Six Months Later
Donatello grunted with extertion as he pulled himself up over the bar again, muscles burning with the effort.
"You're doin' great Donnie, just three more!" Leonardo encouraged from the floor where he was spotting him.
"Make it six!" He yelled back, and Leo shook his head.
"Your call bro, but I'll count 'em down for you." His brother told him, running down the numbers as Donnie went into overtime. "Okay, now give it a rest, will you?"
He slowly lowered himself to the floor, breathing heavily from the exercise. Donnie raked a hand across his forehead to stop sweat from getting into his eyes, and grinned as Leonardo pressed a water bottle into his other hand. He flopped down on the mat, downing half the bottle without stopping.
"Dang, that was good Donnie. You're looking better than ever, do you know that?"
He didn't reply right away - he was still catching his breath, and he'd suddenly noticed that Raphael was aimlessly milling around the other end of the room. What is he doing?
Then he looked back up at Leonardo with another grin. "It helps to have the right motivation."
"No kidding, I'd like to siphon some of that right off of you."
"Please Leo, you've got enough drive for all of us. Thanks for working with me again - nobody will let me push it as hard as you will."
"Anytime." Leonardo said pointedly, and joined him on the mat as Donatello stretched out to his fullest extent. "How's the knee feeling?"
Donatello breathed out slowly as he released the tension in his calves. "It's good, it really is. You have no idea how great this feels." He emphasized as he braced his shoulders against the floor next. "There really is such a thing as good pain."
"We'd better watch your dose of good pain, or it might turn into the bad kind. Maybe I have been letting you go too far."
"Bro, when are you going to stop worrying about me?"
"Never, and that's a fact. It's also a fact that I'm starving. You wanna get something to eat?"
Donatello cast a furtive glance back over at Raphael, half-heartedly straightening some arm weights on a rack.
"Nah, I think I'm gonna cool down a bit more. You go ahead, I'll be out in a few." He told him.
Leonardo offered his fist, and Donatello obligingly bumped it.
"Same time tomorrow?" He asked.
"You bet." Donatello replied.
As he left, Donatello finished with stretching out his back, and then got to his feet. Raphael had gone back to pacing like a caged lion, and had to stop in his tracks when Donnie suddenly appeared in his path.
"Whatcha doing?" He asked.
"Nothin'." Raph mumbled.
"Okay...so, is there something you wanna talk about?"
"I'm guess I'm not too subtle, huh?"
"It was never your strong suite. You wanna sit down Raph? You're making me dizzy going in circles like that."
Raphael dropped with a huff, never taking his eyes off of the floor.
"Do you wanna talk, or not?" Donnie asked softly.
"Don, I think something's really wrong with me." He answered quickly before he could stop himself.
"I don't follow you."
"You've been watching us during our spars like a hawk. I think you know what my problem is."
Donatello heaved a short breath. Mike had taken Raphael down particularly hard that morning in their work out - and he'd barely managed to score a couple of points during the process. Donnie had noticed Raph's increased frustration lately, and that it seemed to have taken a vast toll on his concentration. But before he could say anything, Raph went on.
"I just wish I knew what it was. I look at the guys, we work out together, and I see progress in them, changes. But something's different with me lately Donnie, and I don't know what's happening. I feel like I'm constantly on a treadmill, running a hundred miles an hour, but stayin' in the same exact spot. I'm working as hard as I know how, and I can't seem to get my feet off the ground anymore." He paused for a long moment. "I mean, is this just it for me? Have I peaked, maxed out everything that I can really master?"
"Raph, you're not even close to peaking."
"Then what is it? You've been watching us every day, I know you must have some thoughts."
"I can tell you my observation Raph, but you're not gonna like it."
"I don't care if I like it, that's not the point. You know how hard this is for me to do. I'm asking you for help."
"Alright Raph, I'll tell you. Quite literally, you lose it when you get angry."
His brother only stared at him, so he went on after a beat of silence.
"Bro, you're extremely strong, an expert fighter in your own right. No one would ever start to deny that, and you shouldn't either. The thing is...the thing is, that through the years, you've gotten accustomed to using your anger a lot. It's pushed you through in too many fights to count, given you an edge and an adrenaline kick to do what should be impossible for any one guy to do.
But that same anger that's pushed you over the top so many times, can also hinder you in a huge way. It's not just about these Raph," Donatello said quietly, covering one of his brother's clenched fists with his own hand, and then touched his head with the other. "It's about this. Battle can be won or lost, all in your mind. When you get angry, when you lose it, all the head stuff flies right out the window, it comes down to simple brute strength on your end." Donatello paused again, but Raphael wasn't reacting, so he went on.
"You're stronger physically than Mike is Raph. You already have an advantage going into a spar with him. But when you get frustrated, you hand the advantage right back over to him."
"What am I supposed to do?" Raph said finally. "This is all I know, how can I change it?"
"You start by slowing down."
"Slowing down?"
"That's right, slowing down, and watching. You can't treat an expert fighter the same way you do a punk on the street."
"Watching, like..."
"Like letting your opponent do a few things. Let them throw the first couple of hits, for example."
"I'm supposed to lay down, is that it?" He asked indignantly.
"No Raph. You need to try and get a feel for their rhythm, the pattern of how they fight, try to hone in on their weaknesses. You have a ton of assets going for you, but until you learn to focus, you'll come out of it frustrated. All of us operate in a semi-predictable pattern when we fight Raphael. When you go and lose it with one of us, you're making yourself even more vulnerable because of the experience we already have sparring with you."
"How do you learn something like this?"
"A big part of it is instinct Raph, and you have it too. Your unconscious mind is gathering all kinds of information, that you're not even aware of. When you're quiet, when you're focused, you'll start to see it too."
Raphael was silent for a long moment. "Do you know how many times Sensei's tried to tell me something like this? How come I never got it before?"
"Maybe you weren't ready to hear it, I don't know. Try an experiment Raph. Tomorrow when you go to spar with one of the guys, let them do most of the work. You just focus."
"What if it doesn't work for me Donnie? What if I can't do it?"
"You won't know until you try, will you?"