Hanami – Chapter 39

            +"I've got winner."+

            "Then I'll be with you in a sec, babe 'cause Donnie's punk-ass is goin' DOWN!"  Mikey's Chun Li ko'd Donnie's Vega and bounced around the screen.  "YATTA!"

            Donnie passed the controller with poor grace as Pipes settled herself between the two brothers.  +"Ok, if you're gonna be Chun-Champion-Street-Walker-Li, I'll take… King Sumo."+  E. Honda grunted through the speakers.

            "You stupid raw-fish-eating son-of-a-motherless pig!  You just jealous because Chun-Li got legs and she know how to use 'em!"  Mike unleashed a fury of kicks across the bathhouse floor.

            +"I'll eat my dead fish and do as I wish!"+   Pipes waited for the right timing and torpedoed Chun Li with the massive sumo body.

            Raphael and Sterling descended into the basement.  "Whoa.  Does her trash-talk always sound like Dr. Suess on crack?"  Sterling just grinned with half of her face.

"Diaper Lover!"

+"Cross Dresser! EEYaaaaah!"+  A barrage of fists sent Chun Li squealing to the floor.  Pipes shook her head, +"What a way to go, bitch-slapped to death by 500 lbs. of Nippon."+

"Mother China is not done yet!  There's two more rounds, fat man; BRING IT ON."

Raphael reclined against the bags of old clothes.  He took mental head-count of his new family.  Sterling sat across the way, playing Pipes: Ken versus Ryu.  Mike'd gone upstairs to make sandwiches and a protein shake for Sterling.  The note on the kitchen table said that Cabbage, Leo, and Splinter had gone to meditate in the woods somewhere.  Donnie was sitting at the workbench fiddling with the sewing machine.  Shima hadn't moved since he and Sterling had returned from their run.  'Well, ok, so she occasionally kicks her feet against her own shell and turns pages, but she's been sprawled on her stomach for hours now.'

His thoughts turned back to Sterling.  'Splinter gave her an easy out.  I'm glad he did.  I don't think she's ever had to run a mile before, let alone 10.  She didn't make a fuss though.  Broken jaw or not, I think she would have kept running if he hadn't stopped her.  I know I lapped her 23 or 24 times, but then she continued to run even after I'd done all my laps.  I think she did something like 2 or 3 miles.'  He paused. 'That's pretty good for someone who can't open their mouth.  If she'd been healthy and in training…damn.  I wonder if those TGRI fucks ever had 'em do any kind of exercise regime.'  "Hey, I call winner."

+"Sure thing!"+  Pipes nailed her opponent with a dragon punch.  +"BOO-yah!  The bullet of justice caps evil's ass!"+  Sterling passed her controller to Raph.  He selected Blanka.

"Have any of you girls done any kind of physical training?  Self-defense?  Aerobics?  Anything?"  Blanka seized his opponent's face and began beating his forehead against it.

Shima looked up, "Um, no.  Not all of us, but they let Cabbage and Sterling took some dance classes."  Shima stopped suddenly and went back to reading.  Raphael looked away from the match long enough to see Sterling hide her face in her hands.

+"Don't pay any mind to her.  She bitched and she moaned but she went every other day for what, 3 years?  She acts all embarrassed, but she's really quite good at it."+

Donnie looked up, "How is it that they had the funding to give dance lessons, when Cabbage told us they were just looking for ways to kill you all and pocket the change?"

Mikey came downstairs with the sandwiches and drinks.  "What's with Sterling?"

+"Oh she doesn't want anybody to know she can dance or something—hmmm, this is delicious!  Thanks Mikey!"+

Shima spoke up, "The classes weren't for us; we were lucky just to be allowed to go and watch.  TGRI had lost plenty of staff and no longer needed the entire building.  So they rented out some of the old surgical demonstration rooms to yoga and dance classes.  They had two-way mirrors in the upstairs observation decks, so we couldn't be seen.  I got to learn some yoga exercises before they changed my schedule.  From then on, I was working the wrong hours to go.  But Cabbage went for a year before her supervisor made her stop.  I think she can still tango, but you'd have to ask her.  And Sterling went for three years before TGRI started subletting to a different biotech firm and classes stopped all together.  All that happened maybe a year before TGRI went under."

Shima noticed Sterling's glare.  "What?  You're still pretty good!  I haven't seen you dance in months, but oh, ok… I'll shut up."

Mike caught Raph's eyes.  "Tango? Don't you need two for that?"  Raph just grinned and grabbed a sandwich.

"That's what I'm told."  Cabbage entered the basement with Leo behind her.  She winked at Donnie.  "So how's the sewing machine coming along?"

"I've cleaned it and reassembled it, but certain parts were damaged.  Small parts.  I have no way to machine replacements here.  And since we're leaving tonight, ordering the parts to be delivered here would be impossible and stupid."  Cabbage nodded.

"So tell us about where we're going." 

"And how we're getting there."

+"God, I'm not ready for another crate."+  Pipes passed her controller to Leo.

"Shit dudette!  No way're there crates!  That's crazy."

Donnie turned from the sewing machine.  "April's got a van.  We'll be driving home."

+"April?  A human?"+  Shima shut her book.  She was suddenly paying attention.

Cabbage turned to Mikey, "This is the one with the 'honorary turtle status,' right?"  Shima's felt her stomach drop through the floor.

"You betcha sugar shell.  April's the coolest human on the planet."

Pipes mouthed the words +"…sugar shell?…"+ 

"Yeee-ah.  So we'll be in a van with her.  For how long?"  Cabbage shot Mike a look that said, 'Little bro, don't call me that.'  Shima could feel herself beginning to panic.  She started to count her breathing.

Leo answered, "Three hours or so.  You don't have to worry, she's completely trustworthy."  Shima's eyes were watering.  She would not cry.

Raph grunted, "The exception that proves the rule."

"Yup, definitely the coolest human on the planet!"  Mike snatched the controller from Leo.

Shima stood up suddenly, venom dripping from her mouth,  "I'm sorry Mike, but 'coolest human' is like saying 'kindest butcher.'" She was up the stairs and out the front door before anyone could stop her.