—Okay, someone asked if Ryu was a personal character of mine or a crossover character, and I will answer the question!!!! Ryu is my personal...dude. Thank you for flying Air Philippines! P.S. please bear with me as I attempt to write Spinter—
Chapter 3:
"First question, why did you come here instead of going home?" Raph asked.
Ryu looked the turtle in the eye.
Raph saw his fawn eyes turn from calm to panicked and thought twice about asking that question. It really wasn't any of his business.
Ryu swallowed his pizza and replied quietly, "I dare not go home."
"Why?" Mikey asked.
Raph jumped out of his skin. "What the shell's your problem?!" he asked.
"Curiosity!" Mikey answered.
"Yeah?! You ever heard the saying, curiosity killed the cat?!" Raph asked.
"Sure! They say it all the time in cartoons!" Mikey replied.
"What's going on?" Leo asked, coming out of his room.
"Raph's asking to many questions!" Mikey ratted.
"It's good to ask questions," Donatello answered.
Raph glared at Mikey. "Shut up," he growled. "Why won't you go home?"
Ryu looked down at his feet. "I...they...experiments..." he stuttered.
"You're not making any scene kid!" Raph told him.
"The Shredder," he answered plainly.
"The Shredder took your parents?" Leo asked.
"In a way," Ryu answered.
"Why would he do that?" Don asked, sitting on the couch next to the strange child.
"My father worked for him, and failed," he replied.
The room was quiet for a few minutes.
Raph opened his moth to speak, but closed it quickly, thinking that it was best not to ask about the barcode and that the hair thing was just plain stupid.
"Everyone's up?" Splinter asked, walking into the room. "We might as well start early."
"Sensei," Ryu started.
"Yes," Splinter asked.
"Gomenasai."
Splinter smiled. He was an intelligent child, he could tell. "Do not worry, Ryu. Once you are healed we will have you back up on the surface and take you home."
"Then I hope I am never healed," Ryu said quietly.
.........................
Ryu sat quietly on a rug and watched the others as they practiced. Raph was fiercely attacking the punching bag. Blow after blow, back and forth back and forth. Mikey practiced with throwing stars, apparently something new for him because he kept missing the large picture of the Shredder that was pinned up against the back wall of their underground dojo.
Donnie practiced blocking. A wooden pool was put up in another corner of the dojo with two smaller ones jetting out of the sides, acting as arms. The pole rotated back and forth as Don kicked and blocked the wooden arms from hitting him.
Leo was left on the opposite side of the room, battling with a sand-filled, life-sized dummy made of cloth. When he his certain places on the dummy, the eyes would light up.
He walked over to Leonardo and sat in a corner, watching him throw random kicks and punches at the dummy.
Leo paused and returned his gaze. "You wanna try?" he asked.
Ryu got up and walked over to Leo. "What is it?" he asked.
Leo picked up his sword and pointed to the neck of the dummy. "Kick here," He instructed.
Ryu nodded and kicked. The dummy's eyes light up.
"Good, now hit here." He pointed to a place on the dummy's chest. Ryu kicked. The dummy's eyes flashed red once more.
"Now here," he instructed, pointing half an inch away from where Ryu had previously kicked.
Ryu hit the spot where the katakana's tip rested. The eyes remained as they had been.
"You see?" Leo said, "You're half an inch between victory and defeat.
"There are certain places on the body where, if you are hit, all you think about is the pain. Here (Leo pointed to the neck), here (the spot on the chest), here (the under arms), and here, mostly for a man (wink wink, hint hint)."
Mikey walked up to Leo and Ryu. "Switch!" he said.
He watched as Ryu kicked the dummy and the eyes flashed time after time.
"This isn't your first time, is it?" he asked.
Ryu shook his head. "My father trained me," he said.
"Hey kid!" Raph said, running towards them. "Think fast!"
He bounded on top of Ryu and they tumbled on the floor, rolling around in a quick wrestling mach.
"Raphael!" Splinter said as he entered the training room. "Ryu is injured!"
"Yes sensei," Raph answered. "Sorry kid."
Ryu hoisted himself up on his arms. "That was fun! Let's do that again!"
The turtles laughed as he brushed himself off.
"He's turning into you already," Splinter mumbled, exiting the way he came.