Outside the farmhouse, it's a warm, sunny morning, just edging on the heavier heat of the afternoon as the sun nears its peak. Leonardo and Raphael lounge on the couch while Michelangelo keeps his eyes trained on the TV set. Diaval sits in the armchair nearest to the window, focused intensely on the clump of black yarn in his lap. There's the soft ticking of knitting needles in the air and every now and then there's a gentle gasp as Diaval stabs his fingers with the points of the needles.

"April, Casey, and Donnie should be back soon, don't you think?" Destiny asks as she walks into the living room, eyes trained on her t-phone. She chews her bottom lip, twisting the black strands of her hair around her finger.

"Eh, probably," Raphael says with a shrug. "Don't worry about it. They'll be back eventually."

Destiny exhales, shutting off her t-phone and slipping it into her pocket. "I can't help it. What with the stuff that keeps happening to us, I'd be more surprised if they didn't get into any trouble."

"Des, you're stressing yourself out," Leonardo says, glancing over his shoulder. "It's a run to the grocery store. How bad can it get?"

"Speaking of which, do you think they bought bandaids?" Raphael asks. He lifts away from the back of the couch with a grunt. "Someone keeps using ours up."

He shoots a pointed glare at Diaval just as the boy stabs his finger yet again. Diaval puts the injured appendage into his mouth, blinking a few times with a questioning look on his face to the others around him. Destiny notices for the first time that most of his fingers have bandaids on them already.

"How'd you manage to hurt yourself like that with knitting needles?" Destiny inquires, lashing her tail as she closes some distance between them. She frowns. "I'm pretty sure they have rounded ends."

Diaval shrugs, staring at his injured finger as a bit of blood wells to the surface. "Dunno..." he mumbles. He sets the lump of knitting aside and heads upstairs to find another bandaid.

The theme music for Crognard the Barbarian plays and Michelangelo shushes everyone despite the fact that no one's talking. Destiny takes a spot on the couch.

"Muurg has the jewel of Koweewah!" Crognard exclaims as his team rides down a wide path.

A centaur with a goat face cackles, cradling a giant pink jewel in his arms. "You'll never catch me, Crognard!" He laughs again as Crognard unleashes his sword as Wizardess uses her powers to create ice over Muurg's hooves. "What's this?" the centaur asks, slipping and sliding.

"Aah!" Crognard exclaims as he leaps onto the centaur's back. He starts tugging at the jewel desperately. "Give me back my mystic jewel! Rah!"

"Dude! That centaur doesn't stand a chance against Crognard the Barbarian!" Michelangelo exclaims. He hops onto the nearest seat and poses heroically.

Destiny leans onto her hand, arching an eyebrow. "Why is the jewel so important anyways?"

"That was explained before the commercial break," Leonardo answers.

The show shuts off abruptly as an announcement appears on screen. "WHYY breaking news! A word of warning for those planning on driving tonight," a female announcer says. A new picture displaying a flaming hot rod appears along with words reading "Lunatic on Wheels". "Stay home! Reports are coming in of a mysterious driver running people off the road."

"That qualifies as breaking news out here?" Raphael asks.

"Back in the city, every driver's a reckless driver," Michelangelo agrees as he sits down. He pumps his fist as if leading a revolution. "Bring back Crognard!"

"It was him!" Donatello says as him, Casey, and April enter the living room, their arms loaded with grocery bags. "That's the maniac who nearly trashed us!"

Destiny almost laughs, shaking her head. "See? Trouble follows us like the plague."

"You ran into that nut?" Leonardo asks.

"More like he ran into us! Over and over," Casey grumbles, punching the palm of his hand. "We gotta get back out there and teach that guy a lesson!"

"Casey, it's not worth it. Just be glad we're all okay," April says, setting down her grocery bags on the floor next to the wall.

"Yeah, we're...ugh...mostly okay." Donatello winces, nabbing a free spot that Diaval left behind. "I got shell-lash trying to save all the food," he continues, glaring down at the grocery bags as if it's their fault that his neck hurts.

"A noble sacrifice, D," Michelangelo murmurs. He crawls over to the bags and hugs them tenderly, rubbing his cheek against the rough brown paper.

"Your neck okay, Donnie?" April asks. She reaches her hands to the base of his head and starts prodding.

Donatello grins at Casey and nods. "Ooh. Ooh, yeah, a little lower," he directs. April does so and he slumps forward, sighing. "Aww, yeah, that's hitting the spot!"

Casey grumbles and kicks the nearest couch.

----------

The barn is humid and smells strongly of hay and musk, the only relief coming from he breeze that manages to come in through the windows and open door. Casey leans over the rusted wreck of a truck, his forehead creased with concentration as he searches for the next spot to work on. Behind him, Donatello sits at his makeshift laboratory desk underneath the light of a small lamp.

"Hey, armpit, hand me the quarter-inch socket," Casey calls.

"Sure thing, barf-a-roni!" Donatello replies, chucking the tool his way without stopping his work.

