Chapter 20: Pizza Time
Michelangelo looked through the kitchen before pulling out a large clump of dough. He then tossed it around before dropping it on a wooden peel.
Eyes narrowed into pure white slits, his face twisted into an uncharacteristically serious one, Mikey outstretched his hands until his knuckles popped before smoothing it out into a nice wide and flat circular shape, even giving it a toss for good measure.
Mikey twirled a wooden cooking spoon in his hand, giving it a little kiss before taking out a spoonful of tomato sauce.
Dipping the spoon, Mikey spread the sauce over the dough before adding bits of shredded cheese that he had cut up with the blade of his kusarigama.
With everything all set, Mikey placed the dough into the oven and waited for several minutes as it cooked.
When it was finally done, Mikey grinned as he took it out before heading out of the kitchen where his brothers, Po, Shifu, and the Five waited outside in the tiny courtyard of Mr. Ping's noodle shop.
After they had all decided to go get something to eat, Po had proposed that they go to his dad's restaurant, which they all had unanimously agreed to.
Upon arriving, Mr. Ping was all too happy to give them a free serving of his famous Secret Ingredient Soup to all of them.
It also gave Mikey the brilliant idea to introduce some of his new friends to his favorite food as well once he saw all the ingredients and materials were there.
"Hope you legendary kung fu masters of awesomeness are ready to taste some of the greatest food this century!" The party turtle grinned excitedly.
Viper took a whiff of the new scent that filled the air. "So, what exactly is it you've made for us, Mikey?" She asked.
Mikey's smile brightened to almost impossible levels. "I present to you all… the glory of pizza!" He then dramatically tossed the freshly made pizza onto the table.
Po and the Five gazed at the pizza wondrously while Shifu simply eyed it curiously.
"That… doesn't sound very japanese." Tigress was the first to speak, having been told by the Turtles that it was something they ate almost all the time back home.
"It's an Italian dish, from Europe." Donnie explained. "One the four of us are quite fond of."
"So… how are we supposed to all eat it?" Mantis asked, noting how the pizza was too big for all of them to eat at once.
"Ah, that's where the slices come in, my dude." Mikey remarked before tossing the pizza into the air. "Behold, the new Turbo Ginsu!" He announced, dramatically gesturing to Leonardo.
Leo simply grinned at his baby brother's antics as he stood up from his seat, unsheathing one of his katanas before slicing the pizza into perfect slices, with each slice landing in everyone's plates.
"It dices, it slices, and yet makes French fries in three different-"
Mikey immediately stopped his dramatic antics as one of the slices landed on Shifu's head.
"Whoops!" Leo and Mikey cringed while everyone else froze.
Shifu looked less than pleased as the melted cheese on the slice was starting to spill onto his head.
"Sorry about that, Master Shifu." Leo said sheepishly, slowly peeling the slice off the red panda's head and setting it down on the plate.
Shifu simply sighed tiredly as he lightly whipped the melted cheese off his fur.
With that over with, Mikey and Leo sat down in their seats again.
"Eat it while it's hot and sticky!" The orange clad turtle as he and his brothers immediately dug into their respective slices.
Po and the Five stared at their own slices before each picking them up and taking a bite. Their eyes lit up in wonder.
"This weird food is… AWESOME!" Po exclaimed, chowing down on his slice.
"Yeah, this is really good!" Mantis added. "Almost as good as that soup."
"Definitely better than tofu everyday." Monkey remarked, taking another bite of his slice.
"Cheese, tomato sauce, and dough all mixed together?" Crane questioned, closely inspecting his slice. "Quite the combination."
"This stuff is delicious!" Viper exclaimed, immediately taking another bite.
Tigress swallowed her bite while everyone else waited in anticipation for her opinion.
"It is… enjoyable." Was her simple response, with Shifu nodding in agreement.
"Seriously, though, thanks for coming, guys." Po thanked as he swallowed the last of his slice. "I really appreciate it."
Monkey shrugged, "Well, it's the least we could do. After all, you and your guardians beat Tai Lung. And none of us could've done that!"
Just then, Mr. Ping emerged from the kitchen, carrying several bowls of noodle soup.
"Many thanks to you all for giving my son his dream," Mr. Ping said, setting the bowls on the table, "and gracing us with your presence at our restaurant."
Shifu bowed his head. "The honor is ours."
"Yeah, thanks for having us!" Raph added as they each picked up their chopsticks.
"Well, don't just sit there, dig in!" Mr. Ping exclaimed, to which the others were all too eager to oblige.
Everyone immediately dug into their respective bowls of noodle soup, all of them enjoying quite a lot.
"This is delicious, Mr. Ping." Viper complimented, taking a nice long sip of noodles with a spoon.
