In the morning, around nine a.m. was when everyone found themselves getting up.
Randall got gifts from all the turtles and Splinter. These were the most gifts he had ever gotten at a Christmas.
"Thanks for all the presents, guys."
"Go on, open them." Mikey said.
Randall opened them. He opened Mike's first. It was a good sized gift. He took it out of the box.
"Wow." He said. It was a knitted sweater for him. The length of it went from his lower neck down to over his stomach. It enabled all four of his arms to go in it. The color of it was red, with some white around the edges. It had some buttons on it for opening or closing.
"Is the color alright for you?" Mikey asked.
The color did remind Randall of the jacket he had with the RORs so long ago. Then he looked at Mikey. "Yeah, it's great. It reminds me of a jacket I had so long ago."
"Try it on." Leo said.
"It wasn't easy making it with the needles." Mikey said. He held out his hands that looked all poked up. "April helped a little too. She helped me finish it last night."
Randall slipped the sweater on around him after he took his coat off. After buttoning it up, it did feel warm on him.
"How's it feel?" Don asked.
"Definitely warm. Thanks, Mike."
"You're welcome." Mikey said.
Then Randall opened up a small red box. Inside, was a green paper lizard. This one was from Master Splinter.
Randall took it out of the box. It had only four legs instead of his eight limbs. "Wow. This is nice."
"It's an origami lizard. I make origami swans and animals for Christmas." Splinter said. "I could only make it with four legs instead of eight, from the directions I was following."
"Thanks, Master Splinter." Randall said.
"You're welcome." The wise rat said with a smile.
He set it down and moved on to another big box. This time it was from Raphael.
Randall knew he and Raph weren't always the closest of friends, but he hoped for something good. When he got it open, he was surprised it was a black leather jacket.
"Whoa!" Randall said.
"Your temper and things just make me think of you as a road warrior, even though you don't drive." Raph said with a smile.
"Cool, Raph. Thanks." Randall said.
"No prob." Raph said. "Case and I had it specially ordered."
Randall tried it on and it fit. He did look like a biker now.
The next gift was from Don. He got a giant encyclopedia on mechanics type work, and there was an additional gift. A piece of paper that said "No more glasses" on it.
"What's this, Don?" Randall said, holding it up.
"It's a clue to what the last part of my gift is, if you're willing to accept it." Don said.
"What is it?"
"With the life we lead, Randall, and you do help us at times, but for all you've done for us, and you would hate to have to worry about broken glasses or lost contacts, what I'm offering is a chance to get rid of them for good." Don explained.
Now this had Randall's attention for sure. "You… mean that?"
"Yes. Leatherhead and I have been studying eye anatomy and how to fix vision that can be reversed. We think we can do it. Do you want this?" Don offered.
"My vision's been bad all my life. It would be nice not to have to wear them anymore. It's a little worrisome, but I'd be willing to go for it if you can correct it." Randall said.
Don smiled. "We can do it anytime after today. Before we go up to the farmhouse if you want."
"I still need a little time to feel ready."
"That's fine. Unless you want to wait until spring."
"No. At least just a few days."
"Alright."
"Thanks for the book too."
"You're welcome."
These guys were going all out to be the best friends he had ever had.
Leo's gift was last. Inside the box was a rock with a lizard on it.
Randall was curious about it.
"It's a Feng Shui lizard. To help ease your mind a bit more when you look at it. April ordered it after I had picked it out." Leo said.
"It's nice. Thanks, Leonardo."
"You're welcome."
"The gifts were all nice. This is more than what I've gotten all my life at the best. No one's ever given me such thought out gifts before."
"You're welcome, Randall." Splinter said. "Now, how about some breakfast. I'm cooking for all of you this morning."
Splinter didn't offer very often to cook, but he could. They all welcomed it this morning. Randall had worked hard on last night's meal and Mikey cooked most of the time. It gave them a break.
Splinter made some tea and eggs, sausage, toast, bacon, and pancakes. It was a great breakfast and it wasn't burnt to a crisp.
They would later expect guests again in the day.
April and Casey came over in the mid-afternoon to start helping getting things ready for the guests that were going to be coming over this evening.
