfying. Leo thought like wise, he would not lose. He grabbed Don's arm.

"I have a question!" Leo, paid him no mind, for they too had a lot of planning to do.

"I HAVE A BLOODY QUESTION!!!" Birds flew away from the near by trees as the whole forest went quiet. All three pairs of eyes turned to look at their brother, of which looked infuriated.

"What is it Donny?" Mike asked innocently

"What about food?! We'll need something to eat later!" Don stated through clenched teeth. Mike chuckled.

"OH YEAH, I almost forgot! Don, why didn't you say something sooner?" Donatello seethed as Mike pulled out a picket basket from no where.

'… how is he doing that?!…' Mike then placed the basket on the ground.

" OK, the other rules. Once you give up, your out of the game. Then, and only then, can you eat these yummy P 'n J sandwiches I made last night." Mike smiled, licking his lips while looking at the basket. The others watched him as he eyed the basket hungrily.

"umm…Mikey?" Leo asked, he wasn't sure if he was interrupting anything. Mike looked up, startled and then ashamed, as if caught doing something wrong.

"What?" Mike blinked.

" Do you ever sleep?" Leo looked puzzled. Leo couldn't recall any time he had seen Mike sleep, especially last night. Mike thought for a moment.

"…no. OK, let the games begin!" Mike grabbed Raph's arm once again and pulled him to one side of the field. Leo soaked it all in before grabbing Don's arm. They had to get to work.

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Leo was pleased, Team 'Blue STIKE Force' was finally coming together. Leo had strategically placed their battle station at the edge of the clearing, parallel to where team 'Crimson FLAMES' were established. From their position in the clearing, 'Blue STRIKE' was able to see the opposing army, but, thanks to Donny's trench, there was no way that the 'FLAMES' could see them. Leo watched his opponents, laughing at their diminutive efforts. They constructed many solders, but all of them were poorly done, they did not stand a chance. Leo turned around to look at his own solders. He had personally made them all. He decided to make three large and sturdy troops, that way, there was a better chance of them surviving if hit. Leo smiled at his accomplishments, it would take a very powerful snow ball to knock down these bad boys. Meanwhile, Donny was busy finishing the snow trench. Leo grinned at the troops.

" Aren't they great Don?!" Leo asked, eyes still glued to the troops. Don looked up for a second before getting back to his trench. Don sighed, his hands were killing him and the sweater scratched him unmercifully. Sweat dripped down his face.

"Yeah, great Leo…" Don rolled his eyes. Leo grinned, his back to Donny. Everything was finally coming together.

"Hey, maybe we'll name them." Don looked up again. What was Leo on?! Unbeknown to Leo, he continued. "Yeah, this guy could be…Private….Orason! Yeah, and that one could be Private Elms. Oh and this one…" Leo approached the center solider. "This big fella here could be Private Nessie…he's Irish ya' know…" Leo threw a knowledgeable look at Don, who looked up from the trench once again.

"No I didn't know that Leo…" Don had had just about enough he could take and the game hasn't even start yet. Leo suddenly looked back at Don and frowned.

"Your not finished yet?!" Don looked up at him in disbelieve. Leo watched him expectantly and then gave a look of disappointment. Don rolled his eyes again before going back to the exhausting work of digging a trench.

"…well if you would help me instead of ogling you privates, then maybe I'd be finished by now…" Don muttered underneath his breath. Leo turned around again.

"What?" Leo blinked.

"Nothin' Leo." Don snickered to himself at his little joke. Leo obliviously turned back to is solders, smiling once again. They were gonna win, he just knew it!

~Meanwhile~

"We are gonna win, Dude, I know it!!" Mike excitedly made another soldier. At his last count he counted fifteen. Now they were at about twenty. Raph looked up from his own work to throw a smile at Mike.

"Look at all these guys, they're great Mike!" Raph was pleased. They spent the first fifteen minutes strategizing, and the last minutes they spent getting their army together.

Mikey stood, and counted the solders.

"…twenty-one…twenty-two…twenty-three. TWENTY THREE SOLDIERS!" He high-fived Raph of whom looked just as excited, although cold. Mikey noticed Raph's shivering.

"Dude, just put on the stupid sweater! It doesn't look that bad!" Mike shook his head. Raph only pulled his coat tighter.

"Over my dead body." was the response. Mike rolled his eyes, Raph was just so stubborn. If he didn't put it on soon, the dead body thing could be arranged that's for sure. Mike looked at his watch and 'whooped.'

"IT'S TIMMMMMMEEEEE!" He yelled across the field. As a response Don and Leo's heads popped up over the adjacent snow bank. Mike was startled, he did not see them over there. Raph cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Your goin' down Leo!" Raph screamed across the wide field. He saw Leo cup his own hands over his face.

"Not if you go down first!!" was the response. Raph seethed, how he disliked that guy. He heard Don's voice then.

"Mikey, Team 'Blue THUNDER' is ready." Don screamed. Mike thought for a second.

"I thought your name was 'Blue STRIKE force?'" Mikey yelled. Don looked at Leo .

"I didn't agree to that name…" Don watched Leo in astonishment, how could he name them without his consent. Leo looked at Don sheepishly. "When did we get that name?" Don asked, a hand on his hip. Leo explained himself.

"Well…you looked so busy making that trench, I came up with it myself." Don glared at Leo, who looked at him innocently. Turning back to Mikey, he yelled.

"Well...our NEW name is BLUE THUNDER, ISN'T THAT RIGHT LEO?!" Leo's head appeared over the snow once again.

"Yeah Don!" he said in normal tone. Don glared at him. Leo sighed. "YEAH DON!" he yelled. Don smiled. After a few moments Mike's voice screamed out again.

"Alright, team 'Crimson FLAMES' is readddddyyyy!!!" Mike and Raph high fived again before Raph screamed out.

"THE WAR BEGINSSS!" He yelled, picking up two handfuls of snow and launching himself in the direction of the 'THUNDER's base.

' This is just TOO EASY!' Raph grinned as he ran toward the snow bank, two giant snowballs in his mittens.

" FEEL THE WRATH OF CRIMSON FLA-AHHHHHHHHHHH!" At the last second, Leo and Don shot up from the bank, snowballs in hand. Raph yelled as he was assaulted . He quickly ran out of his own arson and was overwhelmed with snowballs. He tried to dodge, but was overthrown none the less. Raph made a hasty retreat, however, the transaction was not a total loss.

"Mikey, they've got a freaking trench over there!" Mike looked at him astonished. A trench took a lot of time to make.

"How many snow men did they have though?" Mike was puzzled. Raph hesitated, as if trying to remember. Finally he answered.

"They had about three. It was hard to tell though, but it was about three." Mike looked satisfied, this had answered his question. Mike thought for a second.

"Raph, do you know what that mea-AHHHHHHHH!" He yelled when he finally saw Donny, of whom had snuck up behind Raph while they talked. Raph turned just in time to see Donny throw four well aimed snowballs, completely taking out four and a half of their soldiers. Raph was pissed.

"HEY!" he reached out to grab Don. Don guffawed and spun. He easily slipped out of Raph's grip leaving his coat in Raph's grasp. Don laughed and ran like hell all the way back to his own trench, where he and Leo immediately high fived. Their first attack had been a success. Raph's eyes narrowed as he watched Don leave and their celebration when he returned to his trench. He closed his grasp on Don's coat, his anger boiled.

"This….means….WARRR!" Raphael flung the coat down. It was on.

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R and R