Leo punctuated the end of his story with a loud "BLAGH!" as he jumped up and tackled Mikey, shaking a series of startled giggles and squeaks out of the youngest. Donatello rolled his eyes from his spot in a nest made of two beanbags and an oversize pool floaty.
"That is the stupidest thing I've heard all week. There's no such thing as alligators in the sewers!"
Mikey blew a raspberry while Leo tossed a half-full bag of chips at the skeptic.
"Alright then brainiac, let's hear you do one better."
Donnie chucked the chips back at Leo. He thought for a few minutes before a devilish smile snaked its way onto his face.
"Okaaay, but it's a true story. I'm not sure if you guys can handle it."
The other two pressed closer, bumping the plastic lantern on the floor and making the LED cast shadows shift against the blanket fort walls. Leo's face was screwed up in a suspicious pout while Mikey's eyes had grown to take up most of his face.
"No, now you've gotta tell us!" Mike demanded in a whisper as he pulled his knees up to his chest to listen.
Donnie leaned forward, lowering his own voice as if warning them.
"There used to be five of us."
He held back the urge to snicker at his brothers' reactions. He couldn't break character, it would ruin the effect.
"There's no way that's right-"
"SHH!" Mikey hissed, finger pressed to his lips.
"But there's already five of us!"
"There is not" Don countered.
"Yeah there is, I'm counting Dad"
Donnie rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to say more but Mikey interrupted.
"What happened to the fifth turtle?"
Leo shifted to sit half lotus, leaning forward to rest his chin in his cupped hands. Whatever argument had been kicking up dust died down to hear the story.
"It was years ago. I'm amazed I still remember, but what happened that day isn't the kind of thing anyone can just forget. Way back when we were just little kids, Splinter had to leave the lair for supplies. Feeding a family full of baby turtles isn't easy when they're all picky eaters, you know. Everything is fine. But when he comes back…." he trails off and pauses for a few heartbeats as the others scoot even closer, holding their breath.
Mikey tangles his arms around one of Leo's, his mind racing with possibilities.
"There's this freaky sound. Crunch. Crunch. CRUNCH!"
Donnie's audience gasps as they realize.
"The next thing he knew, there were only four turtles. Three innocent and one very guilty snapper."
"WHAT!?"
He had to hold back a massive bundle of chuckles building in his chest at the expressions on his brothers' faces. Leo looked about ready to be sick, his tongue stuck out as he turns a new shade of green. Mikey's open-mouthed horror could've jumped out of a movie poster. Leo was quick to grab his ego and turn back to the same issue Don had pointed out earlier.
"That's gotta be impossible!"
Mikey seemed less sure, seeking shelter behind a circular pillow he pressed to his chest.
"Raph's favorite is meat lover's pizza."
"So he's a cannibal because he likes pepperoni?"
"I have proof!"
The words are out of his mouth before he can realize what they mean. It's too late to take them back and let Leo win at being the right twin.
"Proof?"
"Well don't hold out on us, let's see it Don Tron."
No going back now. Why couldn't life have a rewind button for his big mouth? Regardless, he shooed his brothers back with a "give me room" hand wave and unbuckled the straps on his latest rendition of a shell protector. Once it was safely out of the way, he turned, gesturing at the pale scar tissue on his back. Two crisp lines from when they were small enough for Raph to baby them even more than usual, resorting to carrying them around like some sort of proud mother cat. It had been an accident of course, they hadn't been old enough yet to figure out on their own that snappers have sharp beaks and softshells are accurately named.
"See? Proof!"
A pair of gasps mixed of disbelief and awe gave him the slightest twinge of satisfaction. Point: Donatello. Take that Leo's dumb story about sewer gators. He turned ready to laugh at the joke when a loud clang caught the group's attention.
Mikey latched himself onto Leo, dragging the slider down to the floor with him as he whined.
"Did you hear that?"
The trio turned their heads to listen more carefully, all of them going silently serious. There was some far off trickle of water as was usual from the leaky pipes in the bathroom but nothing out of the ordinary- wait.
There is was. A quiet creak of old metal. And then some sort of shuffling and rustling. Mikey's nervous whimpering grew in volume before Leo managed to quiet him.
"I don't want to be alligator bait!" he whisper-yelled. "Snapping turtle or normal!"
"Michael-"
"I probably taste like mozzarella. I'd be delicious Leo, de-li-ci-ous!"
Donnie kept trying to listen over their conversation but the hiss of the whispers made it impossible to keep track of where the sounds had been coming from or what could've been making them.
"Guys." he urged, chewing at his lip. "Guys!"
The side of the blanket fort behind Donnie suddenly lifted, sending a shrieking Leo and Mikey running for their lives in the opposite direction. They took most of the structure of the fort with them, knocking over the books and chairs that held the corners of fabric in place and sending it parachuting down on top of their forgotten brother as they rushed for the safety of Splinter's chair in the living room shouting for their dad.
Donnie floundered his way through the sea of blankets, quickly finding himself excavated to a rather confused newly returned Raphael.
"Raph!"
"Did I miss something?"