"This baby is almost ready to roll, eh, Craang-breath?" Casey asks as he catches the socket and starts cranking.

The purple-masked turtle gets up and moves towards him, carrying a toolbox. "Kraang is with a 'K,' not a 'C'," he almost scolds as he sets the box down and hands off another tool.

"Says who?"

"The Kraang!" He rolls his eyes. "That one doesn't count, come up with another c-word."

Casey chuckles. "Okay...camel-face."

Donatello frowns whilst the boy only grins wider at his triumph.

"Hey doofuses, I brought you lunch," Destiny interrupts as she walks into the barn, balancing two plates on her hands. There are two sandwiches set on them—decked with lettuce, tomato, and bacon—nestled next to a pile of potato chips.

"Aw, I was going to do that one," Donatello groans as he sits back down in his desk chair.

"You've been out here all afternoon. We don't need you two starving," she says as she hands him one of the plates. He takes it and she passes to get closer to Casey. She peers at the project with an arched eyebrow. "How's the car doing?"

Casey grins and pats the hood. "I think she's ready."

The wolf girl doesn't take her eyes off of the rusted truck. "It looks sort of like it'll fall apart at any second."

"Not anymore," he insists. She hands him the second plate and he takes it without breaking his sentence's stride. "This baby is gonna be fast. We just have to take her out for a test drive!"

She smiles and shrugs. "Well, best of luck with that, guys." She turns and heads for the door. "Bring the plates in when you're done!"

She leaves. Donatello takes a bite of his lunch and chews thoughtfully. Casey stares down at the car with adoration and excitement burning in his countenance. He pops a potato chip into his mouth.

"Alright, elephant-nose, let's get out there ASAP," Donatello says.

The hockey player smirks. "You read my mind, frog-breath."

----------

"Is your leg feeling any better today?"

Leonardo exhales heavily, keeping his eyes shut. Destiny sits on the free spot he's left on the couch, although the top of his head still brushes her thigh. When he doesn't answer, she reaches over and tugs his mask tail lightly, making him open one eye. Her eyebrows lift and she waits.

"Yeah, it doesn't ache so much anymore," he responds, smiling a little as he bats her hand away as if he's become a kitten playing with a dangling string.

"Good," she says, returning to her novel.

She turns a page and frowns lightly as she tries to find her place again. Leonardo closes his eyes again, taking slow breaths as he lazily swings his free foot from where it's draped over the couch arm. He focuses in on the peace: the sound of Destiny's gentle breathing as she reads, the way she sometimes mumbles the words to herself, the chirping of birds outside, the creaking of the floors whenever April moves around upstairs.

Leonardo is always stunned by the solace he finds in silence. With Casey, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo out testing out Casey's new car, the house is more peaceful than ever. All the most quiet people have been left behind and Leonardo feels as if he could revel in it forever.

Too soon, the lull shatters as Diaval trips down the stairs with a short, swiftly cut-off scream. The boy stumbles into the living room, gripping his shoulder and rubbing it as he wanders over the the couch. Leonardo keeps his eyes closed and acts as if he isn't annoyed by the loss of his mini-meditation session whilst Destiny's attention instantly skips over to her friend.

She takes note of the fact that his hair looks even more messy than usual, with multiple hairs sticking up in different places and his ponytail frizzy and tangled with knots. That, and there's a hairbrush lodged in the white strands on the right side of his head.

"Uh...you've got a little something right there," Destiny says, the tiniest of smiles twitching on her face as she points to the spot on her head that mirrors his.

He sighs and closes his eyes briefly. "Tried brushing it. Didn't work."

"Want me to try? I've had my fair share of knots," Destiny offers, habitually dragging her fingers through her own curls. She winces as she rips a few knotted strands apart, momentarily rubbing the sore spot on her scalp.

Diaval blinks, then nods. He shuffles over to Destiny and she motions for him to sit down in front of her. He does, turning his back towards the couch as she sets her book down and cracks her fingers. She reaches over, untangling the brush from his hair with some difficulty and tugging the elastic band from his ponytail so that his hair falls loosely around his shoulders before she starts to comb through the strands. As she works, she starts to hum under her breath, occasionally letting a word slip through.

"Flower, gleam and glow, let your power shine..." she murmurs.

Leonardo's lip curls up at the side and he laughs. "Still have that stuck in your head?"

"Blame Mikey. He's the one who wanted to watch that movie," she retorts. She hits a knot and Diaval's shoulders jolt as she cringes. "Whoops, sorry. This may take a bit."

"Mhm."

"Are you using that conditioner that April gave you?"

"Mhm..." He tilts his chin downwards as she grips a lock of his hair and rapidly combs out the knots.

"Okay, then what about—" She grunts as she gets a large clump untangled and combs it back with the others. "—brushing your hair?"

He shakes his head horizontally. "Mhm-mm."

She places her hand on top of his head to make him stop moving. She sighs. "Diaval..."

