The Red Wedding, well, Blue Actually

The Great Sewer Baking Show

Raphael was exhausted. He shambled into the kitchen and lifted a hand to get a mug only to fall forward and press his head against the cupboard, asleep standing up. A crash from behind woke him, forcing him to groggily lift and turn his head, to see Mikey buried under a mound of bowls and pans. He waved his hands and arms around, hapless in his attempts to free himself. Raph sighed and shuffled over to help him.

It was a day away from the wedding and neither he nor Mikey had slept since they were assigned their jobs. Their original job was to bake a cake. Bake a cake, they said, it'll be fun, they said, maybe even ask Hueso to cater! Oh yeah, it was supposed to be fun, but it has been nearly 30 hours since then and they have not had a moment's rest-they didn't even start the cake! They really needed to stop paying for services with favors like it was a reliable fiscal system.

Hueso had agreed, if they got his brother's ship back from some riff raff that stole it. Raphael and Mikey had naively said they would do it, after all, taking out villains was their hobby and they expected it would be a done job. What they did not expect was that the low-level thugs that stole the ship would be connected to an underground theft ring that was tied to corrupt police and multiple rings of crime bosses.

What should have been a five minute conversation turned into a two day heist that involved espionage and the collapse of criminal dynasties. Raphael and Mikey made it out unscathed and with the ship, miraculously, but they were beyond exhausted. Unlike the fight with the shredder, they weren't herding one feral suit of armor, but extracting vital information without giving themselves away while simultaneously maintaining peace amongst the gangs to prevent a catastrophic gang war that would have not only ravaged the hidden city, but also ruined Leo's wedding.

Finally they had made it back home with Hueso's promise that he would cater for the wedding tomorrow. He had offered to make the cake for them, but Mikey refused, against Raph's wishes, citing that the cake was going to be a gift from them. Raph's forehead vein was visible.

When they got back April handed Raph a small box. She told him that it was the wedding rings and the couple wanted him to look after them until the wedding. It was a silky cream colored ring box with two simple rings embedded in velvet. Raph didn't look closely at the rings-it felt against the rules to look at them, like they were a gift from Santa. He did notice that one was flowered with gemstones while the other was a simple band. It was hard to say that he chose not to look at the rings, it was more that he couldn't; he was blinded by the glare from the crystals. After blinking away the dark spots in his vision, he swore to himself he wouldn't open the box again as he tucked it into his belt.

Now, hours away from the wedding, he dug his littlest brother out from under the metal they'll need to bake the cake. Mikey squinted when Raph removed the pan that covered his eyes. Reintroducing light to his sleepy eyes was torture. Pulling Mikey free from the mountain of baking gear, Raph shook his head to wake himself up. Mikey yawned, putting a hand to his mouth.

"Do you need me to punch you as a wake up?" Raph offered, putting up a fist to Mikey's face.

"Ah! No, nonononono, I've got this sweet elixir, called coffee!" Mikey shook his head, along with his entire body, spinning over to the coffee machine which already had half a pot of burnt coffee. He dumped it into the sink and started a fresh pot. He reached deep into the abyss of the cabinet and showed Raph a bag of coffee beans he had never seen before. "With my secret ingredient, extra special coffee!"

"What's so special about it?" Raph asked, intrigued by the mysterious beans.

"It's super caffeinated," Mikey explained. "Like, stop your heart caffeinated."