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Donnie was ready to burst, no, explode with pure excitement and joy. At last, the best time of year was finally happening. It was better than any holiday, even his own birthday.
"Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!" The four littles turtle tots chanted, bouncing up and down and screaming at the top of their lungs until their voices were hoarse.
Every year, they celebrated with fanfare for the only holiday where they could be normal kids for once. Leading up to the big day, they would enjoy the pretty orange, red and gold leaves (Leo's favorite, since he would jump in a pile to make the loudest crunch possible), carve pumpkins (Donnie's favorite activity, since he loved to be symmetrically accurate when drawing the shapes), watching scary movies (Raph's favorite, even though he would hide under blankets for half the movie) and bake various Halloween treats like zombie cupcakes and skeleton cookies (Mikey's favorite, of course).
But the best part was the day itself, Donnie concluded. He loved running around with other children, seeing their costumes and getting an ungodly amount of sweets from Trick or Treating. Best of all, he didn't have to worry about being seen or screamed at. He was just another average kid in costume! No one batted an eye at his green skin, his shell, his spines on said aforementioned shell. They handed him candy and moved on to the next kid. It was awesome!
As with every special occasion, the turtles sometimes got a little too rambunctious before the event.
Nine-year-old Leo immediately thought it was a wise decision to get straight into character by ramming directly into unsuspecting Donnie, who toppled to the ground like a bowling pin. "I'm a zombie and I'm gonna eat your nerd braaaaain!" He growled, jabbing his soft-shelled brother’s forehead with his elbow. Mikey and Raph both hooted with laughter.
"Stop that!" Donnie whined, lightly smacking his hand away, "At least give me a heads up!"
"Zombies don't give warnings, dumb dumb," Leo stuck his tongue out.
"I'm not the dumb dumb, you are. We aren't even dressed as zombies," He replied, folding his arms and huffing.
"Yeah, aren't we supposed to be the alien turtles from Jupiter Jim?" Mikey tilted his head innocently, the last word of his sentence coming out partially as a whistle due to his recently lost baby tooth.
"The whole point of Halloween is to be scary!" Leo said. "An' alien turtles aren't scary. We aren't scary."
"To humans we are." Raph pointed out. "But it does stink that we end up being the same thing every year. It's a little boring."
"For once I'd like to be a zombie. Or a pirate!" Leo clapped his hands, gasping in delight. "A zombie pirate!"
"Or Jupiter Jim," Raph said gloomily, before perking up again as another thought struck him. "Maybe a football player!"
"I wanna be a princess!" squealed Mikey. "With a pink dress and fairy wings!" He looked over at the silent turtle beside him curiously. "What about you Dee?" He asked, wanting everyone to be included. Mikey was sweet like that.
Donnie shyly mumbled something that sounded like 'Atomic Lass', but it was barely audible due to his voice becoming uncharacteristically soft. No one brought it up, figuring he probably said something geeky or related to a scientist.
Mikey hummed his disappointment."I wish we could, just for one year, be something different."
"Yeah, me too."
"I'm not that scary, am I?" Donnie wondered, adjusting his square framed glasses.
Raph frowned, seeing his brothers look so distraught was the exact opposite of what he wanted. "I know we want to do other things for Halloween, but we should be grateful Pops allows us to go to the surface anyway!" He insisted, hoping to bring the mood up a bit. "And if that means we have to be turtle aliens, then we'll be the best turtle aliens NYC has ever seen!"
Leo puffed out his chest, now convinced. "Yeah! Plus, we'll get candy, so who cares?"
Mikey and Donnie resumed their bouncing and chanting. "Candy, candy, candy!"
Splinter ambled in from the projection room, dried milk covering his robe, and holding four pillowcases in his paws. "Boys, are you ready to go?"
"CANDY!!!" The tots shrieked.
"Eugh," Splinter's ears twitched in discomfort. He handed each boy a pillowcase to fill with sweets. "Stay close to me at all times. It is very easy to get lost."
"Yes papa!" They chorused.
"Remember your manners. Say thank you after the nice human gives you a treat."
"Yes papa."
"Good." He watched as his sons scrambled ahead of him, giggling happily and guessing what types of candy they'll get. He stopped Raphael before he could join them. "Red, will you keep an extra eye on your little brothers for me?"
"Course Dad. You can count on me!" Raph was quite proud of his older brother title and took it very seriously.
They climbed up the slippery ladder leading to the surface, still chatting amongst themselves. Splinter led the way, with Raph close behind, the only one strong enough to lift the manhole cover. He grunted a bit before pushing it aside, and wriggling through. The other boys grabbed on to Splinter's tail to assist in being pulled out.
"Woah..." Mikey uttered, running ahead to leave the alleyway. "Come on guys!" The littlest brother started babbling about what kind of candy he was gonna get.
