Ancient Legacy

Chapter 37

It had been five days since the attack of Toriax and the demons had been quiet, almost too quiet. The mutants didn't like that one bit, while they welcomed the break from the death-battles, they all knew that it was unavoidable to face the demons again, they needed to do that to stop the threat.

That being said, the nights had not been uneventful. On almost a dozen occasions had they fought all sorts of criminals, ranging from pickpockets to gang members. Not that any of them posed much of a threat to Tyroth, Sephie and the turtles.

As the days had passed, Tyroth managed to treat the last of the ninja, making all immune to the taint. Mona's wounds had healed completely and she spent a lot of time training to make sure that she made up for the time she had been inactive. Someone needed to help Splinter keep the brothers from getting too cocky and besting them during their sparing was rather effective.

While the others were out on patrol, Mona joined the Knights as Splinter helped them master their weapons and she often volunteered to spar with them.

This day, Splinter had decided that the Knights would do some weapon training against his students. They would be divided into pairs, where Sephie would have the same role as the ninja. One pair at a time, they would spar under the watchful eyes of the old rat, who would look for flaws and ways to improve their skill.

First up was Heather and she would be facing Leo. Many were interested in just how well her katar's would stand up against Leo's katana.

"Begin!" Splinter yelled out.

Heather took the initiative and attacked first, slashing against Leo, who parried the attacks with his swords. Counterattacking, he forced Heather to parry as well. The H-shaped handles of the katar proved to be quite effective at that while also protecting her lower arms.

Trying to break Leo's chain of attacks, Heather jabbed her weapons at him. These attacks were more difficult to parry than slashes, but on the other hand, they were easier to dodge, which Leo did while still attacking, albeit not as often as before.

During one of her attacks, Heather let her guard down, allowing Leo to kick her in her stomach. Had it not been for Heather's wings and ability to fly, she would have been lying on the floor. Instead, she used her increased mobility to maneuver in and out of striking distance as well as circling around Leo.

This fighting style was something Leo wasn't familiar with and Heather's quick movement made it even more difficult. But Leo hadn't been made team leader for nothing, he was disciplined enough to keep his calm. Continuing to parry and dodge attacks, Leo waited for an opening.

Leo struck out slightly to the left of where Heather just moved to and landed his blades right in front of her face, making here stop in her tracks.

"And finish!" Splinter called. Both fighters relaxed and Heather fell to her knees panting.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked, sheathing his swords.

"Yes, I'm just tired. Flying around like that is very taxing." Leo extended his hand to help her up again, which she gladly accepted.

"You both did very good." said Splinter "Heather, you adapted very well as conditions changed, but when you found a strategy that seemed to work, you continued to use it long enough for your foe to learn how to counter it. You need to be more flexible even if you think you have the upper hand, always expect your foe to adapt. Also, you should focus on training to increase your stamina, a battle can end in a second but it can also last for hours, be prepared for both situations."

Next up were Raph and Sharky, this fight was bound to be more intense due to Raph's more aggressive style, but Sharky was still a form of wildcard. Raph quickly twirled his sais before getting into his position while Sharky grinned at him, showing rows of sharp teeth.

"Begin!"

The two fighters charged at each other. Raph immediately jabbed at Sharky, who barely managed to dodge in time. Countering Raph's attack, Sharky swung his axes at the turtle, but he easily caught the handles with the prongs on his sais, deflecting the attacks as they came.

A quick kick to Sharky's left knee caused the shark to lose his footing on that side, forcing him to back away and regain it. Raph also backed away, his eyes fixed on Sharky.

Sharky had barely regained his balance properly, when Raph rushed at him. Sharky threw one of his axes against the charging turtle, but Raph skillfully deflected it with a swipe from his own weapons. Raph was now ducking under Sharky's axe blow, having gotten within arms reach. Punching the shark in the ribs, Raph finished with a roundhouskick to the head, sending Sharky to the floor a few feet away.

"And finish!"

"Ouch! That was some wallop." said Sharky rubbing his chin as he got up.

"I didn't hurt you badly, did I?"

"Nah, I'm fine. What was it you said before, when you trained us? 'Go all in or go home'."

"Yeah, you still got some way to go."

"Indeed you do." said Splinter. "Your attacks were easy to detect and thus easy to avoid. And you left gaps in your defenses that Raphael exploited, leading to your defeat. You should train your reflexes to cover those flaws."

