A Half Shell Christmas

Chapter 1: Two Scrooges

Song: Silver Bells by Martina McBride
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"How could I possibly forget something so freaking important? Who am I, Mikey?" Raph growled to himself, pacing back and forth across his floor, his mask tails bouncing on his shell. "I'm such an idiot." He hissed, kicking his pillow across the floor.

A small, rapid knock sounded on the door, before it creaked open. A blonde haired boy poked his head inside, a wide smile fixed on his face. "Ay oh! I heard ya needed my assistance." He slipped inside, winking at the red clad turtle.

"Enough funny business, Tyler. This is serious." Raph grumbled, his stark green eyes narrowing.

"Alright, alright, don't get your bandana in a twist, Raphie. What can I do you for?" Ty asked, leaning against the wall of the room.

Raph rolled his eyes. "How much money you got left over from Christmas shopping?"

Tyler raised an eyebrow, his face becoming slightly more serious. "Enough. Why do you ask?"

Raph looked down to the floor, his eyes flashing angrily, as if trying to hide his embarrassment. He walked quickly over to his dresser, grabbing a ripped out catalogue page. "I was wondering if you could go out and buy a gift for Scarlet? She told me she's always wanted a necklace. She was telling me about how she's never really owned jewelry before, and I thought it'd nice to get her something. I meant to get it for her earlier, but I can't exactly walk into the store. And Christmas, just, I don't know, snuck up on me." Raph explained, handing Tyler the paper.

Ty chuckled, smirking at the stocky terrapin. "Raphael, it's Christmas Eve. You must have really had your head buried deep in that shell of your's. I've only been playing Christmas music since Halloween." The teen snorted, investigating the catalogue page.

Raph clenched his jaw in irritation. "I know." He spoke with a strained voice. Why hadn't he just asked Destiny for help? Tyler was just as bad as Mikey. Maybe even worse, since Tyler had no fear of Raph hitting him whenever he said something mind-meltingly stupid.

But Raph knew why he hadn't asked the wolf-raven for help.

"I told you so!"

He could literally hear Destiny's voice repeating that one sentence over and over again in his head. The worst thing is that she really did warn him, like, two weeks ago, that he should buy something for Scarlet.

"I'll have the necklace here in a half hour, tops." Tyler announced, breaking Raphael from his thoughts as the younger teen shoved the paper into his pocket.

Raph blinked in surprise. "Oh, er, right. Thanks, Ty. I owe ya."

"I don't want anything in return." Ty promised, opening the bedroom door. "Well, maybe for you to stop being a Scrooge!" He cackled, before ducking out of the room.

Raph pressed his lips together in confusion, raising an eye ridge. "What the shell is a Scrooge?"

In the living room, the turtles and their friends were gathered around the TV, even though it was shut off for once. Sitting in the middle of the arranged couches was a small, junky radio that softly played Christmas tunes, and every-so-often, an annoying advertisement.

Leonardo sat by the couch arm, a wolf-raven mutant curled into his side. She had chocolate brown, wavy ringlets, with a stripe of black hair in her bangs. Her eyes were closed in contentment, allowing the full magnitude of her scars to be seen, although the warmth in the air couldn't make her care any less. Her black wolf ears remained relaxed on the top of her head, her black wolf tail curled around her bare feet. Her sleek, black-feathered wings lazily draped themselves over her shoulders, and well as Leo, partially cocooning them.

On the other side of the couch sat another girl with a dark brown mane of hair and pale blue eyes, that seemed to be seeing another world as she drew with a pencil in her drawing book. Her lip curled slightly in concentration, causing her cheek to stretch against a scar, a thin, deep groove, that ran down her cheek. Master Splinter sat next to this girl, his hands folded gently in his lap as he watched her run her pencil down the paper, precision in every movement.

Michelangelo, however, was busy attempting decorate their plastic Christmas tree, which was only 3 feet tall, and the plastic pine-needles covered the floor. The cheeky turtle wanted to see if the ornaments April had brought over would fix it, but the tree still looked utterly miserable.

Ty shuffled in, grabbing his coat off the couch, and slipped it on. He quickly made sure that his wallet was secure inside the pocket before zipping it up over his chest. The pale-eyed girl glanced up from her drawing book, eyeing the boy warily. "Got a hot date or something?" She attempted to tease, although her voice was unusually deadpan; not even a hint of sarcasm, her tone void of any real emotion. Mikey glanced over from his project, his eyes flashing worriedly.

Tyler shrugged. "Nah, I'm going to buy something for Scarlet from Raph." He explained, before his heterochromic eyes flashed in fear. "She's not here, is she?"

"No, Ty. One of her friend's invited her to a cookie decorating party." The brunette explained, her tone becoming slightly sour.

"I told Raph he needed to buy her something before it got too late." The wolf-raven mutant grumbled in annoyance, her eyes blinking open, revealing wild green irises. "He never listens to me."

"Maybe you should go with Tyler. I don't want him walking through New York by himself." Leo stated, squeezing her shoulder.

Tyler glared at the turtle, insulted. "You don't have to send Destiny to babysit me, Leo. I'm 14, I know not to talk the strangers." He grumbled, crossing his arms and looking to the ground, much like a toddler would.

"I wouldn't mind going. I could use some fresh air." Destiny agreed, standing and stretching out her wings, which spanned about 7 feet on each side.

"Fine, but don't hover. Shelby does that enough; I don't need two sisters fusing over me all the time." Ty stated, his brows furrowed, although he was smirking. Shelby glanced at him, her eyes flashing an icy blue, before she stood, going off to her room. No one had realized the temperature in the sitting area had been so cold until she had left.

Tyler watched her carefully, his eyes flickering in concern. "Why can't she just forget like I did?" He muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets solemnly, and beginning towards the lair entrance, Destiny following behind him.

Mikey's gaze slowly changed from Tyler to Shelby's door, his eyes sparkling with a curious light. "Forget?" He wondered, scrambling up and making his way to her room.