The city seemed brighter than had ever been with all the decorations. Lights of black, orange and violet swirled around them with confetti, streamers and smoke scattering the various apartments. Spooky pop music played from windows, giant monster sized inflatable balloons floated about. There were kids, teens, and even some adults dressed as zombies, ghosts, pirates, princesses, skeletons and unicorns. It was overwhelming and loud, but glorious to watch.
"I wanna go to that house first!" Leo proclaimed, pointing at a building with seven pumpkins on the porch, all Jupiter Jim themed.
The boys marched up the stairs, squealing "Trick or Treat!" as loud as they could.
They were treated with plenty of sweets, so much so that their backs were aching from lugging their haul everywhere.
"Say Mikey, wanna trade? I'll swap my Milk Duds for your Twix!"
"Okie dokie Leo!"
"Aww, I hate Twizzlers. Raph can we switch please?"
"Sure thing Donnie. Do you like Laffy Taffy?"
"Nooooo, it sticks to my teeth."
"How 'bout some Peanut M&Ms? I can't eat them anyway." The truth was, Raph wasn't fond of Twizzlers either, but he wouldn't let his picky brother know that.
"Yes, thank you!"
"My arms hurt," Mikey complained, using his puppy dog eyes at Splinter. "C'n you carry my bag Dad?"
Splinter pinched his nose tiredly. "Alright." He complied, only because his youngest son was so painfully adorable with his big brown eyes and pouting lip. He regretted saying yes immediately afterwards, because he ended up carrying all four pillow cases as though he was a pack mule instead of their doting father. "Let's..." He wheezed. "Make this apartment the last one. Before my back gives out."
The tots groaned, begrudgingly obliging to their father's request.
"How 'bout that one?" Raph suggested, pointing at the house that was elaborately decorated with a witch's cauldron in front and a graveyard. The adult handing out the candy was in costume too, dressed as Ghostface from the Scream movies. The costume was pretty corny, but once he saw blood drip from its mask, Donnie let out a squeaky whimper.
"Let's go then!" Leo chirped, attempting to drag a giddy Mikey along with him to the steps.
"I'll be right here," Splinter called, handing back their pillow cases. He smiled as his three sons scampered towards the house. Wait...three sons? Didn't he have one more?
He turned around to see that hiding behind him and clutching his robes, was a shivering, terrified Donnie.
"Boys, stop!" He commanded, causing them each to skid to a sudden halt. "You left your brother behind."
"Hey, why arentcha coming with us Donnie?" Mikey looked confused.
"Don't you want candy?" asked Raph.
Donnie swallowed thickly, shook his head and burrowed his face into Splinter's fur to conceal his tears, and avoid looking at that horrible mask.
"Are you scared or somethin'?" Leo asked, not meaning to sound harsh but coming across that way. "We'll be right with you!"
"N-no!"
"It's alright, Purple," Splinter patted his son's head. "You can stay with me and wait for your brothers."
"But I want candy too..."
"I'll get an extra piece for you Donnie!" Mikey vowed. "Let's go guys! I know he likes chocolate."
When Splinter looked the other way for a brief second, Donnie took a few steps away to wander towards the next house. He didn't want to look at the scary skull man anymore, and he especially didn't want his brothers laughing at him for his freak out. No doubt they would tease him until next Halloween about how he was a big baby.
His glasses were all foggy, so he wiped them on his hoodie, but that only seemed to make it worse. He sniffled, hoping his favorite hoodie wouldn't be stained with disgusting snot.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Donnie flinched, nearly stumbling over a pumpkin as he tried to find whoever was speaking to him. At first, he was scared if it was the Ghostface man seeking revenge. But it wasn't. He gasped in shock and delight, eyes sparkling once he saw who it really was. He couldn't believe it was really her! In her purple and blue space suit, and spiky green hair.
"You can talk, can't you?"
"Atomic Lass?" He uttered in amazement.
Atomic Lass giggled at him, putting her hands on her hips, "The one and only protector of the universe!" She took off her wig and helmet, revealing an ordinary girl with red glasses. "Nah, just messin' with ya. I'm April!" She held out her hand expectantly. "Well? What's your name, kid with the super cool alien turtle costume?"
He must have looked disappointed, because she put the helmet back on before holding her hand back again. He hesitantly shook it. "M' Donnie. And y-yeah, I'm okay. Just got uh..." He looked over at the house. He didn't want to say it. Not in front of a girl he just met.
April seemed to understand. "I swear, that house seems to overdo it every Halloween." She rolled her eyes. "I think they just love scaring little kids."
"I'm not that little n' I wasn't scared!"
"There's nothing wrong with being little OR scared," April assured him. "The girls at my school think I'm too old, too big, to be Trick or Treating. Can you believe that?"
"But you're little too," Donnie scrunched his beak. "And free candy is free candy!"