Leatherhead would come over about four. He wanted to help too, if it was needed. When he got there, he talked to Randall and asked if he liked the idea of having his vision corrected.
"I'd love to have it corrected. I hate bad vision, as it's been this way since I was a kid." Randall said.
"Genetics maybe?" LH asked.
"I don't know. Plus some head injuries here and there."
"We'll schedule it as soon as possible in a few days."
Randall nodded.
Casey left to go get their other human guests while April was still busy cooking the dinner along with Mikey.
Leo and Splinter were expecting their other dimension guests anytime now.
Randall had climbed to the upstairs part of the lair to oversee everything. Then the elevator doors came open and there was a small gang of humans being led in with blindfolds on. These must be the other human guests.
The Professor he had met along with two junkyard friends, a teenage girl with purple hair, and a dark skinned man wearing white.
Randall knew the junkyard humans, and had seen the Silver Sentry in the comics and on TV, but this would be the first time he met him in person. The girl he had never seen before.
Mikey came out of the kitchen when he heard the Silver Sentry was here. "Hey, it's the Silver Sentry!" Mikey greeted.
"Hey, there, Turtle Titan." Silver greeted his friend. They gave each other a handshake.
Randall thought it weird that the man had called Mikey Turtle Titan. But then, Mike had told him he had his own super hero name.
While he was still up there, Klunk came over to Randall and rubbed on his stomach while he was standing there, not paying attention, though watching the action down below.
Randall jumped when he felt the soft fur connect with his scales. He saw Mikey's cat was rubbing on him.
"Why don't you go somewhere else and do that." He said. But Klunk kept on rubbing on him.
Randall sighed and then, for the first time, reached down and petted the cat gently with his left lower hand. Klunk rubbed his head into his hand. To Randall, it actually felt good. Maybe after all these months, the cat finally accepted him as one of the family.
"Hey, Randall!" He heard his name from down below. It was Mikey.
"What?"
"Come down here." Mikey said.
"Coming. Got to go, kitty." Randall said and moved him aside, getting down on all eights to go down the pillar.
The guests saw Randall coming down.
"Wow!" Angel, the girl, said.
When he got to the floor below, he stood back up on his four feet.
"Everyone who hasn't met him yet, this is my, our, friend, Randall." Mikey introduced him.
"Hi." He said a little shyly.
"That's a cool trick." Angel said. "Coming down the walls."
"Thanks, and you are?" Randall asked the girl.
"I'm Angel."
"So you're the girl I've heard about."
"Yep, that'd be me."
"Nice to meet you, Randall." Silver Sentry said, shaking hands with him after Angel.
"Randall Boggs." Randall said.
"How long have you known Michelangelo and his family?" Silver asked.
"Since this spring."
Then there was a bright light as a spinning portal came out of the pond in the lair.
The others had seen it a year ago, but Randall was a bit mystified. Then out stepped a big, tall older man with a mask on, a young boy by his side, a white rabbit and a rhino.
Leo and Splinter stepped forward to greet them first. They spoke in Japanese and exchanged gifts. Then they stepped over to join in the meeting.
"We'd like to introduce you to our newest friend, Randall Boggs." Leo said.
"Randall, these are our dimensional friends we talked about, this is the Daimyo, his son, Miyomoto Usagi, and Genisuki, or Gen for short." Leo introduced them.
"Any friend of the turtles and Splinter Sensei is a friend of ours." The Daimyo said.
"Uh, thanks." Randall said. Then he did eye the kid. He looked to be about nine years old.
The kid was rather nervous of him.
"Nice to meet you, Randall." Usagi said.
Randall looked up. "Yeah. You too. I just didn't know the turtles were friends with uh, people that weren't humans from another dimension."
"You look like you could be from one of the lizard clan in my world. Just not so many limbs." Usagi said.
"Thanks."
"You were looking at the young boy very suspiciously." Usagi said.
"It's nothing. I'm just not always comfortable around young kids." Randall said. "And he seemed afaid of me."
Randall knew he used to love going for that scare. And if the kid did something bad, he would love to do it again. But not with everyone else around.
"Where's the free food? I'm starving." Gen spoke up.
