A/N: It's official people. If I drop off the face of the planet for a month, it's 'cuz I am helping launch a rocket and traveling the continent (and eventually ocean). If I don't drop off the face of the planet, it means I have good Internet access.
Chapter 10 - Kvilethiacianux
Raphael stood beside Michelangelo in kvilethiacianux. The teacher, he couldn't bring himself to call her a sensei because this was pathetic and he had no respect for her, was going through the various sprays on the market and what the advantages and disadvantages to each one were. They used water when they sprayed each other, so as not to cause discomfort in class. When she was finished explaining the sprays for the day, she went into explaining a 'typical' attack. Raph couldn't help but roll his eyes, which earned him a glare from the teacher.
"Now, in a real attack situation, usually your attacker will not verbally warn you as to his knowledge of kvilethiacianux."
"Ya think? He'd probably be embarrassed to admit it." Raph commented snidely to Michelangelo, who stifled a giggle. The comment earned the red masked turtle a shushing from Leo and another glare from the teacher.
"He will simply act. You need to be ready for this type of situation as well." The instructor continued.
"No freakin' kidding." This time Mike did a slightly better job of stifling his reaction to Raph's comment.
"Raphael, knock it off." Leo warned under his breath without looking away from the teacher. He, however, didn't miss the obscene gesture he received from Raph in response.
"For this reason, spray should always be kept close at hand where it can be reached quickly." The teacher demonstrated a quick draw and spray technique. Raph's snort did not go unnoticed and she had had enough of the turtle's attitude. She felt it time to put him in his place. "Raphael." She called out. "Do you wish to be part of a demonstration?"
"Sure." Raph agreed wholeheartedly.
"Raphael, you hurt her and you will regret it." Leo warned such that only Raph could hear.
"Don't worry, Leo. I know what I'm doing."
The statement was not comforting to the blue-masked turtle, but he was fairly sure that, at least, Raph wouldn't hurt her.
"Ok, Raphael." There was annoyance in the teacher's voice. "I am going to attack you, and you will have no warning." She handed him a spray bottle.
"Just one second." Raph interrupted. He jogged over to Mike and handed his sais to his brother. He ran back to the front of the room and gently placed the spray bottle on the table before facing the teacher. Raph adopted a nonchalant body posture and had his arms crossed in front of his plastron. "Alright"
"Raphael, you have no weapon."
"And there is no honor in attacking an unarmed opponent." Raph stated calmly. He could see Leo shaking his head in the audience and ignored his brother.
"You have no way to defend yourself." The teacher warned him. "Go get your weapon"
"Trust me, lady, I have weapon enough."
The class laughed at the absurdity of his statement, but Raphael didn't care. He had seen her draw.
"I am going to attack you."
"You will be down before you even reach your precious spray." Raph brushed some nonexistent dirt off his shoulder then started to inspect the finger nails on his left hand.
The teacher lunged at him and… fell. At least that was what it had looked like to every non-turtle present. Raphael still stood inspecting his fingers. Leo and Mike had both easily recognized the technique their brother had just employed to floor his opponent but to the uninitiated it appeared that the teacher had merely tripped over her own two feet.
"Mental powers," the teacher breathed in surprise.
"Hardly," Raph objected as he offered her a hand up. Yes, there was a huge mental aspect to ninjutsu, but what this woman meant by 'mental powers' was not what Raph would mean by the same phrase. "Want to give it another go?" he asked. The look on the teachers face was enough for him. "This time, attack from behind." Raph offered. He turned around and waited for the attack to come.
Once again the teacher dropped to the floor seemingly of her own accord. A quiet 'Whoa' issued from the class.
"Are your two friends as skilled in this area as you are?" The teacher asked in awe. She was now impressed by Raphael's self defense skills and wished to learn something of this strange technique herself.
"Yes," was Raphael's simple response.
"Is there some of this that, perhaps, you could teach to the class?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa lady," Raph stopped that train of thought right there. "I am not only unprepared to teach, I am also not well enough trained to do so. Even between the three of us we could do more harm than good."
"Then, perhaps, a demonstration?"
Raph looked to Leo for an answer and, with a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Leo nodded. Raphael grinned.
"Sure, we can do that." Raphael replied as Michelangelo and Leonardo extricated themselves from the crowd in the room.
They stood three abreast, facing the class and Leo called a basic kata. The three Turtles moved together in perfect synchronization as they had been taught to do so many years ago. Next Leo called a more advanced kata, but still one that was far below their current abilities. Again, the three moved as one entity, though the class was paying rapt attention to what they did, the trio had tuned them out and focused on their kata.
Next Michelangelo and Leonardo sparred hand to hand while Raphael went through a kata with his sais. They switched places, Michelangelo moving into a nunchaku kata while Raph and Leo sparred, and they culminated with Leo's kata with a single katana. All three made sure to keep everything simple, unwilling to reveal their true skill in this area.
After the class ended the teacher approached them. "I do hope you will return to the class next week and give a few more demonstrations." She said. "Though, I would understand if you chose to find another class. This is far below your abilities."
"We've been wondering if you had anything like what we just demonstrated here." Leo had to ask. The question had been bugging him, it couldn't just be kvilethiacianux.
"We do, but very few practice it, and most of them are dead ones. I have heard of the other one, the one who was tested, so I know you and your friends are not gairen."
"Brothers, we're brothers." Leo corrected before he realized what she had really just said. "Wait, you heard about Donnie being tested?"
"Of course, it isn't every day that an outsider who looks like a dead one is tested by the engineers and found worthy. Half the city knows about him by now."
Leo groaned at this new piece of information. He didn't want his family to be in the spotlight like this. Additionally, he knew how Don handled undue attention and he was pretty sure that his brother was going to be pretty flustered when they found him.
"Is there something wrong?" The teacher asked, noticing Leo's demeanor.
"We just don't like that sort of attention is all. Where we grew up there is no one like us. If we were ever discovered we'd be locked up in a lab and studied, or killed and dissected just to see what makes us tick." Leo shuddered slightly. "Even walking around in the daytime with everyone else is very strange for us."
"Your fighting skills…"
"Our father trained us as a matter of necessity." Leonardo affirmed.
The teacher nodded. "Well, I still hope to see you next week."
Leo smiled. "Sure, we need the practice time anyway." He then left to join his brothers, who were standing at the door, and headed out to find Don.