April beamed. "See, you get me!" She snapped her fingers as if an idea popped into her head. "Speaking of...wanna go show that skull man who's boss?"
He froze. "What?"
"Let's go get some candy together!"
"But I..." Donnie gulped.
"Donnie, let's be honest," She smirked, hoping to ease his anxiety with her own confidence. "Atomic Lass and a turtle alien could totally take down that old potbelly loser without even trying. We got this!" She pumped her fist in the air.
"I don't know..."
"He's holding the sugary sweets hostage! We gotta save them!"
"Well..."
"Who does that guy think he is, hogging all our candy? We'll kick his butt!"
"Yeah!"
They did a quick fist bump to seal the deal and together, hand in hand, trotted up to the house. Donnie would never admit that he was weirded out holding hands with an actual human- something he never even considered doing, yet she did it with little hesitation.
"Ready?" She whispered to him, squeezing his hand.
He nodded.
"Trick or Treat!" They chimed, both feeling more confident.
They waited. Ghostface at last started to draw nearer to them with a mini cauldron basket, breathing heavily like Darth Vader. It was almost comical.
"Um...um..." Donnie squeaked, squinting closer at the plastic mask. He frowned slightly. "Hey..." before he could question the realism of the mask itself, blood started to ooze from the eyes. At first he flinched, but then he put his hands on his hips sassily. "That isn't realistic at all, unless you've got a hemorrhage problem, mister, you should get that checked out."
Ghostface stared at him for a moment. Then he started to laugh, sounding less like a sadistic killer and instead an average guy. "Huh, you're right. Happy Halloween kids!"
Turns out, the man with the terrifying mask was actually pretty nice. Not only did he give them a whole handful of sweets, but he also gave them full sized candy bars.
"You did it Donnie!" April cheered, already digging into a bag of gumdrops. "I'm so proud of you."
"Ha! He wasn't even that scary once I realized it wasn't real," he scoffed before faltering ever so slightly. "Well, okay, maybe I was a little scared. Like microscopic."
April blinked, clearly impressed. "Gee, that's a pretty big word!" She complimented as they walked down the row of houses and apartment complexes. "How old are you anyway? I'm almost eleven and we only started learning that stuff in middle school."
"Just turned nine!" Donnie bragged. "And microscopic isn't that big. It's actually pretty small," He giggled at his joke and laughed even harder when April joined him. He decided he liked her a lot.
They stopped in front of a smaller apartment building. "This one's mine," She said, gesturing towards one of the top windows with faux cobwebs stringing from the balcony. "That's my bedroom window. Neat, huh?"
"Woah..."
"Do you live in the neighborhood?" April asked. "I don't want to keep you too long from your parents."
"Oh um..." Donnie gulped, realizing Dad was probably stressing his tail off as they spoke. "Yes...?" He knew there was a sewer grate near this area, so technically it wasn't a lie. Thankfully there were so many bright decorations that he could find his way home if need be.
"Cool!" She gave a thumbs up, waving goodbye as she entered the warm apartment building. "I'll see you around then."
"Donatello!"
Donnie yelped in surprise as he heard that scolding, familiar voice yell in his direction. He cringed, expecting the worst. He was in major trouble for running off- no matter the reason.
Splinter rushed towards him and pulled him in a tight embrace. "There you are! What did I say about running off? I was worried sick!" Donnie felt his father's twitchy whiskers tickle him slightly.
Three heads poked out from behind Splinter's kimono, equally as concerned.
"I ...I'm sorry." He mumbled.
Raph looked terribly guilty, "I didn't even see him run off, I swear Pops!" Realizing he probably should have checked up on his little brother first, he added a hurried," Are you okay Donnie?"
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"It wasn't your fault, Red, it was mine," Splinter sighed, ushering his children towards the alley. "Let's go home now."
It was a quiet walk back to the manhole cover surprisingly. The boys were too exhausted from the candy hunt (and impromptu Donnie hunt) to chatter any longer.
"Why did you run off anyway?" Mikey asked once they arrived at the lair. "I got you some caramel chews and everything, Dee!"
"Cause he was afraid of Ghostface!" Leo plopped down next to Mikey. "Right?"
Donnie flushed, lying flat on his plastron.
"No! I mean, maybe a little. But then my friend April and I got some candy from him and it wasn't so bad."
"Your friend April?" Mikey's eyes went wide, digging into his pillow case for a rainbow lollipop and licking it greedily. "Is she like Buttons?"
Buttons was a googly eyed sock puppet that Mikey insisted was his best friend since the age of three. Donnie and his brothers thought Mikey was far too old now for an imaginary friend, but they never said anything.
"Nnnnnoooo..." Donnie scoffed. "She's better than lame old Buttons."
Mikey looked at him, affronted. "Buttons isn't lame! He's running for president next year!"
