Alternate Allure

CHAPTER 21: FROM THE START [Part I]

Donnie smirks and steps aside, bowing a tiny bit before you. "I thought you'd never ask"

Then—like the charming boy he is—he offers you his hand in a full-on polite 'After you' kinda way. You take it with a playful eye roll, as his brothers pile in behind. Donnie hops in and heads straight for his setup in the back. It's surrounded by a million glowing screens and wires, and right next to it? Another chair, empty and exactly like his. He flops into his seat and grins at you, patting the other chair. You sit down beside him. Then he points to this huge button on his keyboard labeled 'Power'.

"Would you do me the honors?"

You raise an eyebrow right back at him, shooting him a smug little smirk.

"With pleasure" And you slam the button.

The Shellraiser comes to life with this loud, satisfying VMMMM. Lights flick on, screens everywhere start glowing, and it suddenly feels way too high-tech for something built in a sewer. There's a huge map of the city hung up next to Donnie's station, and right behind his seat is a folded-up metal stretcher that flips out to reveal a fully stocked first-aid station.

"Okay!" Donnie claps once. "I've assigned everyone to a station based on your individual skill sets" He jerks a thumb toward himself. "I can't drive because my station's in the back, so—"

"DRIVER!!" Leo, Raph, and Mikey scream in unison before hurling themselves toward the front like a pack of wild animals.

Donnie lets out the slowest, most exhausted sigh you've ever heard in your life. He gets up, dead silent, walks over, and just slams his bo staff down between them and the wheel like Moses parting the Red Sea. The chaos trio stumbles back.

"Leo drives"

Leo straightens up instantly, beaming. He brushes invisible dust off his shoulders and slides into the driver's seat, as Raph and Mikey groan in sync.

"Ughhh, why?" They whine.

Donnie crosses his arms and raises a single eyebrow. "Because he's least likely to hit something just for fun"

Raph and Mikey exchange a look. There's a beat of silence.

"...Yeah. True"

And just like that, they trudge off to their stations, defeated.

You cross your arms and lean forward, giving Donnie the most unimpressed look ever. "And what about me? Seriously, didn't even think about letting me drive?"

Donnie doesn't even blink. "First of all—you still don't have your license"

"Yeah? And neither do you, genius!"

"Second. Come on, MC. You'd hit things just for fun every time you got behind the wheel"

"That is so not—"

He holds up a hand, cutting you off before you can even finish your sentence. "I've seen you play Mario Kart"

You open your mouth to argue, but nothing comes out. Slowly, your shoulders slump, and you deflate in your seat with a sigh.

"...I hate that you know me so well"

Donnie, of course, just grins.

Leo, now fully owning the driver's seat, looks around. "Sooo... How do we get this baby going?"

One of the screens next to him lights up with a beep. It's a comm system connecting all the stations in the Shellraiser. Your face pops up on the screen next to Donnie's, as he taps his mic and leans toward the screen.