Chapter 2: A Purple Dragons Christmas

Meanwhile, on the mean streets of New York City…

A group of Purple Dragons stood around an alleyway, definitely not in Christmas spirit. One of them, a red-haired man with a mean face, had his switchblade out and was flinging it at a piece of trash on the ground.

"You're lousy at that, Spike," one of the others, a big burly guy sneered at him. "Lemme show you how it's done."

He picked up the switchblade and flicked it with flair at the paper on the ground. It barely hit the corner.

"You both suck at dis," a grungy thin Dragon said before trying his hand at their make-shift game.

"Hey, boys, check this out," another one said, drawing their attention to a man walking alone down the street toward them.

He was wearing a somewhat tattered coat but he looked clean and put-together, if a little distracted. Looking down at the ground, his face was set in a thoughtful and troubled expression. When the Purple Dragons started laughing and stalking his direction, he finally looked up and realized the dangerous situation he had walked into.

As the man turned around and tried to speed up, Spike spoke up,

"Hey, where ya goin', fella?"

"Yeah, don'tcha have a Christmas gift fer us?"

The man tried to run off, but the Dragons ran after him. When they caught up to him, they shoved him up against the wall of a brick building.

"Let's see what kinda good will you've got for us," they laughed as the man stared around him in fear.

"Help!" he cried out, not knowing that four heroes-in-a-half-shell were nearby.

The teenage mutant ninja turtles, with great agility and skill, leapt across tall buildings with all kinds of flips and showy jumps, laughing together as the snow fell around them.

"Dudes, I am so psyched about this!" Mikey yelled out as he did a black flip to cross from one building to another.

"Splinter's definitely been needing a new robe for a while now," Donnie said as he used his bo to vault over the other turtles and take the lead.

"What's da name of dis shop again?" Raph asked as he caught up to his brainiac brother.

"Russ' Short, Hairy, and Surly Clothing," Leo deadpanned as he ran past both of them.

"Hardy har, Fearless," Raph leapfrogged over his older brother.

"It's that neato Japanese shop we got April's kimono from," Mikey said, "I forget what it's called, but it's right by the place with the sushi pizza!"

"Oh yeah," Raph said, "I like dat place. Ya know, when we're done buying Splintah's gift-"

He was cut off by a loud cry for help. The four of them changed course as a unit, with Leo quickly re-taking the lead.

They came to a stop on top of the building where a group of Purple Dragons had pressed a poor man against and were currently going through the contents of his wallet.

"Aw, look," one of the gangsters mocked as he pulled out a picture, "What a sweet little face!"

"Please," the man begged, "I need to get my daughter a gift for Christmas! I finally got my bonus, she needs to have something to open tomorrow morning!"

"Oh, and what about the rest of us?" Another Dragon laughed as he gestured around to himself and the other gang members. "What're we gonna get for Christmas without generous donations from suckers like you?"

"How 'bout a big lump a coal?" A voice from behind them called out.

"Shoot," One of the Dragons with a purple tattoo across his face muttered, recognizing the voice.

Before they knew what had happened, all of the Dragons were attempting to fight off four mutated turtles. They didn't last long.

"Aw man," Mikey groaned as the last of the Dragons ran off. "I wanted a big boss fight for Christmas!"

"Shut up, numbskull," Raph said as the Dragons started to disappear from sight. "They still got dat guy's money."

The man who was mugged was staring up at them in fear. He had watched the fight completely frozen and didn't seem to be able to move even now that the fight was over.

"Are you alright, sir?" Donnie asked him. Instead of answering, the man finally got up and started running in the opposite direction of the Purple Dragons.

"I guess he is," Leo said, sheathing his swords. "Let's go, we can still get Splinter's present if we hurry."

"But whaddabout dat guy's daughter?" Raph demanded. "He said she ain't gonna have a Christmas present witout dat money!"

Leo rubbed his neck and gestured helplessly.

"That's awful, I know, but-"

"But nothin'! We gotta get his money back!"

"Raph, we have to get Splinter's gift! He's our father, and we've already let him down by forgetting to get him something until today! I wish we could help that guy, but we just don't have time right now!"

Raph growled at his brother's response but didn't reply

"Why don't we split up?" Donnie suggested. "Mikey can go with Leo and I'll go with Raph."

Leo looked around at his brothers.

"I don't know…" he trailed off.

"Well I do! Let's go, Don," Raph said as he ran after the Purple Dragons. Leo sighed and turned to Mikey.

"Let's go, I guess," he shrugged.

"It'll be okay, Leo," Mikey grinned at him, "They'll save Christmas for that little dudette and we'll save Christmas for Splinter!"

Leo rolled his eyes and watched his two other brothers run off. He sighed. When he turned to face Michelangelo, his little brother was still grinning at him, his expression so innocently happy that Leo couldn't help but huff out a laugh and a smile stole across his face.

"Let's go, Mikey," he said as they headed in the direction of the store.