Chapter Text
“Think fast, Donnie!”
“AUGH!” Donnie fell backwards into the pile of snow behind him as a snowball hit him directly in the face. He wiped his face. “Nardo, that was COLD! Literally AND figuratively!”
Donnie scrambled back up to his feet. Raph looked over at them, “I told you to wear somethin’ warmer.”
The human-cloaked turtle rolled his eyes. “It wouldn’t do anything to stop my face from being cold.”
Leo waved his hand in the air. “If he wants to go out in the snow with a hoodie and shorts, then let them, Raphi.” He said, emphasizing the clothing articles as he said them. “At least he’s wearing sleeves .”
He narrowed his eyes, angling them towards two of the other three in the snowball fight. “I stand by my words,” Mikey said. “Vests are cooler. Right, Cass?”
Cassandra popped up over the snow barricade she’d constructed. “YES! Sleeves are for the weak!” She turned to Raph for just a second, “and Raph. They’re also for Raph.”
“HEY!” April argued, “how come Raph’s the exception?”
Casey scooped up some snow into her hands and packed it into a ball. “Because you couldn’t squish me.”
April sighed in mock-annoyance. “Too bad the only one of us that can is also the only one of us that wouldn't given the opportunity, cus you really deserve to be squished.”
At her words, Casey swung her arm and chucked the snowball she’d been packing at April. April yelped and ducked out of the way, rolling behind a second barricade.
Raph laughed as April and Casey began to target each other specifically, despite having previously been on the same “team”. At one point, April used Mikey as a shield and successfully absorbed him into their personal brawl.
“They’re gonna end up giving each other hypothermia,” Leo said, pointing at the group. Mikey was visibly shivering, as he had been since they’d gone outside in the first place. Casey wasn’t, but her movements were stiff and goosebumps were clear on her exposed arms. April was spitting snow out of her face, unable to pull off the flakes that got themselves stuck in her eyelashes thanks to her already snow-covered gloves.
Donnie shrugged. “We could always set them on fire later.”
Raph shook her head, shoving Donnie back over into the snowbed. Despite the dangers and outlandishness of his comment, she found herself being able to appreciate it being made in the first place.
Man, I’ve missed this.
Just us getting to have fun without any lurking worries. We haven’t gotten the chance to be like this in so long. Not since the first time we went to the Hidden City…
She was yanked from her thoughts as a rogue snowball slammed directly into her chest. “Agh!” Raph exclaimed, looking up. Cassandra was looking back at her, eyes wide.
Leo looked over at her, unable to contain a laugh. He turned back to the other three. “Alright, game’s back on, teams resumed!” He packed some snow into his hands. “You’re gonna admit ‘Jupiter Jim Sails the Seven Galaxies’ is the better film or we’re gonna make you!”
April ducked out of the way as Leo threw the snowball at her, shoving Mikey in her place. The youngest laughed, even as the snowball hit him on the forehead. April’s eyes narrowed, “you’re gonna have to admit ‘Jupiter Jim’s Pluto Vacation IV’ is better first!”
Raph scooped some snow from the ground and into her hands, before aiming it at Cassandra. The girl noticed the projectile flying towards her, however, and managed to dodge out of the way just in time.
Unfortunately for her, she was not expecting it when Leo popped up behind her and chucked a snowball at the back of her head. She fell forward, collapsing her barricade.
Leo was caught off guard as Donnie sent a snowball hurtling in his direction. He was knocked off his feet, almost falling into the snow before he caught himself. “I will NOT support your weird musical taste, Donnie!”
“You, my brother, are UNCULTURED!” Donnie said in reply.
He tried to throw more snow at Leo, but by then he’d already recollected himself. Leo threw a tightly-packed snowball right back at his brother, hitting him straight in the hand that was going to throw the ball in the first place. “Donnie we’re ALL uncultured!”
Donnie wrinkled his nose at his twin as the snowball in his hand crumbled due to the impact. “You’re lucky I made my arm waterproof, Leonardo .”
Leo dramatically put his hand on his chest. “Oh NO, the full first name! How could you!” Through his dramatics, a slight snicker could be detected in his voice.
