Together As Mutants (Book Six)

Chapter 32: Money Troubles

"Alright, here it is, just...try not to freak out."

The turtles, Sarina, and Splinter sit in the living room. Destiny stands before them, back to the TV, holding a duffel bag. She purses her lips, sets the bag down, and unzips it, revealing multiple stacks of real, honest-to-goodness American dollars.

"Holy shit," Raphael whistles.

Donatello and Michelangelo's mouths fall open. Leonardo's eyes widen. Sarina's lips purse, already having gotten over the shock from having found the money before. Splinter's ears flatten and his eyes narrow.

"Destiny, what is this?" he asks, voice low.

"Well, Sensei, obviously it's a bag of cash," she says. His expression doesn't change and she swallows, rubbing the back of her neck. "But...you knew that." She clears her throat. "This is what Karai paid me for helping them with that temple bust the other day."

"Woah, woah, woah, you mean from that gang stash?" Raphael asks. Destiny bows her head and he exhales. "Wow. Just...wow."

"How much is in there?" Michelangelo asks, eyes wide.

Destiny's eyes turn to Sarina, but the cyborg is already speaking. "It's all in $20 bills and, according to my research, each stack has about one hundred bills. Two thousand dollars per stack." All around the room, eyes stay wide. Sarina's flash. "There are just under three hundred stacks in that bag, meaning...we are looking at over half a million dollars."

"No way!" Michelangelo says, and for once he doesn't seem excited. "That much money doesn't really exist, does it?"

"We're looking at it, genius. Didn't you hear her?" Raphael snaps.

"I know...I should probably burn it," Destiny cuts in. "Like Karai did with the rest, but..." She stares down at the money, heart pounding a little too fast. "I can't. Not yet." She gestures to it. "I want all of you to vote on what we do with it."

Donatello sits up a little straighter. "Well, it's obvious. We can't keep it. It's crime money, and if we use any amount above a few bills, we'll be too suspicious. It's not worth it."

"Think of all the pizza we could buy," Michelangelo murmurs.

"Donnie's right," Leonardo says, getting to his feet. "We can't use it. We've always been able to live without tons of money. We'll keep living that way."

"May I suggest an intermediate?" Sarina asks. Attention turns to her again, her hand raised in the air. She lowers it to her lap. "Who's to say...we can't keep a small portion?"

"It's stolen money," Donatello says.

"That belonged to Shredder, which went to Karai, and Karai paid Destiny," Sarina says. She tilts her head. "It's obviously grey, but I am thinking beyond the present." Her eyes flash. "Someday, if we have children, we will want to clothe them and provide for them, right?"

"Children?" Splinter repeats. "Is that something you believe could be possible?" For far too long, his gaze rests on Leonardo. Leonardo averts his eyes.

"Renet...did mention children," Donatello says, although he speaks slowly, hesitantly.

"Renet?" Sarina repeats. "Who are they? I am not aware of this information."

"Oh, right, I almost forgot about that," Raphael says.

"It was a few years ago," Leonardo says. "Renet, a time traveller, mentioned that we're famous in the future. She said she could list off the names of our children, but didn't want to spoil anything for us. Something about messing up the timeline, probably."