"April isn't an imaginary friend, she's a real human!"
Before they were about to have another debate about whether or not Buttons was fictitious or not, Leo interjected skeptically. "You made friends with a human? Riiiiiight…"
"She was dressed as Atomic Lass, of course we became friends!" He snapped, purposely ignoring Leon's obnoxious 'oooooh' that followed after he mentioned that fact. "She's nice and was easy to talk to."
"You're a stuttering mess all the time, no way you met a human without blabbing about mitosis."
"That isn't true!"
"Can we meet her?" Raph joined in on the conversation, nibbling on some sour gummy worms. They each pooled out their candy haul, sharing and trading sweets as they continued to talk.
"Can't. Halloween's over, and she would freak out if she saw us out of 'costume'," He said with added air quotes.
"What about next Halloween?" Mikey suggested, finishing his lollipop and fishing in his bag for more candy. "I don't wanna wait that long though..." He started to snarf down some jelly beans, picking out the gross flavors first and silently sliding them to Raph who was sitting cross legged across from him.
"Yeah, I wanna see this so-called 'friend' of Donnie's as soon as possible," Leo snickered. "She can be friends with Buttons!"
"Hey!" Mikey and Donnie shouted, the former sounding close to tears.
"She's real and I'll prove it to you!"
"Boys," Splinter interjected, "I'm sure it was nice making friends with this April, Purple, but I don't think it'll be possible for any of you to be friends with her, considering our current predicament."
"But, but what if we could-" Donnie piped up, wilting as Splinter started to move past him and scolded Mikey for eating too much candy.
"Orange, you're going to get a tummy ache if you continue to stuff yourself!"
"Aw Papa..."
Donnie's smile faded. The conversation was clearly over. He needn't feel too discouraged though. He knew someday April and he (maybe his brothers too!) would cross paths again.
"Who's up for a candy corn eating contest?" Raph exclaimed.
"Red, what did I just say?"
"You said Mikey couldn't eat more candy, nothing about me." Raph smirked. "So who's in?"
Five years later
Donnie lay flat on his battle shell's artificial carapace, tongue sticking out in concentration as he focused intently on his latest project. One last twist of the knob, and it would be finished. He just needed complete silence.
"Boo!" holltered a wispy sounding voice entering the lab without bothering to knock.
"GAH!" Donnie exclaimed, shooting his head up and whacking it against the device. "Ow..." He rubbed his temples, hoping that wouldn't leave a mark as he rolled out from under the machine.
There, standing above him with a shit-eating grin on her face, was April O' Neil wearing a pointy witch's hat.
"Happy Halloween!" She held out her hand to help him stand. "You didn't forget, did you?"
Donnie turned back to the giant Jack O' Lantern shaped machine behind him. "Oh gee, was that today?" He flipped a switch to make the device start singing 'Spooky Scary Skeletons' at full volume. "I must have forgotten. My bad." He smirked.
April squealed, hugging him tightly. "Before we go, there's something I need to show you."
"Oh?" He hadn't even noticed she was hiding something behind her back.
"You know how I've been working at Halloween Haunts this past month? That funky holiday store?"
Donnie frowned, not at all remembering her ever working there or mentioning that. April had a lot of jobs come and go, could she really blame him? "I'm going to say yes and pretend that I do."
"Wellll~ I was doing some stocking and I found THIS!" She dramatically revealed a skull-ghost-zombie mask and shoved it in Donnie's face. "Tada! Be amazed."
He stared at it blankly, then raised an eyebrow at her, expecting something to happen.
"Tada!" She repeated.
"I don't follow."
She huffed in annoyance. "It's a Ghostface mask! From the Scream movies. Now do you get it?"
"So? You work at a Halloween store, and this certainly qualifies as Mikey would put it, 'Halloween-y."
"No, no, look!" April pressed a button on the side. The mask started to shake as fake blood dripped down. "See?"
"I see what appears to be corn syrup and food coloring combined to create the effect of blood-"
"Donnie!" April laughed. "Do you remember the day we first met?"
"I do. October 31st 2013 at precisely 8 pm."
"You're such a dork," She teased, before explaining, "You were a little kid, scared of a Ghostface mask and I comforted you."
Donnie snorted, a blush creeping up his cheeks, "I wasn't scared!"
"Really? That's how I remember it."
"You must be thinking of another mutant Donatello."
"We ended up trick or treating together," April ignored his blatant denial of what happened, "At the time I didn't know who you really were. Later we ended up becoming the best BFF duo the World has ever seen. Am I right?"
"...that part you are correct." He smiled softly.
"HEY CHICOS!" Leo's booming voice echoed from outside the lab. "The Costume Contest starts at 8, so get moving! I refuse to be late!"
April beamed, taking Donnie's hand. "Let's go! We're totally gonna win this year."