"Don't judge," he grumbles.

Leonardo opens one eye and rolls his head sideways so that he can observe the odd pair easier. Diaval stares blankly at the TV set despite it not being powered on while Destiny keeps her attention laser-focused on Diaval's pitiful excuse for manageable hair.

"Hey Des," the turtle says, shifting in place and exhaling as he feels his shoulder muscles stretch. "Want to do something? Like a board game? I'm bored."

She giggles. "Did you mean for that to be a pun?" she wonders as she stops working to remove the loose hair strands from the brush.

Diaval tilts his head. "Aren't...bored games for when you're bored?" he wonders.

"Board, B-O-A-R-D, not bored like B-O-R-E-D," Destiny explains, shaking the retrieved remnants of her minimal makeover attempts from her hand onto the plate with the remains of her lunch. "They're games that you play on a board. Get it?"

Diaval doesn't answer right away, but then he nods slowly. "Sorta?"

"I'm sure April has some around here," Leonardo says, raising his voice slightly as he hauls himself off the couch. "Hold on while I look for one."

Eventually, Leonardo returns with a generous stack of games and the mismatched trio tries to find one that they can all enjoy. It's no easy feat. Scrabble ends rather quickly after Diaval fails to spell even one plausible word. Monopoly also ends rather badly, with both Leonardo and Diaval arguing over who gets what game piece—they both want the car. Destiny tells them that it's stupid and that it doesn't matter, but they ignore her. Once that debate is settled, it quickly dissolves into Leonardo being steamed at the inability of certain person to do basic math.

Destiny decides that anything with lots of numbers is going to be difficult and vetoes any games of the sort, and so that's how they reach the situation where they're seated on the floor in a loosely triangular formation, playing Uno.

Diaval places a red number four card on top of Destiny's previous red number two card. Leonardo grins widely and smacks down a green number four. He sits back and waves his remaining card without revealing what it is.

"Uno," he says, still flashing his teeth to his fellow players. "Looks like I'm going to win."

"Not again," Destiny pouts, looking through her stack of seven cards or so. She places a green number nine on the pile as her eyebrows furrow. She gestures to Diaval. "Your turn."

The pale boy blinks and looks down at his stack, which is surprisingly down to only three. He purses his lips, glances down at the pile in the centre of their group, then at his hand.

He sets his choice down and looks up at Leonardo. "Draw four," he states.

Leonardo's eyes bulge and he rears back. "I SWEAR TO SHELL—"

"Leo!" Destiny snaps. "Draw the four cards! He got you."

"I was this close, Des! THIS CLOSE!" Leonardo nearly tantrums, snatching up four new cards. "Stupid game...that stupid card is the bane of my existence."

"Mhm, too bad," Diaval mumbles. He's rewarded with an icy glare from the blue-masked turtle, but he easily returns it. Destiny slumps her head onto her hand with a tired sigh.

Outside, the familiar sound of the hippie van engine makes the three teens perk up. Leonardo throws his five cards down and snatches up his crutch, perhaps a little too happy to be done with their card game. April heads down the stairs and out the front door and the other three teens are quick to follow. On the front yard, the remaining three turtles and Casey stand next to the hippie van and the smashed, smoking wreck of Casey's car.

April's blue eyes flicker to Casey first out of everyone. "Casey, are you okay?" she asks.

"What happened?" Leonardo adds in, his eyes wide as he takes in the sight of the dented-up vehicle.

"Speed Demon; two. Casey Jones; zip," Donatello grumbles, shooting the dark-haired boy another glare. Michelangelo bobs his head as if seconding his brother's statement.

The hockey player rubs the back of his neck as April rounds on him. "You went after that guy?" she reiterates, a slight tremble in her voice.

"What were you thinking?" Destiny demands. "You could've been hurt!" Diaval nods in agreement.

"The cops can't catch him. Someone's gotta bring that mutant down!" Casey insists, pumping his fist as he stares April down.

"And that's gotta be Casey Jones, right?" April huffs.

"That's right, Red. 'Cause I'm the only one that can," he snaps.

Without another word, he storms off to the barn, kicking a stone out of his path as he goes. April takes a step after him, but hesitates and sends her sad gaze after him instead.

Destiny looks to the others with confusion in her eyes. "Did he say mutant?"

"Yeah, that car on the news is being driven by a 'one-eyed freak', as Casey put it," Raphael says.

"We just can't get a break, can we?" Leonardo sighs. He glances sideways at Diaval. "In or out of the house, apparently."

Diaval notices the snide comment and shrugs. "Draw four doesn't choose sides," he mumbles.

"Guys, we need to have a serious talk about this," Donatello says, taking a step forward and placing himself strategically so that Leonardo can't see Diaval. "That road maniac isn't going to stop. I'm calling a family meeting."

He doesn't leave room for argument as he heads back towards the farmhouse. The remaining turtles, April, Destiny, and Diaval trudge after him without comment.