The old rat then turned to Raph.

"And you Raphael, you have improved quite a lot. It would seem that your short time as teacher to these youngsters have done you some good as well."

Raph scratched the back of his head and smiled at his sensei. When he joined the others at the sidelines, Mona hugged him and gave him a kiss, the 'well-deserved prize' as she put it.

Third round pitted Donnie against Percy. The purple-masked turtle was the least aggressive of the ninja and his staff was the simplest weapon they had, but he had proven many times over that he was more than capable to keep up with his siblings. Percy was the most interesting of the Knights, due to his weapons being his greaves and he being a grasshopper.

"Begin!"

The two mutants circled each other, Donnie holding his staff in front of him and Percy holding his hands as if he wanted to claw something.

All of a sudden, Percy jumped at Donnie, going for a jump-kick. The attack missed as Donnie sidestepped and he tried to strike at Percy but missed as well when the insect jumped as soon as he took ground. Landing some distance away, Percy once again jumped at Donnie, landing right in front of the turtle.

Percy unleashed kick after kick at an alarming speed against the purple-masked turtle. Donnie knew that the force of one of those kicks could snap his weapon in half, so instead of trying to block the attacks, he used the staff to deflect them, pushing them aside as they came if he couldn't dodge them. Seeing an opening, he jabbed at Percy, who quickly did a backwards somersault to avoid it.

Donnie quickly swiped away Percy's feet before he landed from the somersault, causing the insect to fall flat on his back. Opening his eyes, he saw Donnie standing over him with the staff pointing at his throat.

"And finish!"

"I don't suppose you'd go for best out of three?" Percy asked.

"Not really, no." said Donnie, helping Percy back on his feet.

"Both of you did good, and you could learn from each other." said Splinter. "Donatello, while you are very skilled, you still need be more aggressive. And you, Percy, need to be more defensive, not to mention that your balance could use some improvement."

Round four, the carefree goof-ball Mikey meets the aggressive Kate. Nunchaku versus whip. Mikey gave his weapons a quick whirl and Kate uncoiled her whip and gave it a good lash, the sound echoing through the cave.

"Begin!"

Kate didn't waste any time attacking Mikey, swinging her whip at him. Mikey ducked under the flying string of leather, letting out an 'eep' as he did so. As soon as he had cleared the first strike he ran towards Kate in a zigzag pattern to avoid the following strikes from her whip.

Another strike came at Mikey, but this time he was prepared. Sidestepping the whip, he used his nunchaku to catch it with the chain, just like he and Mona did while fighting the whip-wristed demon several weeks earlier. Once he had it, he yanked it hard, pulling Kate towards him. But she didn't fall, instead she used the momentum to get closer to Mikey, attempting to punch him in the face.

Blocking the punch with his arm, Mikey was very surprised when Kate grabbed said arm as she hit it. She then pulled it towards her own face and bared her fangs, bringing them down on his wrist. Stopping just before her fangs touched the skin, Kate let go of Mikey and walked away.

"I win." she said as she separated her and Mikey's weapons.

"What?" Mikey exclaimed.

"Explain yourself." said Splinter.

"Had that been a real fight, I wouldn't have stopped my biting attempt and Mikey would have been injected with my venom. Right now, he would be lying on the ground squirming in pain as the venom goes through his body, paralyzing him completely after a short while."

"I see. Then you are the winner of this match." said the old rat. "You show great skill with the whip, but I recommend that you do not rely completely on your venom and continue to work on your close combat skills as well." he then turned to Mikey. "Michelangelo, I am impressed with you, you have improved your focus a fair deal and you adapted well to her tactics. You still need to react faster to changes though, especially unforeseen ones."

Walking back to the others, Mikey was not overly happy with the results.

"That was unfair." he said to Kate.

"Better luck next time, cutie." she said with a wink. Mikey wasn't sure whether she was messing with him or actually flirting with him. He also wasn't sure which of the options that he preferred.

Round five was up, and this time, Mona and Sarah would be the participants. Mona unfolded her fans and Sarah shifted the grip on her tonfas as they both stood ready in similar stances, waiting for Splinter to start the match.

"Begin!"

Mona started with a swift swing with one fan, getting blocked by Sarah's tonfa, only to have Sarah swing her other weapon at Mona in retaliation. Folding her other fan, Mona managed to parry the counterattack.

