A/N: Got some references in here to equipment / sports some may not be familiar with. Kendo is essentially sparring with light bamboo swords (called shinai) and armour. In competitions two opponents try to score the points using specific strikes. It is a body contact sport, very athletic, especially with the armour on (weighs a ton & you can hardly see!). Most Japanese high schools have kendo clubs, and it is now practiced throughout the world. Completely off topic but the solid wooden sword Kuno usually has in Ranma ½, and Leo uses against Raph in the Return to New York comics is called a bokken. Iaido is also a sport involving sword play, but it is practiced with 'live' blades and is the art of performing the 'perfect cut' (ie defeating your opponent with your first strike). For obvious reasons this isn't a contact sport. It is similar to performing a short kata in front of judges. If you are interested in more info check out the West Australian Kendo Renmei website. Ninja-to is a term applied to the straight short swords traditionally utilised by ninja. They were usually a foot shorter that a katana, were often hollow (some could be used as a breathing tube / pea shooter), and cheaply made (no dramas if it was lost / broken). They were also not considered to be honourable weapons.
A/N 2: I hope I haven't gone out of character for Raph in this. One of the aspects I love about the TMNT is their compassion, even if Raph would hate to admit it!
Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT, or any related characters (much to their relief, I'm sure!) If there is anything else in this story you recognise from somewhere else, then I don't own that either.
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The red hued light playing across the ceiling slowly faded into darkness. She winced a little, her battered body protesting as she rolled over to face her pillow. She slid her hand under it to feel the cool steel of the sai she had hidden there. Her spirits bolstered by the hard metal, the wicked tips. This was her revenge. It was a hollow victory of sorts, she couldn't tell anyone about it. That would spoil the secret, the knowledge that she had the power to keep to herself. Besides, she would just be punished again if she came clean now. The sai would probably be confiscated, just like her katana. The one her grandfather had given her, the one she had won her last two Iai competitions with, the one her father had said she dishonoured with her touch. He had let her keep her shinai; he had even given her a ninja-to to replace the katana. They were weapons that couldn't be disgraced by the touch of a woman, in her father's opinion anyway. Not that she could dishonour a peasant weapon like a sai, but she now understood a little more of the relationship between the 'turtle' gang and her own. She was sure her father would love to get his hands on it given who its' owner was.
The owner; she shuddered slightly, remembering the warmth of his hand and the chill of his blade on her neck. She had no doubt he had meant his threat; she was dead. Well she wasn't about to go down without a fight. Before she had gained the sai she had felt so powerless, she'd lost all control over her life during the past few months. It was high time she started to fight back. Not against her father, she wasn't that stupid. No, she'd take the fight to her enemy; if she was gonna die that at least would happen on her terms.
A humourless laugh escaped her. In the last couple of days since the tournament she had gotten braver, cheekier, or more stupid, and she wasn't sure which. She had snuck out of the apartment to explore the gang's headquarters more thoroughly. In the basement of the building, adjacent to the warehouse that was the gang's gathering point, she had found a huge treasure trove of gear stored. There were heaps of weapons, mainly Asian style stuff. But some of it was modern; weird looking guns and other objects she couldn't even guess the functions of. Everything had been neatly labelled with bar-coded tags. She didn't dare move anything for fear of her excursion being discovered.
Next she had found hundreds of boxes containing dark coloured jackets and pants, tabi style boots and masks. The jackets all had a symbol on them she recognised, it belonged to a 'business partner' of her gang who had been incarcerated for life just after she had arrived in New York. The masks were strange, like nothing she had seen before. They had 'buggy' eyes on them that were impossible to see through from the outside. Curiosity had gotten the better of her and she was surprised when she tried one on that they actually enhanced her vision in the gloom.
That was when she had gotten her plan, such as it was. She was sure that no one would miss one uniform out of the thousands that were there. It wasn't like the guy who owned them was gonna need them anytime soon anyway. So she had smuggled one back to her room. Once she had the whole uniform on she'd felt a thrill of excitement. If her enemy didn't kill her, her father surely would if he had any idea of what she was up to. Before she could have any sane second thoughts she had snatched up the sai and her ninja-to and snuck out of the building onto the roof. She had spent most of the night leaping about on roof tops; she hadn't felt so free for ages. Besides, she had no idea where to actually find her enemy. That had been last night, and she was planning to do the same tonight.
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"Nice night" commented Don, gazing up at the full moon. "Yeah" answered Mike "do we have to head home right away, Leo?" The four mutants were taking a breather on a rooftop, the warm summer night making them sweat under the trench-coats and hats they wore. April and Casey's new apartment was in a nice modern building, but it didn't have the old style fire escapes up the outside, and it was at least three stories taller than the other buildings surrounding it. This meant the easiest way for the turtles to visit their friends was to surreptitiously enter and exit the building via the lobby. "I guess we can hang for a while, it is a nice night, just keep alert OK?" Leo made a circuit of the rooftop, around the spot his brothers had chosen to lounge on the cool concrete. "Gees Leo, just relax for a minute would ya?" Raph scolded. Leo shot him a stern look, and then perched on top of an air-conditioning duct, close to his brothers.
"So what d'ya think the chances are of April 'n' Casey getting married?" asked Mike with a grin. Don gave him a dubious look "They've only just moved in together, Mike. I think it might be a while before they take a step like that." "Why, they've liked each other for ages" pouted Mike. "Guess it depends on whether she kills 'im anytime soon" commented Raph. The three shared a smirk. It had been obvious over dinner that Casey still had the knack of saying just what April didn't want to hear, though she was a bit softer in her reprimands than she had been in the past.