Randall noticed the rhino kept his eyes closed. But he seemed to know where he was going just fine.
"The food should be ready soon." Randall said.
While dinner was finishing up, the family went to go play some games before dinner to work up the appetite.
Randall watched as there was an arm wrestling contest. He knew there was no way he had the strength to do it.
"So, Randall, what's your best talent?"
"Huh?" He was broken from his thoughts from the Silver Sentry. He had beat both Raph and Casey again. Now everyone was looking at him.
He looked at the turtles. Leo in particular. He gave a nod.
Randall had his Christmas sweater on. "I would have to take this off to show ya."
He began taking his sweater off.
"You don't have to." Usagi said.
"You have to see it." Mikey said.
Randall tossed his sweater to Mikey. Then he made sure they were all watching.
"This is my best talent." Then he vanished.
There were gasps from the audience of newbies. They looked around for him and then they felt taps on their backs or shoulders. They looked around and nothing there.
"BOO!" He reappeared and it scared the kid. He fell back into his dad.
"I couldn't resist." Randall said, with a little giggle.
"Hey, don't scare my son." The Daimyo said.
"Sorry."
"We're sorry, Lord Daimyo. It's just one talent that Randall has used many times, to even help save us. He has helped save my sons and me while he's been with us. It serves him well in being defensive." Splinter explained.
The Daimyo held his son. "Then I congratulate you, Randall, but my son is just shy right now."
Randall knew what that was like all too well as a kid. "I used to be like that too. But found a way to overcome it." He wasn't going to name it though.
"How was that?"
"Friends." He just stated.
The turtles and Splinter and their human friends knew, but wouldn't go into it.
April left to go check on the dinner and Randall followed her, wanting the attention off of him. He didn't mind short bouts of attention, but too much was too much. At least this kind.
Usagi eyed Randall warily. He went up to Leo and spoke softly in his ear.
"There's something off about him, Leonardo-san."
"Don't worry, Usagi. My family and I are aware of some things about him that can be off to others. He's had a rough time in former months before he came here. But trust me, he has proven his worth here." Leo said. "He can be quite the warrior in his own way if given the chance."
"That's good."
"Some of the scars on his front and back side were from a few of our worst enemies. He saved our lives getting those wounds. And we have taught him some new ways as well. He's learning how to be honorable. He comes from a different world too."
"What is he anyway? I know he's a lizard, but what does he call himself?" Usagi asked.
They stepped away from the group. "He's from a dimension where creatures simply called Monsters, live. He's a lizard monster. They weren't warriors at all really, but just know how to be scary. That's all I know." Leo said. "He doesn't have anything to go back to, and we're helping him to be a newer, better person. He wasn't well liked there and he prefers it here, as at least, he's getting respect and friendship that he clearly needs in his life. And being scary pays off with the enemies."
Usagi could see Leonardo's explanation fit. "Well, just take care with him, my friend."
"I will. Thanks for your concern."
"Dinner's ready." April said. She and Randall had their hands full bringing some food out to the table that had been set up. Mikey went in to help too.
The guests went to find their seats. And once all the food was on the table, they all took turns passing the food around.
Randall had to sit on a special chair because of his anatomy. Don had made him one not long ago.
There were small conversations throughout dinner, but they all were loving the Christmas dinner. There were cookies for dessert tonight.
The guys all knew that Randall was a center of attention as much as he tried not to be. He was sitting by Mikey and Don. The Daimyo's son was eying him the most. Randall just tried to ignore everyone looking at him.
Later on, after dinner was over and some played some more games or talked, Randall helped moved the dishes back into the kitchen with April.
"I'll do the dishes." Randall said.
"Are you sure?" April asked.
"Yes. I don't want to be around everyone too much. It's just too much for me."
"Okay. But if you feel up to it, you're welcome to join us."
"Maybe when the dishes are done."
April left him to it. Randall just wanted a good reason to get away from them.
Not long into doing the dishes, there was a voice behind him.
"You carry a burden on your shoulders and yet, you deceive many."
Randall jumped and turned around real fast, holding his heart. Fungus had done that to him too a few times. But he stayed visible.
"What do you want?" Randall asked.
