100 Theme Challenge - 72. Mischief Managed

100 Theme Challenge
72. Mischief Managed

Donatello stood in front of a full length mirror and stared aghast at his reflection. Irma was next to him, her smile bright as she examined her handiwork.

“How did I get talked into this?” Don muttered to himself.

He was wearing a long gown that nearly reached his ankles. On his legs were knee high wool socks and his feet were shoved into a pair of oversized, backless house shoes. The gown left his shoulders bare, but Irma had solved that problem by grabbing the shawl Don had used earlier and draping it over his head.

The gown was at least a decent color in Don’s estimation; a deep purple that nearly matched his mask. However, the socks were gray, the shoes were blue plaid, and the shawl was vibrant orange.

“You look just like my Grammy,” Irma said proudly.

Don heard Casey snicker and then the boy asked, “Wanna go to the prom?”

“I wouldn’t talk if I were you,” Don countered, turning to survey Casey’s costume.

After they had explained to Irma that none of the three could be seen outside, she’d come up with the idea that they all wear disguises. Not only had she thrown together the get up that Don was wearing, she’d also created costumes for Casey and April as well.

Irma’s father was apparently a large man judging from the way his clothes swamped Casey’s lean form. To make up for the missing girth, the pants Casey wore had to be stuffed with pillows, giving the boy a very rotund silhouette. Topping off the suit Casey sported a large panama hat which had once been owned by Irma’s grandfather.

April wore one of Irma’s mother’s business suits in a shade of green that would have gone well with her red hair except that her head and face were covered by a dark hat and veil. The suit skirt reached past her knees and she’d removed her stockings to leave her legs bare so that she’d be even more unrecognizable.

“You guys did say you didn’t want to be seen,” Irma said importantly.

“How is anyone not going to see us in these outfits?” Casey asked. “We should be carrying neon signs saying ‘here we are’.”

“First of all, it’s very early in the morning,” Irma said, holding up one finger almost directly in front of Casey’s face. Lifting another, she went on. “Secondly, this is New York City. You three don’t look in the least unusual. Thirdly, the outfits only have to hide your identities down to the corner where we can hail a cab.”

“We?” Casey asked.

“Cab?” Don asked at the same time.

Just at that moment Don’s T-Phone started to vibrate, startling him. He automatically reached for his belt, only to be stymied by the gown.

“Is that your T-Phone?” April asked, hearing it vibrate against Don’s shell.

Don started to blush. “Um yeah. Excuse me.”

Lifting the gown high, Don reached under it to retrieve his phone. Casey let out a low wolf whistle which only served to further embarrass the turtle. Glancing at the screen, he saw that the call was coming from Leo.

“Hey Leo,” Don said, his voice neutral despite being flustered.

“Hi D! It’s Mikey,” Mikey announced somewhat unnecessarily. “Where are you guys?”

“We’re at April’s friend’s apartment,” Don said. “We’re just trying to find a way to get back to the lair without being caught by the Kraang.”

“You met April’s friend? Does she like you? What happened when you guys met?” Mikey asked excitedly.

“Yes, I think so, and she fainted,” Don said, answering Mikey’s questions in order. “She’s okay now. Why do you have Leo’s phone? Where is he?”

“Well, duh, I’ve got Leo’s phone because Casey has mine,” Mikey said, as if that were perfectly obvious. “Leo is with Raph. I got hungry and saw that Mr. Murakami was down in his restaurant, so I told them to head back to the lair without me.”

Don rubbed his forehead in an attempt to relieve the pressure that tended to build there when he was trying to have a phone conversation with Mikey. “Leo agreed to that? Aren’t the Kraang still chasing you three?”

“Nah, the holograms worked great. Mischief managed bro’,” Mikey said, sounding much too chipper. “We had them practically chasing each other. I’d still be careful in the tunnels though. I heard a couple of them talking and they said your gadget blew up their mind control thingy. They aren’t too happy with you.”

“Are you at Mr. Murakami’s now?” Don asked, his mind turning fast.

Irma had sounded determined to tag along with them but Don wasn’t ready to show her where the lair was located. Going to Murakami’s restaurant sounded like a much better alternative. It would get them out of Irma’s apartment and most of the way back to the lair.

“Yep. He set up a little table in the back just for us! Now we can come here to eat whenever we want and won’t have to worry about being seen,” Mikey announced.

