TMNT: HELTER-SKELTER

A Simple Grocery Run

"Are you boys sure you're okay to go out on your own?" The rat man named Splinter asked one of his youngest sons with a worried expression on his face. Splinter's four mutant turtle sons are going to go for groceries without him for the first time.

"We're sure, Dad, no need to worry!" The mutant turtle in blue, Leonardo, says to his father. He adjusts the straps along his plastron that hold the sheaths of his twin katanas against his carapace. The oldest of the brothers, Raphael, comes up behind him, walking carefreely while stretching his arms.

"Don't worry, we got this! It's just groceries." Raph says as he ruffles his younger brother's nonexistent hair, causing Lee to stick his tongue out at Raph in a playful manner.

"Yeah! Just groceries!" The brother who wears orange, Michelangelo, exclaims as he struggles to put on his signature plaid jacket. As he struggles, the other youngest, Donatello, walks up to their older brother and helps him get the jacket on, their leg braces clanking softly against the ground. Those leg braces are one of the reasons Splinter is so worried about his sons going to the surface, they can easily get caught with how loud those things can get at times.

"Plus! If things do go wrong-" Lee starts but gets interrupted immediately by Mike who has finally succeeded in getting his jacket on with help from Don. "Which won't happen, by the way!"

"Raphie will be there, so it'll be fine." Lee gestures to Raph who pulls out a confident expression. Splinter sighs but accepts the fact that his sons will be fine without him being there, he has been training the art of ninjutsu for years now.

"Just be careful, okay?" Splinter speaks softly, and all of his sons reply with affirmations, except Don who is too engrossed with his phone. With that, he gives the grocery list to the blue-clad turtle and watches his sons leave the lair with a worried expression.

____

The four brothers stood atop the roof of the apartment building across from the store they planned on getting their groceries from, reviewing the grocery list that had been given to them.

"Rice, udon noodles, tofu, basic vegetables, dashi, miso, mentsuyu, rice vinegar, and sesame oil." Lee finishes reading off the list again, this time ensuring that Raph and Mike make sure that Don has finished their stretches before reading it aloud.

"You sure everything's is in there?" Raph questioned, peering over Leonardo's shoulder at the list.

"It should have almost everything this time, right, Don?" Leonardo turns his gaze to Donatello for an answer, who is currently sitting on the ground, sulking about the stretches.

"I hacked the security cameras inside and outside the store to make sure that they had everything stocked," Don replies in their usual monotone voice.

"But what if something we need is bought out?" Raphael asks, hints of panic creeping seeping into his tone, though he attempts to keep his tough demeanor.

"I don't fucking know, cry?" Don retorts sarcastically, though, only their family can tell. Mike and Lee chuckle at their response, but Raph just sighs in response.

"Let's go." Raph starts to walk over to the edge of the building, signaling for his brothers to do the same. In unison, the four leap from the building, their forms disappearing as they sneakily head toward the store.

The four brothers slip inside the store without deduction, using the cover of night to do so, mainly to avoid humans seeing them. They had stolen groceries from this specific store so much, they practically knew like the back of their hand. They were like the local cryptids for the night shift in the store. They have also caused a bad reputation for the store because of how much they steal from it.