Rating: T – for use of one little word.
Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.
Summary: 'His opponent was out there somewhere, stalking him, waiting for his smallest mistake to pounce, and when that happened it would all be over.'
A/N: This silly little oneshot is something I came up with when trying to think up an idea for the upcoming '13 Days of Halloween' project. It didn't work for that, so I thought I would post it as a random short story instead :-)
As per agreement with the other two (sampsonknight and justpeachee - DA/ imjustpeachee - FFNet) doing the '13 Days of Halloween' project, I cannot post the stories on any site other than DA until all the stories are posted on that site. Therefore, I will not begin posting them here until the 31st Oct.
- Batsu Game -
With his heart pounding frantically within his chest, he peered intently into the overwhelming darkness. One by one his brothers had fallen, leaving him the last hope between them and a fate too horrible to contemplate.
His opponent was out there somewhere, stalking him, waiting for his smallest mistake to pounce, and when that happened it would all be over; though not without the fight of his life. That he swore silently to himself. Biting his lip, he took a careful step forward, then another, and another, not knowing where anything lay, not knowing who or what he might bump into as he attempted to navigate through the pitch blackness and avoid his fate as long as possible.
Grimacing in distaste, he felt a large trickle of sweat roll down the side of his face and he swallowed, trying desperately not to let the darkness, or rather his circumstances, get to him. After all, his brothers were counting on him to get them out of this and he'd do anything to protect them.
"I can smell your fear," the wry, matter of fact voice came seemingly from his left. However, he knew from experience that meant nothing. His stalker was so skilled at this game that the moment he finished speaking he could be across the room with nary a sound, and if he acted carelessly, all he'd do is alert the one hunting him of his whereabouts. Though it was likely he already knew...
Suddenly a soft noise sounded less than a metre from him and without thinking, the spooked ninja reacted, stepping away and wincing at the slight sound he made. Knowing it was too late and that he was now done for, he immediately stepped forward again and to the side, attacking in the dark with drawn weapons.
Before he knew what was happening, he was attacked from behind and found himself disarmed and on his shell, his own weapons held flush against his exposed throat.
"You have lost," the calm voice stated from above. "Lights, if you will."
Moments later, the lights flickered on dimly, slowly increasing in their ambience and Raphael looked up warily into the furry face of his Sensei. "Time?" he asked quietly, trying to reign in his obvious fear.
Donatello swallowed and smiled wanly from where he stood at the side of the room. "Forty two seconds."
"No..." Raph shuddered in horror as Splinter stood and backed away, giving him space to stand. It had felt longer than that! "You've gotta be wrong! Look again, Donnie!"
Donnie sighed in obvious irritation, "I realise you are in denial Raph, but there is no need to cast aspersions on my ability to time keep, even in the darkness. Forty two seconds."
Mikey began laughing, loud and mocking. "Yes!" he cried out jubilantly from beside Donnie, and Raph just knew the little shit had known the time since the moment he'd lost. "I won and you all lost, Raph," Mikey crowed, all but dancing on the spot.
"No! No way!" Raph spat, angrily whirling on the spot to face his brother. "You cheated! You went out of your way to throw us off so this doesn't count!"
Mikey shrugged, wide grin prevalent on his face as he surreptitiously passed a pair of goggles behind his shell to Donnie. "Not my fault if you reacted to a ball of paper hitting the ground, or if Leo breathed a little too deeply when I may have possibly read the time out wrong," he said, ever so innocently.
Leo shot Donnie a wounded look. "And what was with you going along with him, Don?"
Donnie grinned sheepishly as he bro-fisted Mikey, "Well, since I had already lost, I thought it was only wise to go along with Mikey since he offered leniency if I did."
"You couldn't have trusted me to win?"
Donnie shrugged, "It's more interesting when you lose on occasion, Leo."
"See? Cheated!" Raph whirled to face Splinter. "They even admit it!"
Splinter stood there, looking down on Raph as he stroked his goatee thoughtfully. "I assume the four of you had a bet riding on the outcome of this total darkness training session?"
Raph nodded warily.
"Hai, Sensei," Leo admitted reluctantly.
"Then I am sorry, but Michelangelo outlasted the rest of you."
"Mmm hmm!" Mikey nodded happily as Splinter spoke, smiling at the praise and agreement coming from his father.
"Surprisingly," Splinter added dryly.
"Hey!" Mikey suddenly cried out, as the rest of the backhanded compliment hit him.
"Therefore," Splinter continued, ignoring the brief interruption, "you must face your penalty like a true ninja."
"But... That's not fair, Master Splinter! He cheated!"
"That is true, my son."
"Then...?"