“Leo wasn’t concerned about you going off by yourself without knowing where we were?” Don asked suspiciously.

“That’s why I have his phone, Donnie,” Mikey said. “I told him I’d call you and tell you to bring April and Casey to Mr. Murakami’s. If I couldn’t reach you or if anything was wrong, I was supposed to ring Raph’s T-Phone and tell them. He said he wanted to let Master Splinter know what was happening, so I suggested he should take Raph with him.”

Don grimaced slightly. He had a feeling that Mikey’s ‘mischief managed’ had to do with more than getting the Kraang off his shell.

“Okay, stay there,” Don instructed. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Cool. I’ll tell Murakami-san to make some more pizza gyoza,” Mikey said.

After he got off the call with Mikey, Don once more lifted his gown to put his T-Phone away, this time too distracted to be embarrassed. He needed to have a long talk with Mikey because it sounded as if his youngest brother was encouraging whatever Leo and Raph had going on between them.

“Is everything all right?” April asked, concerned by the look on Don’s face.

Snapping out of his reverie, Don said, “Oh; yeah everything is fine. Leo and Raph are headed back to the lair to let our father’s know that we’re okay. Mikey somehow talked Mr. Murakami into opening a back room for him so that we’d have a place to go and something to eat.”

“This Murakami knows about you guys?” Casey asked.

“It’s a long story,” Don said. “He’s a friend. We should go, Mikey’s waiting.”

To Don’s intense mortification, Casey had to hold onto his arm to keep him from tripping as Don tried to walk in the house shoes. In the elevator April had a fit of giggles as she saw their reflection as a group for the first time.

The apartment building lobby was empty when they reached it, but on the sidewalk they passed an old man who was walking his dog. He gave them an odd look and crossed to the other side of the street, but otherwise ignored them.

Irma had said the corner was the best place to hail a cab at that time of the morning and the foursome stopped when they reached it. They had to wait almost ten minutes before Casey spotted one cruising nearby and whistled shrilly to get the driver’s attention.

While Casey was waving it down Don noticed movement on the opposite corner and glanced over. Standing there were two Kraang wearing their ‘man suits’. He inhaled sharply, which got April’s attention and when she saw what he was looking at, she grabbed his arm.

The Kraang appeared to be searching the street, their heads swiveling left, right, and up towards the roof tops. Though both of the Kraang looked directly at the group on the street corner, neither showed any signs of recognizing them.

“It’s working,” April whispered.

Don kept his head down so they wouldn’t see his face, but his eyes were on them as the cab pulled in at the curb. Casey opened the door and Irma climbed in, followed by April.

“Come on ‘Grammy’ ,” Casey said humorously. “Get in.”

Once more Casey held his arm as Don maneuvered to get into the low slung vehicle. Wearing a tight gown and loose fitting shoes while trying to move around was quite a task and rivaled any exercise in balance Master Splinter had ever put them through.

Once the ‘girls’ were all in the back, Casey jumped into the seat next to the cabbie. Since it wouldn’t do for Don’s voice to come out of an old ladies disguise, April gave the driver the address to Mr. Murakami’s restaurant and they started off.

Don looked through the back windshield and was happy to see the Kraang were walking in the opposite direction, apparently none the wiser. He breathed a sigh of relief and settled back to enjoy his first cab ride.

There was a single light burning inside the restaurant when the cab pulled up in front of it. Irma paid the fare with a credit card and the four tumbled out, going straight to the door as the cab drove away.

April tried the door handle but found that it was locked. She looked at Don questioningly and the turtle reached up to tap lightly on the door.

They heard the lock being turned back and then the door opened quickly. The first thing Don saw was Mr. Murakami happily cooking away, as though early morning visitors were completely commonplace.

When all four were inside, the door was shut behind them and once more locked. Don turned around to find Mikey standing there, a wide grin on his face.

“You guys look awesome!” Mikey said and then he spotted Irma.

The two stared at each other without blinking and Don noticed that Mikey’s cheeks were growing pink. When Don glanced at Irma, he saw that she too was sporting a very becoming blush and a coquettish smile.

“Hi,” Irma said, her voice carrying a lilt Don hadn’t heard earlier.

“Hi,” Mikey said in return and Don swore there were stars in his eyes.