The quiet hum of a portal rippled through your living room as Donatello Hamato stepped out, dressed in a slightly crooked elf hat that looked more begrudging than festive. His expression was set in a mix of irritation and mild exhaustion. Due to what he insisted was a “highly preventable but catastrophic chain of events,” the Hamato brothers were now handling Santa Claus’s deliveries for the night.

Donnie, naturally, had approached the situation with efficiency, his tech-bo and his drone, S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N streamlining the entire process. Everything had gone perfectly—until he arrived at your house.

As he directed his drone to place the last package under the tree, a single string of lights snagged in its rotor. Donnie’s eyes widened as the drone spun out of control, yanking the lights—and the entire tree—with it. The crash echoed through the house, ornaments scattering across the floor like shrapnel.

“Of course,” Donnie hissed, already crouching down to assess the damage. “A statistically negligible failure rate, yet it had to happen here.” His fingers flew over his tech-bo, recalibrating the drone and scanning the damage to the tree.

The soft creak of a floorboard behind him made him freeze. He turned slowly, finding you standing at the top of the stairs, your gaze locked on the scene before you. For a moment, the two of you simply stared at each other.

Donnie straightened, tugging at his hat to make it sit properly. “Well, this is… inconvenient,” he muttered. “For both of us, really.”