"All is fair in love, war and ninjutsu. You allowed yourselves to be distracted by the possibility of losing and fear of what was in store for you if you were defeated, even when you knew you were battling against a known trickster. Perhaps next time you are so foolish as to do such a thing, you will remember this lesson and keep your guards up," Splinter chuckled. He reached out to give Raphael an affectionate pat on the shoulder before turning and leaving the dojo.
At the sound of Mikey's own cackles of delight over Splinter's siding with him, Raph turned to see the other ninja rubbing his hands gleefully, and his heart sank with dread.
What Mikey had planned for them would make wading through a pit of cockroaches in the dark seem like a day at the beach in comparison.
-:-
Raphael stood on the rooftop a little away from his brothers, rubbing at his arms self-consciously and refusing to meet anyone's gaze. The blowing wind was strong enough to cause the skirt of his sailor fuku to lift, exposing his shell beneath, and despite the fact he normally wore nothing beyond his gear, that somehow only added to his embarrassment. Leonardo at least, bore his punishment, an almost identical outfit except his had blue trim where Raph's had red, with as much dignity and grace as he normally had. Or at least he did now they they'd been dressed in the ridiculous costumes for half an hour now. Donnie, for his part in helping Mikey, managed to get away with only wearing a variation of the collar part of the top. After all, despite their deal, a bet was a bet and everyone had to pay a price of some sort.
"Great... now that we're up here in these stupid outfits, we can take them off, right?" Raph grumbled, reaching down to rip the velcro of the skirt. Mikey had at least stood by his word that the costumes would not hinder their movements or endanger them while they were on patrol.
"Nuh uh! Whole patrol!" Mikey insisted with a wide grin stretching across his face. "Besides, you and Leo haven't even done the best part yet, bro!"
Leo coloured a little at the reminder. "We may as well get this over with.," he said reluctantly. "Come on, ninjas!"
To Raph's relief, the night was unusually quiet. At least it was until a little over an hour later, when Leo abruptly shifted, his stance alert as his attention was caught by something gliding towards them through the dark. Raph felt a shiver of dread run down his spine.
"I had no idea you were into this kind of thing, Leo," a silky, amused voice suddenly taunted and Raph groaned. Of all the people they could run into tonight, why did it have to be her? "And Raphael too, no less," she added with a laugh.
Raph clenched his teeth even as Leo drew his swords from their sheaths.
"Karai!" Leo retorted, suddenly more self-conscious than at any moment since they initially dressed.
The kunoichi laughed in delight. "I always knew you were entertaining Leo, but I never realised just how much."
Mikey grinned. "That's cause you didn't grow up with us," he explained brightly.
Karai snorted slightly as Leo adjusted his stance, though she made no move towards her own weapons.
"You should have seen them when..."
"Shut up, Mikey!" Raph snapped, clamping a fast hand over his brother's loose mouth.
Mikey's only response was to laugh as he pulled away.
"So we gonna do this or are you just gonna stand there and laugh, Karai?" Raph growled, brandishing his sai menacingly.
"Oh, I thought I'd just enjoy this for a bit first." Karai answered, her own smirk growing as she finally reached for her own weapon.
As she and Leo made to run at each other, Mikey yelled, "Stop! You can't!"
"And why is that?" Karai asked easily as she twirled her short sword in her hand, though she cast Mikey a faintly annoyed look at his interruption.
"Because they haven't done it yet!" Mikey protested, motioning towards Raph and Leo, and if Raph had thought he'd been embarrassed before, now he knew he was about to die.
In shame.
"No," Raph said flatly.
"You have to do it, Raph!"
"And who's gonna make me? You?"
Before Mikey could answer, Leo sighed, "Come on Raph. A bet's a bet and we lost."
Raph crossed his arms obstinately as he continued glaring at Mikey.
"Let's just get this over with and he might lose interest sooner. Besides, Master Splinter expects to see proof that we followed through..."
"Fine..." Raph grumbled as Karai stood watching expectantly, her amusement at their expense growing with every second.
While Donnie held up his T-phone to record, Raph and Leo moved into position, almost stumbling through their posing, and as one, intoned flatly, "In the name of the Moon, we will punish you!" They finished up by each pointing a single held weapon directly at Karai.
Mikey, Donnie and Karai howled with laughter at the sight, all but collapsing in place. When their laughter finally died down enough to speak again, the kunoichi looked towards Mikey and asked, "Did they only have to do this in front of me?"
"Nuh, anyone we come across tonight, " he snickered in delight.
She grinned, "In that case, I think I'll tag along. Tonight should be a very entertaining evening."
-:-
Owari
A/N: A batsu game is a penalty or punishment game for the loser of a game or bet.
Comments, thoughts and concrit is always welcome.
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