Yes, I am still working on that other emotional chapter, but it really is taking much longer than expected. Meanwhile, I came up with this idea today. This is the first of two-chapter piece called Swap. I know that in the Nickelodeon series there was an episode where the turtles swapped weapons, but I got to thinking and I began to wonder…

What would happen if the turtles swapped identities? Meaning each turtle having to be one of his brothers for a day? I know that sounds confusing, but it will make more sense when you read what Master Splinter has in mind.

Ch. 26-Swap

The minute the turtles entered the dojo they knew something was up. Sensei sat in the middle of the room in a meditative position. As soon as the shuffling stopped and all four turtles were lined up, Splinter's eyes flicked open.

"My sons." He greeted.

The turtles nodded.

"Kneel." Splinter instructed. They did so without question. All four of them glanced up at their father with questioningly.

Ever the impatient hothead, Raphael's fists clenched and unclenched anxiously. He shifted his weight a little, trying his best not to jump the gun, but the tension gnawed away at his resolve. "What's wrong, Sensei?"

The rat made eye-contact with his second son. Splinter grinned. That was just like Raphael, always assuming the worst. The cynical turtle could stand to learn a thing or two from Michelangelo. And there lay the reason for this change in program. "Easy Raphael, it is nothing serious."

Michelangelo butted in, "Oh good," he let out a relieved sigh, "for a while there things were getting really tense."

Raph rolled his eyes at the youngest and returned his attention to their Sensei. "What's really going on, Sensei?"

That made Splinter raise an eye-brow. Yes, Raphael was impatient, but he wasn't usually this demanding. "Are you in some kind of hurry, Raphael?"

Raph bowed his head briefly before looking back up. "I'm not in a hurry, Sensei, I just…" Raph lowered his voice as he went on, "I have stuff planned for today. If our training schedule changes I need to let Case know."

Splinter straightened. His eyes filled with understanding, he looked down at his second son. "I understand your concern, my son, but that is no reason for impatience."

Raph bowed his head and looked away. "Hai Sensei." Green eyes glanced back up at his father and the turtle went on, "But I'd still like to know what's going on."

"I want each of you to write down your agendas for today," the rat stated, handing each his sons a scrap of paper and a pencil. The turtles exchanged nervous glances, but did as they were told. Once they were finished, Splinter nodded and glanced each of his sons up and down one by one. "My children, it has come to my attention that the four of you could stand to put yourselves in your brothers' shells." After receiving four curious stares Splinter went on, "Therefore you will each remove your masks and your weapons." Their eyes were the size of dinner plates, but their father continued. "Place all of them in a pile in front of you, with your agendas."

Raph let out a sound of protest and leaped to his feet, "What is this, some kind of game? I'm not gonna…"

"Sit down, Raphael."

"Sensei, this is ridiculous!"

"SIT!" Splinter yelled.

Raph frowned, very displeased, but dropped to his knees and placed his things in a pile. The hothead grumbled and muttered angrily as he did so, just to let everybody know how opposed he was to the whole thing.

Splinter picked up Leonardo's pile and then said, "Now, each of you pass your pile to the brother on your left."

Raph closed his eyes and growled. Great. Just great. They were seated in age order from left to right. Neon green eyes turned to the eldest turtle, burning with their usual fire, "You break one prong on my sais and I'll pound you into the ground. Got it?" the emerald green hands held the pile out to Leonardo, but jerked it away when the leader reached for it.

Leo rolled his eyes, "Jeez Raph, yes, I got it. I'll be careful." Raph held the pile out to him once more, this time allowing Leo to take it.

Raph turned the other way and yanked Don's pile away from him. Don received Michelangelo's pile and Master Splinter handed Leonardo's belongings to Michelangelo.

Once they had all done so, Master Splinter spoke, "Very well. For today, my sons, each of you shall 'become' one of your brothers. I want you to follow the agenda of your respective brothers very accurately. And tomorrow morning each of you shall share something you learned in the process."

Don shared a doubtful glance with the others, then turned to Sensei. "But Sensei, why do we need to exchange masks and weapons? Most of the things on our agendas are just chores."

Splinter smiled and the turtles tensed. That was Sensei's mischievous smile, and it usually didn't bode well for the four of them. "Think of them as the costumes in one of your Role-playing games." The old rat reached out, grabbed the bandana off the pile in Don's hands and tied it around the smart turtle's head. Splinter went around, doing the same to each of them.

Mikey fought the urge to twitch. The blue bandana's long tails were brushing against the back of his neck, making him itch. That was precisely why his bandana tails were cut short. To prevent the itchiness.

Raph was the first to break the contemplative silence, "I better call Casey and—"

"No, Raphael. Whatever you had planned with Casey Jones, Leonardo will do in your stead."

"But Sensei!"

"No buts, Raphael!"

Mikey smirked at Raph's angry and put-out expression. Then a light bulb went on in the youngest turtle's head. The smirk grew even wider, "Or should we call you…Ronatello?"

Raph growled and clenched his fists.

Mikey laughed jovially as he considered the possibilities. "Hahahaha…That makes you," he pointed at Don who was next to him, "Dichelangelo! Ha, that's great! Oh, oh, and Leo! You'll be Laphael! And I'm Meonardo! Ha! This is hilarious!"

The others ignored him in favor of looking down at their agendas for the day.