"I'll say this, the Secret Ingredient version is definitely the best version." Monkey added, eagerly slurping down more noodles.
"Hmm, I'd have to disagree." Crane said before quickly panicking as he realized he may have just unintentionally insulted Po's father's cooking. "Not-not that I think it's bad at Mr. Ping! They're both equally good! Neither one of them is bad, it's just that I-" He rambled frantically.
Expression flat as a board, Raph quickly clamped Crane's beak shut before dragging him off before he could embarrass himself further.
"Don't fight it." Raph told Crane over his muffled protests. "You'll thank me later."
Meanwhile, Tigress had already finished her bowl of noodles. And to be honest… she had never tasted anything so good in her life, actually savoring the flavor of her meal.
"How do you like it, Tigress?" Leo asked with a bit of a grin, having already finished his noodles.
"Heavenly." Tigress smiled at Po and Mr. Ping, giving them both an approving nod.
"Okay, seriously, what's the secret ingredient? You gotta tell us!" Monkey said eagerly.
"Of course not!" Mr. Ping stated. "Because then it wouldn't be a secret!"
That got a good laugh out of Po, Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey as the old goose cleared the spoons and bowls off the table.
Tigress still sat in her spot while everyone else got up, with the others offering to help clean the kitchen and set the tables a little, leaving the tiger master to herself.
"Hey, Tigress."
Snapping out of her thoughts, she turned to see Po standing next to her, holding a pot of leftover noodles.
"Oh, hello, Dragon Warrior." She greeted him in a very formal manner with a small smile.
Po shifted awkwardly. "I was uh… wondering if you wanted any seconds?" He asked with a nervous smile.
"Actually, I was wondering if I could ask you something."
"Oh, uh, sure." Po said awkwardly before sitting down next to her. "Ask away."
Tigress took a deep breath. "When you and your guardians fought Tai Lung, how did you…" She trailed off.
"Do you… do you want to know how we did it?" Po asked, a small grin playing on his lips.
Tigress simply nodded.
Still grinning, Po pulled out the Dragon Scroll and opened it before he placed it on the table in front of her.
Tigress furrowed her brow in confusion. "I… I still don't understand."
Po still smiled as he leaned in, gently whispering into her ear, "There is no secret ingredient." He smiled against the feline's twitching ear, his voice soothing against her fur that made her feel a strange feeling in her heart that felt foreign to her. And yet, for reasons she could not explain… she liked it.
However, Tigress quickly snapped back to reality as she realized the panda's words, blinking rapidly before staring down at her reflection on the Scroll.
It was then that she finally realized it too. All this time, she and her comrades had believed that the Dragon Scroll contained unimaginable limitless power… but then it turned out to be blank. But the Dragon Warrior and his four guardians had found that the power of the Scroll was really just a simple lesson.
She didn't need any special powers to feel like she was enough. None of them did.
It wasn't nothing, it was everything.
Feeling humbled more than she had been in years, Tigress to the panda - no, Po - with a soft genuine smile as her amber eyes met his jade.
"Po… thank you." She thanked him.
His ears perking up, Po turned away, a light blush adorning his cheeks as the white fur turned a tad pink.
"H-hey, what are friends for?" Po stammered, bashfully rubbing the back of his neck before sliding a newly refilled bowl of noodles towards her.
Unbeknownst to the two of them, the others were sitting at the other side of the courtyard having heard the entire conversation.
"He so likes her." Viper stated bluntly, a smirk on her lips.
"Mm hmm." Both Mikey and Monkey both nodded eagerly.
"Without a doubt." Crane said.
"Well, he's made it no secret she's always been his favorite of you five." Raph remarked.
"So how long do you give it?" Mantis asked.
Donnie placed a finger under his chin in mock thought. "Hmm, not long." He grinned, showing his gap-tooth.
They all shared a good laugh while Leo simply smiled at his brothers and their new friends.
Just then, the blue clad turtle felt a light rustle of wind and a few lotus petals brush by him, drawing his attention away from the others.
Leo looked up as the petals drifted off towards the clouds above, and he smiled up at the bright sky in the horizon knowing Master Splinter and Master Oogway were watching over them all as new adventures awaited him, his brothers, and their new friends.
For it was their destiny, together.
To be continued…
Cast:
Jack Black as Po
Seth Green as Leonardo
Sean Astin as Raphael
Rob Paulsen as Donatello
Greg Cipes as Michelangelo
Angelina Jolie as Tigress
Lucy Liu as Viper
Jackie Chan as Monkey
David Cross as Crane
Seth Rogen as Mantis
Dustin Hoffman as Shifu
And that's the end of part 1 of the Kung Fu Ninja Turtles saga! Hope you liked it! Part 2 will be coming out soon so stay tuned! Also, little hints of TiPo sprinkled here for the future ;)
