Leonardo and Spike stand on an apartment building.
"Why do you want to learn more?" Leonardo asks. "Why me?"
"You're the best ninja."
"But, with Splinter already training you, what more do you want? You think you need extra?"
"April's starting training now," Spike explains. "I have no 'special power' that lets me sense things or anything like that. I know April. She's picked something up. She'll get better than me, just like she has with everything else!" She starts pacing, and seems to talk less to Leonardo and more to herself. "She's 'special'. She's smart. She takes to things quickly. She's going to improve at wondrous rates!" She spins abruptly to face Leonardo and gestures at herself. "I worked hard to be strong, you know that? April hasn't worked hard on much. She's naturally that good." She shakes her head. "I thought I had something for me for a while. I'm not saying I want her to be helpless, you know…."
"You know, you remind me a lot of someone," Leonardo says quietly.
Spike turns. "Yeah? Who?"
"Raph." Leonardo shrugs. "A few years ago, he decided I was the favorite child. I did things too well. He was tired of not doing as well."
"What'd he do?"
"Worked himself like crazy to get better than me. He found something he was better at."
"What was it?" Spike asks.
"Pounding the living daylights out of people." Leonardo admits. "We're not comparing you to April you know. If you want extra help, we'll be happy to offer assistance. But you can't spend your life trying to be better than someone." He slides into a defensive stance. "Here we go, Cadet."
~Where April Goes~
"Wow, Spike, did you get hit by a bus?" Michelangelo asks the next day.
"No." She shakes her head. "I…fell over." She glances at Leonardo.
"Oh no." Michelangelo wraps his arms around her. "Are you hurt?"
"Nah."
Michelangelo grins. "Do you want to play a game with me? I had Donnie hide something in the lair, and he drew me this!" He whips out a map of the lair. "It's a treasure map. He and Leo are evil pirates attacking us, and we're good pirates."
"Do those exist?"
He shrugs. "They do now. Will you be a good pirate with me? Raph won't."
She sighs. "Sure. Where's our ship?"
He pulls out two skateboards tied together with a stick in the middle. The stick stands straight up and has a sheet tied to it with a skull and crossbones. "Here. I'm your captain. Come on!" He jumps onto the makeshift ship. "Let's go swash some buckles!"
Lesson from Leo, and play time with Mikey. Think she's learned anything?
Anyway, thanks so much for reading! Remember, reviews really help me a lot, so keep them coming! See you in the next chapter.