"I came to ask you honestly, that you would not try to harm my friends, right?" Usagi asked.
"Of course I wouldn't. I've learned some hard lessons from them. I'm trying to better myself. They've taught me many things. But there's just still so many bad memories that aren't easy to let go of." Randall said.
"Of course. Bad experiences are never good. But how you deal with them is another matter entirely."
"You are a fighter too, like the turtles, aren't you?" Randall asked.
"Yes, I am a Samurai." Usagi replied.
"I've heard some stories about you assisting the turtles and Splinter against some enemies."
"Yes, Draco was one and the other was the Daimyo's son once. He was recovered and turned young again. He was misguided in his ways. He was a deadly fighter himself. He was against Leonardo for just defeating him. But he's clearly on his way to being taught new better ways and with Leonardo as his friend, they can be friends now." Usagi said. "Leonardo mentioned to me that you were from a monster dimension?"
"Yes. All kinds of different ones. Being a reptile though was like a crime. I wasn't well liked just for being who I was. And I was overlooked or rejected so much. I have a habit of not trusting others until I really know them." Randall wasn't going to tell this rabbit his past bad things.
"I can see that."
"Look, I have to get this done. It's nice meeting you, but please, I want to be left alone." Randall said.
"As you wish." Usagi said.
At least Usagi was respectful of another's wishes. Randall gave him that.
Randall went on washing the dishes, taking his time. He heard the others talking and laughing out in the other room. He knew he just didn't have many happy memories to tell about.
When he finished the dishes, Randall went out and climbed the pillar again. He saw the Daimyo's son watching him. He sat down at the edge of floor. Klunk came over to him again. He started petting the cat.
The boy couldn't help but be a little curious about the creature that had scared him earlier. And Angel definitely held great appreciation for what Randall was.
While the Daimyo was talking to Splinter at one point, his son wandered close to the pillar, looking up.
Randall saw the kid looking at him. He smiled. The kid still looked puzzled at him.
Then the lizard had an idea. If scaring was bad, then he might turn it around for once. He didn't need a wrath brought on him. From his climbing ability, he came down to talk to him after pushing Klunk away from him.
The kid backed away.
"You like patterns, kid?" Randall asked.
"Huh?" Ue, the boy, said.
Randall turned his body into blue sky and clouds, from one of his posters at his old job that he remembered how to do.
"Wow!"
"I can change into many colors." Randall said. Then he changed into a dark sky with stars. A brick wall. And some other tricky patterns.
The boy was impressed. He had never seen such a creature do that.
The fun went on until about nine and then it was time to go home. The Daimyo looked around for his son and he saw him over where Randall was, and he saw the lizard was actually making a different impression on his son now.
Splinter and the Daimyo looked over. Randall had been avoiding them all evening. It was amazing he was trying to impress a kid.
But Randall had gotten the kid to smile and laugh at the patterns he showed him he could turn. Even Usagi and Angel and the Silver Sentry were watching. Randall's skills as a skin changer were impressive.
Soon there was a bunch of clapping.
Randall stopped and he changed back to normal.
"That's an impressive show there." Silver said. "How do you do that? Change colors?"
"I was born with it. It was hard to master when I was younger and it took a lot of practice to master the changes. But it works as a defense mechanism."
"It was nice to meet you, Randall. But now, my son and I must take our leave. Come, son." Daimyo said. "And those are very impressive abilities."
"Yes, Father." Ue said. "Bye, Randall."
"Bye."
Randall had never thought he would do that for a kid. He saw the boy say bye to Leo too.
The Daimyo, Usagi and Gen all left the same way they came in.
Casey took the others home, but not before Angel said she was impressed by Randall's abilities.
Randall was glad he had made some more friends, but he didn't see these ones all the time, so it was just a little nerve wracking tonight. But he would make more efforts to be in their favors now that he knew who they were.
He now had his sweater back on and with all his gifts, he went home with April. He wanted out of that cold lair. But in a few days, he would be getting his vision corrected.
When he got home to the basement apartment, it was warmer down there than in the lair. He just couldn't stand the cold. He was glad to go to bed. But it had been the best Christmas he had ever had.