Daryun was sitting in his living room, watching World's Dumbest Motorheads on TV. He was ready to see who the number five dumbest motorhead was, when he heard his cell ring. He looked at the caller ID, then swiped right to answer the call.
"Layla," he said. "When did you get in?" After hearing Leila's explanation, he continued. "That's great! He'll be happy to see you. Oh, you're already there? How is Arslan?"
"He keeps saying he's good, but I, and everyone else here, know he's not," Layla replied. "It's all that stupid Andragoras' fault my baby brother's sad on his birthday. That idiot just had to go and get himself arrested."
"Whoa, whoa," said Daryun. "Wait. Mr. and Mrs. Baris aren't back from Italy yet? I thought they were supposed to be back by today. And Andragoras got himself arrested? What the heck happened?"
Layla sighed, then began to explain what Arslan told her and the turtles. "Mom and Andragoras were at this comedy club one night. Well, the comedian starts making jokes about guys like Andragoras, then goes on to making fun of him. I know it was probably mean of that guy, but still. Anyway, after hearing that, Andragoras flies into a rage—totally Andragoras, am I right?—and beats up the comedian. Then the man—if you can call Andragoras Baris a man—throws a table out of one of the windows, where the table lands on a police car! Two cops were injured when that happened! Luckily, Andragoras got in front of a judge quickly enough, but Mom and Osroes don't think they'll be able to get Andragoras' sentence reduced to any less than two weeks. So now he has to spend time in an Italian jail, on Arslan's thirteenth birthday! This'll be the third one in a freaking row they've missed! UGH! I'm so freaking—!" Daryun could hear April's voice in the background, telling Layla to calm down, that she was scaring Shireen. Layla took a couple deep breaths to compose herself and got back to the phone.
"Damn," Daryun muttered after hearing the story. "I can't believe that; how freaking stupid does Mr. Baris have to be? I'll tell you something: That guy needs anger management ASAP. He's forty-three years old, and he's doing this crap."
"I know, right?" Layla replied. "I'm starting to wonder how my sweet baby brother and sister could've possibly come from that guy's gene pool."
"Layla," Shireen called to the teen on the phone. "Aren't ya gonna tell Daryun about Ars coming over?"
"Oh! Right! Thanks, Rena," Layla said. She got back to Daryun and told him Arslan was on his way to his place as they spoke. "Rena, April, the turtles, and I are gonna put together a kick-ass party for him. Maybe you could take him to a movie or something for a couple hours while we get the rest of the gang to help set up?"
"Sure, no problem," said Daryun. "I'm always happy to help my little buddy. So, where's the party going to be?"
"If the turtles can get permission from their dad, then we're having it at their place," Layla said. "I'll let you know."
"Cool," said Daryun. "Don't worry; you can count on me to keep Ars busy for a while."
"Thanks a bunch," Layla said happily. "I should be getting back to party planning. Later." She hung up, leaving Daryun just enough time to catch the number one dumbest motorhead, a guy from Sindhura by the name of Bahadur.
"Geez, that guy looks like an Orc," Daryun commented. "Good thing Arslan's not here yet; he'd surely have nightmares because of this guy." As soon as World's Dumbest Motorheads ended, Daryun heard a knock at the door. He went to the door and answered, seeing Arslan standing outside. "Hey, Ars! What's up?"
"Hi, Daryun," Arslan replied. He stepped into Daryun's house after being invited in. "Just wanted to see if you could hang out for a bit."
"Of course," said Daryun. "Today's your birthday, right?"
"Yeah," Arslan said with an almost inaudible sigh. Daryun could see he didn't look too happy, though he was trying to force a smile. "Uh, so…What do you want to do? Watch World's Dumbest? Look at some of Narsus'—ahem—art?" Daryun winced at the mention of Narsus' artwork. "Or, maybe catch a movie?"
"How about we go see a movie?" Daryun said quickly. "If we hurry, we can still make it to Guardians of the Galaxy on time."
"Awesome!" Arslan replied. After Daryun scribbled a note for his uncle Vahriz, explaining where he was and when he'd probably be back, both boys hurried out the door and to a nearby theater.
While Daryun was keeping Arslan busy with Guardians of the Galaxy, the turtles made it to the Lair. They were on the way to the dojo. Mikey voiced that he hoped Splinter said yes to them having Arslan's birthday party there. When they got to the dojo, after greeting Splinter, they explained their situation to him, and asked him if they could have their friend's birthday party at their home. After some meditation, Splinter finally agreed to let the turtles bring Arslan, Shireen, and their friends down to the Lair. The turtles rejoiced in their victory.
"Awesome!" Mikey exclaimed when he and his brothers were outside the dojo. He got out his tPhone and made a call to Layla, saying that they would be allowed to use the Lair for Arslan's party. A very happy Layla thanked Mikey and asked him and his brothers to meet her and the others—besides April and Shireen, Hermes and the others were already at the Baris' apartment—in the lobby, for they had a lot of party supplies on their hands and needed help getting to the Lair so they could set up. Mikey said he and his brothers would be over very soon and hung up. He turned to his brothers and told them what Layla said.
"Okay, guys. Layla and the others need our help in getting the party supplies here. We've gotta go meet them in the lobby at Ars' building."
"Okay," said Leo. "Turtles, move out!" He and his brothers told Splinter they'd be back later, then rushed to get to Ecbatana Apartments, where Layla and the others were waiting.