While he was distracted, April snuck up behind Leo and hit him in the back with another snowball. The slider gasped in surprise, immediately turning around. “Hey! Two V one is NOT fair!”
And that it wasn’t, so Raph scooped up some more snow and ran over. She threw the snow in their general direction, which meant she had a two out of three chance she’d hit one of her targets. And lucky her, because she did.
April sputtered as the snowball knocked her glasses off of her face, before bursting into giggles. “Ah, now that was a dirty move!”
Leo pointed at the glasses as April picked them up and shook the snow off. “THIS is why I refuse to get glasses, people! They are an inconvenience .”
April readjusted her glasses onto her face, though some small droplets of water still remained. “I’d say a temporary loss of sight is a better inconvenience than never being able to see!”
Donnie rolled his eyes, his own glasses slightly raising off the bridge of their nose as they did so. “Are we team Seven Galaxies versus Pluto Vacation IV or Glasses vs No Glasses?”
“BOTH!” Mikey laughed, throwing a snowball at Donnie. “Cus glasses ironically make me look stupid and that’s why I never wear ‘em.”
Cassandra pointed at Leo and Mikey. “This is why you have such horrible taste in movies! You can’t even see what you’re watching in order to appreciate it!”
“What is there to appreciate about a movie where the entire premise is Jupiter Jim looking for ice before realizing that Pluto’s surface IS ice?” Mikey asked. “You’d think after THREE OTHER vacations he’d have realized it!”
“Besides, you haven’t even watched either movie! You’re just on that team because April is!” Leo pointed out.
Donnie shoved Leo over into the snow. “Distraction from valid point being made in our team’s composition!”
April blinked, “what do I have to do with it?”
Raph opened her mouth to reply, but Mikey silenced her by putting a hand up over her mouth. “No, no, let her figure it out herself.”
The short period of silence that followed was harshly broken as Cassandra threw a snowball at Leo. It hit him right in the eyes, and he fell right back over into the snow he’d just managed to stand up from.
“Now, see, if you’d had glasses,” Donnie said, ignoring Leo’s annoyed groan as he presumably guessed what was coming next, “your eyes would be perfectly fine right about now.”
April laughed, looking down at him. “We’ll get Mom to force you to get glasses sooner or later.” She nudged Leo’s foot, smirking as he yanked it back.
Leo sat up, “can’t force me to wear them, though! You couldn’t force Mikey!”
Almost as if in response, Mikey sneezed and then proceeded to burst out in giggles. “Okay, okay, I think it’s time for a hot chocolate break. Things are getting too off topic. Anyone else want some?”
“ME!” Leo gasped, hopping back onto his feet.
Everyone else immediately turned from the fight, eager to warm themselves at least a little bit. MIkey nodded, running off to the area they’d hidden their bags at.
A moment later, he returned with six mugs and a thermos. “Well good thing for you because I came prepared!
In the dimming sunlight, the group of six sat down in the snow. All anger was forgotten in the moment as they forged a temporary truce. One that would likely be betrayed in just a moment or two, but a temporary truce none the less.
Mikey poured some hot chocolate out into Raph’s mug, and she immediately went to drink it. She, April, and Leo were the only three that were appropriately dressed for the weather, and even she was cold. Even though she was sure Donnie, Mikey, and especially Cassandra were faring much worse, they did a heck of a good job in being stubborn.
Despite them having been out in the snow for at least a couple of hours, the drink was still fairly hot. The magic of thermoses, Raph supposed. We’ll have to be heading back inside soon. She realized. I didn’t even notice that the sun was going down until just now.
“I want to make sure we are all clear that the war is not over and that this is just a time out,” Mikey said as he set the thermos down.
Donnie sipped his hot chocolate. “Yes, and when this break is over my team will prove to all of you that PV4 is the superior film in all aspects.”
Leo scoffed. “Say ONE thing that makes it better right now. I dare you.”
“Nardo, it is a musical. That makes it IMMEDIATELY better.” Donnie said, glaring at his twin.
Leo laughed, “if you use your ninpo to pull a gun on me like you did last time we had this ‘does being a musical make a movie better immediately’ debate I’m portaling your signed copy of ‘Jupiter Jim’s Last Trip to the Moon’ to its setting.”
Donnie leaned slightly forward, eyebrows furrowed. “You wouldn’t!”