The two girls traded blows in form of series of quick jabs and a few swipes, but each attack was blocked, parried or evaded. After a short while, the two stood holding off the other's attack with their own offhand.

"Crane style?" Mona asked.

"Crane style." Sara responded.

"I like your style." Mona said as the two quickly backed away from each other. A second of flexing and they were at it again, jabbing, slashing and swiping at each other.

Sarah swung her tonfa in her hand as she struck out at Mona, using the longer end of the weapon. Mona slashed her open fan at Sarah in a rising motion. Both fighters stopped before their attacks would have hit, inches from their opponent's head.

"And finish!"

"Guess it's a draw." said Mona.

"No, you won. You've barely broken a sweat while I've given it my all. Had you gone all out on me, I wouldn't have lasted ten seconds." said Sarah.

"Hey, you would have lasted longer than that. I'm just more experienced I guess."

"That is true." said Splinter "Both of you are very skilled. Sarah, I recommend that you spar with Mona Lisa, she should be able to help you further improve your kung fu."

It was time for the final round, featuring Sephie and Jack. The green lizard did a few stretches before drawing her daggers, ready to face Jack and his lone scimitar.

"Begin!"

Sephie made the first move, starting with a few quick jabs and a kick to the side. Jack managed to parry the daggers, but the kick hit him, causing him stagger a bit. Countering, he swung his curved blade at Sephie but missed as she did a back-flip.

It didn't take long before the two clashed again, sparks flying as their blades met. The longer reach of the scimitar made it difficult for Sephie to get close with her daggers, but the speed which she handled them with kept Jack at bay as well.

Doing a few back-flips, Sephie put some distance between her and Jack. She then rushed at him, throwing her daggers at him. Knocking the daggers out of the air, Jack noticed that Sephie wasn't in front of him any more. When he defended himself, she had taken the opportunity to jump above and pass him, landing right behind him.

Before Jack could move, Sephie reached out for his head and... scratched him behind his ear. The wolf tensed for a second, then his demeanor changed completely. Dropping his scimitar, it looked like he could barley stand on his own. His eyes were half-open, his mouth as well with the tongue hanging out, giving him a very blissful face, backed up by a wagging tail.

"What the..." said the five ninja, pretty much in unison.

"And finish?" said Splinter, also not sure of what just happened.

"A little trick I discovered a year or so ago." said Sephie "If you find just the right spot behind his ears, Jack can't do a thing because of how good it feels. Some sort of deeply rooted instinct or the like."

Sephie stopped the scratching and Jack shook his head as he regained his composure. Jack glared at the lizard, but she had already made her way over to her mate and leaned at his arm while holding it with both her arms.

"Dang it Tyroth! Can't you keep her under control? She's your girlfriend." Jack said.

"You do know who you're talking about, right? If I could control her, she wouldn't be the free-spirited girl that I love."

"Ahem!" Splinter attempted to regain the attention.

"Sephie, you skillfully outmaneuvered your opponent with distractions and struck at his weak spot, most impressive. Jack, you handled your blade good, but you were not in full control of it. You need to become one with your weapon, making it an extension of your body. You may also want to cover your head with something that shields your... weak spot."

Jack was about to say something, but suddenly stopped, with the blissful expression once again.

"This is fun!" said Mikey as he scratched Jack behind the ear, having sneaked up behind Jack.

"Mikey!" said Leo.

"What?"

"I hope that you can keep that up for a while." said Sephie. "Cause Jack's not going to be happy with you when you stop."

"What do you mean? He never did anything to you." said Mikey.

"True, but there are two good reasons for that. One, he knows that I can beat him in combat. And two, he's afraid of Tyroth defending me. You on the other hand, is fair game to him."

"Uh-oh." Worried about his fate, Mikey decided that it would probably be for the best if he quit while he was ahead.

Jack set his eyes on the orange-masked turtle, growling while Mikey slowly backed away.

"You are in big trouble Mikey!"

Mikey turned around and ran for the exit and further into the cave with Jack close behind.

"Get back here!"

"Help!"

"He's not gonna hurt Mikey, is he?" asked Mona.

"Not any more than Raph would." said Sephie.

"Looks like we'll have a free room then." said Raph.

There, all done. One filler chapter with future references to how the Knights fight, for your and my sake.

In the next chapter... uh... it seems like I've lost my notes on that one. I'll get back to you when I've found it and written the next chapter.