Donatello hummed softly to himself as he packed as many things as he could into the worn brown duffel bag. Four wool blankets, a few sweatshirts and a variety of food and bottled water resided next to his normal tools and gadgets. When there was no more room left, Don zipped up the bag and slung it over his shoulder, almost running into Mikey as he left his room.
"Hey, where ya going?" Mike asked, taking in the bag over his brother's shoulder.
"Thought I'd pay a visit to the professor and his friends," Don explained, "It's supposed to be below freezing tonight, so I thought some blankets and stuff would help. Wanna come?"
"Nah," Mike shook his head, "Monster movie marathon on tonight. Raph lost a bet – he has to watch the entire thing with me – B movies included."
"Ouch," Don chuckled. He knew how lame some of Mikey's movies could be. "Alright, I'll be back in a couple hours then."
"Bye," Mikey answered, already heading towards the couch.
-------------
"Ah, Donatello!" The African-American man greeted cheerily as he saw the turtle approaching, "How are you?"
"Fine, thanks, professor," Don said, handing over the bag. "Temperatures are supposed to be really low tonight."
The professor smiled and nodded as he dug through the bag, pulling out the blankets and sweatshirts. "You have a kind heart, you and your family. Where are the rest tonight?"
"At home. Mike's got one of those monster movie things on tonight," Don grinned. "Here, give me some of that food, I'll help you give it out."
"Many thanks, Donatello."
Taking one blanket and half the food, Don went to one half of the site while the professor went to the other. Soon he had distributed most of the food, but still carried the blanket. The homeless, while thankful for the food, knew of the coming cold snap and had been preparing.
Ready to go home, Don figured he would just give the blanket to the professor as he left, and he could take over.
Before he even got to his friend, Don tripped over someone lying on the ground. "Oh, I'm so sorry," he said, looking down to see who he had tripped over.
It was an old skinny man, with a heavy white beard and a bald head. He looked very surprised. "You can see me?"
Don blinked. Maybe this man had some mental problems. "Yes, of course I can see you, I just tripped over you," he said.
The man chuckled, which sounded more like a dry wheeze. "Guess my time's up then. 'Bout time, I've been begging for a vacation."
"Wha – okay…listen, it's supposed to be cold tonight. I have one blanket left over - do you want it?"
He shook his head. "Won't be needing it, don't you worry. But listen – when it comes, don't skip any, or some bad things will happen, alright?"
"Um, okay, but-"
The man reached up and grabbed Don's forearm. His fingers were icy, and something pricked the turtle's skin.
"Ouch!" Don exclaimed, pulling his arm away, "I'm not sure I-"
But the man had stopped breathing.
Don stared for a minute, before backing away and examining his arm where he had been pricked. There wasn't anything there – no puncture wound or anything. Just smooth green skin as usual.
Shaken, Don gave the leftover blanket to the professor, notified him about the dead man, and went home.
----------------------The next morning, Don's arm felt as if it were on fire. However painful it was, on closer examination it still showed no sign of any physical harm.
Splinter noticed he was favoring his right arm a bit in morning practice and inquired about it. Unsure how to answer, Don merely told him he must have bumped it during the night.
Quieter than usual (which was saying something) Don skipped breakfast and went straight back into his room. Still inspecting his arm, he almost missed the heavy book sitting on his desk.
The book was huge and pure black, with red lettering across the top. The title read 'So Now You're Death.'
"Raph!" Don called, "I think you left a book in my room!"
"No I didn't!" his brother called back from the kitchen.
"Mikey?"
"Nope!"
"Leo?"
"Sorry Don. And stop shouting from your room. If you want to talk to us, come out here!"
Don went back to his desk and picked up the heavy book. Opening the front cover, a piece of paper fell out. It looked a bit like papyrus, but the letters on it were definitely done with a computer or a typewriter.
Across the top it said 'Rules' and then there was a bulleted list. Dropping the paper back on his desk, Don left his room and went into the kitchen with his brothers.
"Okay Mikey, ha ha, you got me."
Mike looked nonplussed. "What are you talking about?"
"You know, the book, the rules about being Death. I think you're starting to slip, bro."
"Donnie, I have no idea what you're talking about. I haven't pulled any pranks today. Yet."
Don frowned and studied Mikey. Usually he could tell when his brother was lying, but the orange-clad turtle looked sincere.
"So…none of you know what I'm talking about?"
All three shook their heads. "Maybe Splinter put it there for some reason," Leo suggested.
"Maybe…" Don said, though he couldn't find any logical reason why. "I'll go ask him."
An hour later, Don was back in his room, sitting at his desk, staring at the book and the paper laying on top of it. Splinter had no recollection of a book like the one Don had described, and suggested that perhaps one of his brothers had left it there. So now he was back at the beginning.
It had to be a joke. An elaborate prank. Maybe the whole family was in on it. Don couldn't possibly be Death – that was more Raph's area of expertise. But everyone had seemed so sure that they had no idea.
Picking up the paper that said 'Rules', Don read them over:
No collecting during the day
Never tell anyone of your profession
You are not immortal.
And that was it. No explanation or anything. Just the three rules. Don was almost afraid to open the book. He wouldn't even touch it – just sat and stared at it.
Finally, after staring at the book for a good thirty minutes, Don reached to open it and was interrupted by a loud banging on his door followed by Raph's voice.
"Hey Donnie, get yer tail out here! April's here."
Sighing, Don abandoned the book and left his room to greet his friend with the rest of his family.