"Who d'ya think Casey would ask to be best man?" asked Mike, undeterred. "Me of course" stated Raph. "Why you?" Mike demanded. "'Cos I'm his best friend, duh!" "Well maybe, but your terrible at telling jokes, so you'd be no good. He should ask me." Don rolled his eyes as he reached out to hold Raphs' arm back, "It probably won't be any of us." "Why not?" The other two asked in unison. "Well, from what I can tell weddings are usually a pretty big deal. You know with all the relatives and such. It would be tough for us to even be there without being spotted, let alone give a speech." "Bummer" muttered Mike as he slouched lower, resting back on his elbows.
Leo shook his head as he looked up from the conversation below. "Damn!" he cursed under his breath as he leapt to his feet, drawing his katana. Instantly his three brothers were on their feet, weapons drawn, looking in the direction of Leo's gaze. A lone foot soldier stood on the parapet of the next roof top, holding a sheathed sword in one hand. All the turtles briefly glanced around for the inevitable army they expected to appear. Nothing moved. As their attention refocused on the lone figure, the soldier drew a sai from within their jacket and held it up by its' shaft, the red banding on the handle clear to see. "I keep my promises" her tone seemed to hold a challenge. Raph accepted it as he shoved past Mike, "So do I, bitch!" He leapt across the divide with a growl and dove at the soldier who had retreated from the edge a little, readying for the impact from her adversary.
Don and Mike moved to help their brother, but Leo jumped down blocking their way. "Dude!" protested Mike. "Just let him handle this on his own, alright? If he looks like he's in trouble we're here to help, but for now spread out and make sure no-one else can catch us off-guard." With a nod the three separated, blending into the shadows surrounding the roof top where their brother battled.
Raph ploughed his shoulder into the girls' midriff, knocking her onto her back despite the block she attempted. His sai went skittering out of her hand, so he flipped over her to retrieve it. He spun them both as he straightened; an evil grin emerged on his face, he felt whole again. He turned to watch her pick her-self up and draw her sword, keeping hold of the scabbard in her other hand. She took up a defensive stance before raising her head to meet his glare. She seemed to do a double take, and Raph realised he'd lost his hat during his flip. Taking advantage of her distraction he launched a furious attack, using both sais to the full. She managed to deflect most of his strikes with her sword and scabbard, but couldn't break through with any hits of her own.
This was turning out to be a great night in Raph's opinion. He'd finally gotten his sai back; the girl that had taken it was a foot soldier, so losing it in the first place suddenly didn't seem so bad since she was obviously better trained than he had originally guessed; and now he was thoroughly enjoying making her pay for taking his property. The only problem was she was paying a little too easily. She didn't seem to be moving nearly as quickly as he remembered she could.
It suddenly occurred to Raph that it may not be the same girl, she had a similar build, but he couldn't see her face because of the mask. He managed to sweep her legs out from under her and pinned her to the floor with a sai flat across her shoulder. Kneeling over her he put all his weight onto her shoulder to hold her still, then tucked his other sai securely in his belt. He ripped off her mask with his free hand and face faulted in shock. It was her, but the left side of her face and neck were covered in ugly welts, the pain reflected in her eyes and the way she was trying to hold her body off the concrete hinted the damage wasn't just confined to her face. She had obviously pissed off someone else who had already made her pay.
"What the…?" "Now you know why I couldn't make it back" she accused. He just looked at her, confused. "My father thought the bruise you gave me on my neck was a hicky, you idiot!" Raph felt sorry for her, but she was blaming him now? "Hey, it's not my faul, ugh!" She had managed to flick her legs up to knee him in the side of the head. It wasn't a strong blow, but enough make him rock back. She rolled away from him and stood, wincing and looking a little shaky. Raph remained kneeling, not knowing quite what to do. He still wanted revenge over his sai, but realising she had been beaten had shaken him.
She took the advantage. He barely blocked her sword thrust, misjudging the length of the blade that was a good foot shorter than the katanas he was used to defending against. She quickly followed through with a blow to his head from her scabbard. It was enough to break the skin above his eye. Raph rolled over backwards, putting some distance between them. She charged as he stood, though he quickly turned the tables and had her on the defensive again. He found himself pulling his punches a little, trying to tire her instead of hurt her seriously; it really didn't seem like a fair fight. She made it difficult though, every time he eased up a little she would try to push an attack. It was becoming pretty obvious who was going to win, she was visibly shaking now, though she wouldn't quit.
He beat her back again; then stepped away, waiting for her to surrender. After a few ragged breaths she came at him again. He evaded her strokes and landed a solid kick to her gut. She collapsed on all fours, retching and struggling for breath. The few strands of hair that had escaped from the bun on her nape were stuck to her cheek with sweat. Raph was sure she wouldn't be able to get up again any time soon.
Every muscle ached, her blood pounding in her ears, and she was trembling so badly she could barely lift her head. She tried, but could only get far enough to see three pairs of green feet join the one who had fought her. She also saw the tip of a katana. "This is it. I hope they use the sword" she thought "much quicker and cleaner than using a sai." She let her head fall again, awaiting the inevitable. A few minutes later she raised her head again, wondering why they were taking so long. They were gone. She curled up on the rough concrete and wept.