To please everyone
by Raigon
Arms pin to my side, I race towards my opponent.
Swift motion forward, my opponent hesitate at the unexpected advancement.
I charge into the heart of battle, before my brother in blue's call.
Another fight we didn't ask for, I leave him to direct everyone else where to go.
Another clash that we couldn't detour, one down and five more to go.
Yet, I love it most, for though he gives commands.…
My brother in blue …can't see the battle field the way I do.
The swirl of motion, the shift in stance, the angles that appear and disappear so fast.
It's a song, it's a beat, a rhythm that calls to my soul.
Yet, all he does is call me reckless.
Simply because, I don't see the world the way he does.
"Raph watch your back!"
Leonardo saw it in slow motion.
The downward stroke of a katana that would cut his reckless brother's arm from his shoulder.
He was too far away to do anything more than call a warning.
His own battle at that moment forgotten as he imagine the scream of agony that would follow after the loss of a limb, and he cringe as battle instincts alone made him dodge a blow that shatter the concrete at his feet. The sound muted in comparison to the clash of steel a few moments later, and the thunderous thud of a body hitting the ground afterwards.
Leo was distracted as he grab the arm in front of him, and threw the creature over his shoulder into the wall beyond him. His eyes scanning back for signs of his red mask brother. A glint of steel would catch his eyes first. A discarded Katana lay on the ground not more than a few steps from the brother he seek. On the ground, Leo would see Raph roll away from a strike so similar to the one he had dodge only a moment before. Busted concrete where his head had been, but all his limbs were still attach to him, and though Leo didn't know he had held his breath, he release it in relief.
He was good.
They were okay.
For now, but not if something didn't change.
His opponent got back up. The monstrous creature shook bricks from his fur as though it was water, and yet, he still didn't have Leo's full attention. The turtle was watching his opponent's slow rise and at the same time, tracking the battle.
What was wrong?
Why was this so hard?
True their opponents were strong.
But, they were stronger.
And then he saw it, the problem with his strategy, and he almost growls at it.
It was Raphael.
His reckless brother was all over the place. Their enemy outnumber them, and because of him, they had herded him and his brother in orange together. They had triple their numbers against those two, but concentrated it all on just the one in red.
Stupid.
It had been one on one with Mikey and two on one with Raph. Yet, being so close together, neither would see that shift or the fact that they would switch so that none of their opponents stay consistent. The brother in red was in fact fighting three instead of two as they twist from one brother to another. Always looking for that moment of distraction, that moment his eyes overlook them as he trust his brother in orange to handle himself against the lone attacker.
Stupid.
Yet, it was easily remedy.
"Mikey, Raph, you are too close together! Get behind them, and lead them apart!"
It was easy enough for them to do. It was a easy command to follow, but as one brother in orange would roll underneath the arching sword of one opponent to spring away with a slight pop to his opponent's butt with his weapon, the other would ignore it completely. He would snarl in a way ….that spoke of his refusal, and charge into all three together in a way that center himself completely in their midst.
Leo would have curse at his brother's pigheadedness if his own opponent hadn't chosen that moment to charge.
A easy side step, as the black brute would thunder pass with his shoulder down just as Mikey stop his own rush. Recognizing that his opponent hadn't follow, Mikey was prepare to go back, and never saw it coming. The line was direct, there was no escaping it.
The impact, the angle, and Leo couldn't even utter a warning.
Yet, somehow, he was there ….as Mikey's body flew through space and closer to the abyss that would lead to his death.
He caught him, his arm disappears over the side of the building, and in that instant the battle changes as he saw only his reckless brother's back. Straining muscles as he held onto their baby brother, and left his back open to four opponents at once. Nothing else matters, nothing else would distract as Leo charges into the fray to make sure that nothing disturb his reckless brother's new focus. His brother in purple would twist free as well, so between two, five were split.
Their hearts were one, their intentions one and the same, and Leo's commands were heeded.
Almost before Raph could pull their baby brother back to safety, the fight was over.
The flash of red …as their opponent's turn to flee made his blood boil hot. It push away his exhaustion as though it was only a figment of his imagination.
So close.
His brother in red had come so close to death, but that wasn't good enough.
He had almost kill their brother in orange too.
His anger explode, and he shouts out.
"YOU idiot!"
The words halts him faster than any command.
Though Leo wasn't done. His hands reaching out to grab upon the rims of his brother's plastron as he pull him close. He makes sure he could see the anger in his eyes, the fear and worry swallowed up by that all consuming rage. He knows he can't see it in the midst of the flame, but it was still there. It press him to act without thought, without strategy.
"Why didn't you follow my orders? You almost got Mikey kill!"
Leo search his eyes, for signs that he understood. That he takes responsibility for what happen. Yet, he doesn't see it.
No guilt, no remorse.
No apology, no regret.
No, like his own, there is only one emotion present … an all consuming rage that matches his own.
Raph slaps Leo's hands away, and Leo lets him go as his brother in red snarls back.
"It wasn't my stupid plan that put Mikey in harm's way nor my opponent that knock him over the building."
Logic. Raph's shortsighted logic, that only lives in the moment. That couldn't track the path of events, or the trail his decision leads him down. That made it clear he would never be a good leader. Proof that he was nothing more than reckless.
Leo lay into him.
He explains it all, his reckless charge that put them into an unknown situation. His disregard for their battle plans as he attack, which led to the three on one situation that almost cost him an arm. His inconsistency that distracts others in battle. How his non-compliance to follow commands had stop Mikey in the pathway of that ill fated charge.
And his answer for himself.
A snort.
A comment about his commands being off.
And then he turns to walk away, leaving his back to his brother who could do nothing else but look up at the heavens. Leo saw it then, a single star that seems brighter than all the others. His anger directed harmlessly towards the sky as he growls underneath his breathe.
"I wish he would just follow my commands for once".
Then he goes to his baby brother's side to check on his well-being.
(Chapter 2 - Completed)