Meanwhile, Layla hurriedly texted Daryun about where the party was going to be, and to keep Arslan at the movies for a double feature if he had to, depending on how long it took to get the stuff set up.
A few minutes later, the turtles arrived at the apartment building, where they met up with Leila and the others.
"Hey, Elam, Narsus, good to see you guys!" Donnie said and grinned.
"Hermes, Xandes, didn't miss you much," Raph said to the pranksters in an annoyed manner.
"That hurts, Raphael," said Xandes. "And to think I took the time to buy you peanut brittle before we got here." He held a can of peanut brittle out to the red-masked turtle.
Raph shrugged and took the can. "Well, okay, thanks, I guess." He opened it and screamed after fake snakes came flying out at him. He shot a death glare at a now laughing Hermes and Xandes.
"You were right, Hermes!" Xandes gasped while doubled over. "That was a good one!"
"Kill...you...guys!" Raph said through gritted teeth.
"Gieve, Farangis!" Mikey said to Arslan's other two friends. Good to see you. So, are you two dating yet?"
"Yes," Gieve replied and put his arm around Farangis.
"No!" Farangis said at the same time, removing Gieve's arm from her shoulders. Gieve pouted and plopped down in one of the lobby chairs.
"No, they're not dating, Mikey," Estelle said. "But that doesn't stop Gieve from trying."
"Oh, that's too bad," said Mikey. "They look like they might make a cute couple."
After greeting everyone they knew, the turtles noticed three boys around Arslan's age standing in the lobby.
"Leo, those three are staring at us," Mikey whispered to his eldest brother.
"Well, we do look kind of strange," said Leo.
"Yeah, especially Donnie," Mikey said and snickered. "He's missing a front tooth!"
"Quit it, Mikey!" said Donnie.
Layla noticed the three boys staring at the turtles and cleared her throat. "Guys, don't be rude. Introduce yourselves."
"Oh, right," one of the boys said. He had brown hair and brown eyes. His bangs hung in front of his forehead. "Hi, I'm Jericho. These two knuckleheads are Soren and Musa." The two other boys-one had lighter brown hair and slanted eyes, and the other had a slight tan, brown eyes, and wore a hat like Kyle's from South Park-said, "Hey!" Jericho continued, "We're Arslan's friends."
"Nice to meet you guys," said Leo. "I'm Leo. These three are my brothers, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey."
"Ars never told us he had four friends who dressed up in turtle costumes," Soren commented.
"Soren, we told you, Musa, and Jericho three times already," Alfreed said. "They're not cosplayers. They're real mutant turtles."
"Whaaaaaat?!" the boys exclaimed. Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped.
"Are we gonna stand here and gawk all day, or are we gonna get ready for the party?" Raph asked.
"Right," said Layla. "We should go. Come on, everyone. Turtles, show us the way."
"Right," said Leo. He, April, and his brothers led Layla and the others out of the lobby and down the streets of New York.
Donnie turned to face the other kids. "Oh, before I forget. For anyone who has a rodent problem: Our sensei isn't really...like us."
"Sensei?" Musa asked, confused. "I thought we were going to meet these guys' dad."
"Their sensei is their dad," Estelle explained. "They call him that because he's also their teacher."
"And what's this about a rodent problem?" Jericho asked. "Isn't your sensei a turtle like you?"
"No," said Donnie. "He's...well, he's..."
"He's a rat!" said Mikey.
"A rat?" Soren said. "What, did your dad marry a turtle and-"
"No," said Leo. "Our sensei adopted us after we all mutated when we were babies. It's a long story. Why don't we tell you another time?" With that conversation finished, the friends headed to the turtles' home. Arslan's friends and sisters were initially a tiny bit grossed out about having to trek through the sewers in order to get to the turtles' home, but they went along anyway.
Once everybody got to the Lair, the kids were impressed with what they saw. The turtles' home looked to be an old train station, and furnished to look almost like any other apartment or house one would see in New York City.
"Excuse some of the mess," said Leo. "We don't have too many visitors, other than April."
"Hey, no sweat," said Musa. "It doesn't look any worse than Soren's bedroom."
"Hey!" Soren exclaimed, glaring at Musa from underneath his hat.
Raph chuckled and said, "His room can't be worse than Mikey's."
"Hey! Raph!" Mikey whined.
"Hey, sweet! Pinball!" Jericho said after spotting a pinball machine in one part of the room. He started to go towards the game, until Estelle stopped him.
"Hold it, Jericho," Estelle said. "We need to set up Arslan's party first. You can play pinball afterwards."
"Oh, right," Jericho replied and laughed a little. "Sorry about that."
After everyone started getting out the party supplies, Splinter came out of the dojo. He saw April, the turtles, and his sons' other friends. "So, these are your new friends. It's nice to meet all of you. I am Splinter." He listened as everyone else introduced themselves, then said, "You may set up the party here, as long as you keep it in the living area."
"Hai, Sensei," the turtles replied and bowed politely. Soon after, the turtles and their friends started decorating the Lair for the party.
Author's Note: The three boys (Jericho, Soren, and Musa) are the kids from the Arslan Senki pilot episode, the ones who fought with Ars in Atropatene in episode 2. I gave them names because they're going to be in more X-Over Adventures in NYC stories.