“Donnie did what?” Raph interrupted, completely ignoring everything about the comic and staring between the two with concern.
Donnie sat back up and went back to drinking his hot chocolate. “Don’t worry ‘bout it Raph.” He said, “I only did what was completely valid and reasonable and one day Leo will thank me for scaring him into musical appreciation.”
Leo raised an eyebrow. “I do like musicals, I just don’t think that every musical is immediately better just cus it is one.”
Donnie raised his index finger off his mug to point at Leo. “And that is what makes you wrong.”
Mikey chuckled. “Sometimes I wish time travel was real so I could go back and make sure I never introduced Donnie to musicals.” He sipped his drink. “Hasn’t even been to school ever and he’s already a theater kid.”
April shrugged. “If you hadn’t I probably would have at some point. Also if we ever manage to get you guys to school, which I’m hoping we do, we’ll have to DRAG him away from the theater department. They’re bad enough already.”
“You can’t stifle me, April, I can be part of the theater department if I want to.” Donnie argued.
“While we’re on the topic,” Leo said, “progress update on enrolling Cassandra into school?”
Casey set her now-empty mug back into the snow. “Everything’s ready so I’ll probably be starting next quarter.”
Donnie huffed. “You’re lucky you get to start school so soon!” They put his cheek into his hand, which rested on their leg via his elbow. “Too bad cloaking brooches don’t come with free birth certificates and school records.”
“Yeah,” Mikey muttered. “But at least Draxum’s working on trying to get those forged!”
Nobody said anything about the fact that Donnie had already been on a project of his own to get forgeries of those things. A project which, just like everything else, got destroyed with the lair. A project that had been trusted with SHELLDON and SHELLDON alone. A touchy subject to try and bring up with him, anyway.
Leo shrugged. “We should be happy for Cass anyway! Or scared for her. Probably scared from what April says about school.”
April nudged him in the arm. “It isn’t that bad, I tend to exaggerate. Casey will get used to it pretty quick, and it’s good for her to get to experience normal teen things.”
“Hey, quit talking about me as if I’m not here!” Casey said.
April laughed, “I’m not!” She insisted, though judging by the cheeky smile on her face she was 100% aware that she was.
Raph finished her hot chocolate, and set the mug down onto the snow. “Since you’re the general of the Foot Clan now, how’s it gonna work when you start goin’ to school?” She asked.
“There are a few members I trust not to let everything fall again,” Casey shrugged. “While I'm gone I’ll leave things to them. The clan’s making great progress since Shredder’s defeat!”
“Couldn’t have been easy progress, I imagine,” Donnie suggested, setting his mug down with the others.
Cassandra snorted. “Oh, no, It took quite a lot of convincing! I’m not even sure the entire clan is on board yet, but without the Lieutenant or Brute they really don’t know what to do on their own.”
“I guess we all know how hard it is to suddenly try adapting to one lifestyle when you’re so used to another,” Leo said.
Ain’t that the truth . Raph looked up at the sky. A few stray stars were beginning to peek through the rest of the light, and the moon was starting to become clearly visible.
April seemed to have the same idea that was creeping into Raph’s head, as she set her mug into the snow. “I think we should pick up the argument over which movie is better tomorrow, when it’s not so dark.”
Raph nodded. “I don’t want any of us gettin’ hurt, and it’ll be gettin’ colder anyways. The snow won’t go anywhere.”
Donnie sighed dramatically. “Fine! But you will accept the superiority of Pluto Vacation IV one day!”
The group finished whatever remains of the hot chocolate that was left, before going to fetch their bags and heading home. A bit down the street, Cassandra waved goodbye before she broke off and started heading in her own direction.
They weren’t exactly sure where she lived, but it apparently wasn’t anywhere near April’s apartment. She promised she’d show them around once things got a bit more under control.
But for now they went their separate ways, and the group of five began to head back to April’s apartment, where they’d been living for the past few months. Raph couldn’t help but smile as they walked. Calmly, without any worries that some demon or Yokai or some other villain would pop up and ruin anything. It was nice.
They were all here, they were all okay, and things were going to stay like that. No matter what Raph had to do, she wouldn’t let things get like they were again.
END