Leo's POV

I glanced down at the agenda in my hand. I sighed. It was typical Raph. From the messy, almost illegible scrawl, down to the nature of the items. Overall, it read:

Practice Katas

Push-ups

Sit-ups

Sharpen & polish sais

Lunch

Inventory Weapons Cabinet

Look for Kunai with red-wrapped handle

Evening patrol

Visit Slash & ask about missing Kunai (if not already found)

Casey 10:00

Well, looks like Raph has a lot planned for today. Guess I better get on it. I wonder if Sensei would notice if I skipped out on the extra push-ups…

Hold the phone.

Visit Slash? I don't know where the Mighty Mutanimals' hideout is. But Raph must 'cause he wrote it down here. And what was Raph meeting Casey for, anyway?

Just as I was about to ask, Master Splinter spoke. "I suggest that if you have any questions to ask your brothers, you ask them now. If you should need me I will be here. I expect you all to learn from this experience."

"Hai Sensei." We all murmured, bowing in respect to our father before we left the dojo.

I pulled Raph aside, "Raph, I have some questions."

"Alright, Fearless, make it snappy." He barked.

"About visiting Slash…where exactly am I supposed to find him?" I asked, curiously.

Raph sighed and signaled me to follow him. "C'mon, I ain't got a map handy."

I followed him into Don's lab. I had to fight the urge to laugh. He looked absolutely ridiculous in Donnie's mask. This might just turn out to be an amusing experience. We haven't even been doing this for five minutes and I've already learned something: Purple is definitely not Raph's color.

Raph and I went into the Shell Raiser where he pointed out the location of the Mighty Mutanimals' lair on a map. "And ask about my kunai. It's been missing for about a week now. Last time I remember having it was at their place, so I probably left it there." Raph turned back to the map and gestured to a particular alley. "And make sure you meet Casey here at ten and explain, okay? If you don't he'll think I ditched him, so don't forget!"

"Okay, okay, I'll take care of it! Just relax and trust me!"

He glared and I smiled. That glare isn't nearly as effective when he's wearing purple.

"Just go already!" He said, shoving me towards the door.

"Alright, alright." On my way out the door, I looked back over my shoulder. I just couldn't resist the opportunity to mess with my fiery younger brother, "So long…Ronatello."

Raph let out a cry of indignation and threw a screwdriver at the door. I dashed out the door with a smile on my face. This was going to be a very interesting day.

Raph's POV

I looked down at Don's list for what felt like the millionth time. The schedule was pretty tight.

For Today

Training 6:00-10:00

Tune-up Shell Raiser 10:00-11:00

Upgrade Shell Raiser 11:00-12:00

Wash Shell Raiser 12:00-1:00

Repaint Turtle Van 1:00-3:00

Fix Shell Cycle Breaks 3:00-5:00

Research Snake venom (Karai) 5:00-8:00

Scrounge Junkyard for parts 8:00-10:00

Inventory of Junkyard parts 10:00-11:00

Anything not yet completed 11:00-

I ran a hand over my head and sighed. Well, looks like its gonna be a busy day. I left the lab and headed towards the dojo, carrying Don's bo in my hand. I glanced at it. It was so big. Didn't Don ever get annoyed by his weapon's inconvenient size?

Not only that, didn't he ever eat? I mean, I know he does, but I guess he just doesn't write it into his schedule. I rolled my eyes. Geniuses. Not only do they think they know everything, they also think they can live on work alone. As soon as I reached the dojo I jumped straight into my katas. This was going to be a long day.

Don's POV

I can't believe we actually have to do this. And of course, I, of all my brothers had to Mikey for the day. I glanced at the list in my hand. Mikey's spelling was awful.

2 do

Traning

Hang with Raf

Listen 2 Musik

Play with Ice cream kitty

Make pizza 4 lunch

Watch Crognard the Barbian

Play with Ice cream kitty

Bug Don

Beet Raf's hi scor

Find cool pizza ingridents

Cook pizza 4 diner

Do dishes

Watch tv

I winced, yet again, at the painfully bad spelling. I can't believe I actually have to do this stuff. But I do. My shoulders drooped. Oh well, might as well get started. I headed to the dojo. This was gonna be a very unfulfilling day. I just hope that I don't lose my mind with boredom. Even so, there was one thing on this schedule that I did like: the fact that Mikey had left time for visiting me…er…Raph. That meant that I could check up on the hothead and see how he was doing. I wonder if Sensei would notice if I just spent the whole day with Raph…I pushed that thought aside. Even if Sensei didn't notice at first he'd find out and then I'd be in big trouble. I sighed as I entered the dojo. Raph was already there doing katas. I'm not surprised. After all, training was on my schedule.

Mikey's POV

I frowned down at the schedule in my hand. Aw, man. Leo's got absolutely nothing fun on here! It's just gonna be a whole bunch of boring stuff.

Today

Training

Morning Meditation

Lunch

Polish Katanas

Spar with Raph

Afternoon Meditation with Sensei

Check on Brothers

Evening patrol

Report to Sensei

Free time

I perked up a little as I read the last item. Well at least the free time would give me some fun. But I wasn't really looking forward to the sparring with Raph, or in this case, Leo. Leo was a really tough opponent and I'll probably be sore tomorrow. I headed back to the dojo and found that Don and Raph were already there.

I could barely stop myself from cracking up. They looked so bizarre with the wrong color masks! I scoffed as I watched Donnie trying to wield my chucks. Maybe this day won't be so bad after all.

Review please! Who do you think will have the hardest time with 'becoming their brother' for a day?