A Million Miles Apart
A/N: Hi, I'm late, but I'm coming with a new chapter! Yeah, sorry I'm so late, but I just couldn't figure out how to start this chapter, and what to write about in it. That, and I've also learned how to make TMNT videos, and have started posting them on Youtube, so iMovie has grabbed my interest for some time now.
So, I went to see Zootopia about two weeks ago, and I just have to say, if you haven't planned on seeing it, GO SEE IT! It's probably one of the smartest and best Disney movies in a really long time!
I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!
Chapter 27: A Small Moment of Nostalgia
"OW!" I fell to the ground after being tackled by Traximus yet again. I had lost count of how many times that had happened the past two hours. Slowly, I sat up on my knees and rubbed my head in pain.
I heard Traximus walk up to me and saw through my closed eyelids that the light from the overheads in the room got slightly darker as his big body blocked them. I opened my eyes but refused to look up to him. I was too ashamed to meet his gaze. I knew what he was thinking, anyway. 'Why am I wasting my time teaching this kid to fight when he's too worthless to even stand up on his own two feet?'.
"Perhaps we should end this session. We've trained enough for today." I looked up at him just as he turned around and left dojo, leaving me on the floor with shame-filled, slightly tearful eyes.
When Traximus had left the training room, I could tell by his posture and his breathing that he wasn't pleased. And I knew why he wasn't happy with our training sessions. We had only been training for a few days, but so far it had been the same every time. Every time we used the Holographic Training Program, things were easy. It didn't matter if I fought ordinary mutants, Foot ninjas or Kraang-bots; I could fight them easily and, for the most part, win. But when Traximus tried to teach me a new move, how to block an attack from a Triceraton or how to use my weapon more effectively, I always ended up getting kicked to the floor or hitting myself with the staff. And he wasn't the only one getting frustrated with the lack of progress.
I wanted this. I wanted to keep training, to get better and stronger and to learn to become the warrior I needed and wanted to be; but for some reason, whenever I tried to train, something came in and ruined my concentration and I ended up making a fool of myself. I knew better than this. I mean, I had been training in martial arts since before I could walk and knew my bo-staff better than anyone else. And now I couldn't make a simple high-kick or twirl the staff without hitting myself or failing in the most embarrassing way possible. It was humiliating. But I couldn't figure out what it was that was holding me back from doing any better in my training. From performing the way I should perform.
I sat down on one of the couches, placed my chin in my hands and sighed heavily. What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I get it right? And how in the world could a turtle, who couldn't even twirl his own staff without hitting himself with it, be able to save the earth from getting destroyed? And what was I supposed do about my situation?
A thought entered my head, and I looked up from the floor and towards the training room. I scanned my surroundings to see if I was alone and then made my way up to the control panels. The Professor had used this program to recreate a rooftop back in New York with Kraang as well as other mutants and enemies I had fought in my life. So wouldn't it be possible for me to...? I looked through the data and saw that the Professor had made a file of everything my brothers and I had fought so far that I had fought in the dojo. Tiger Claw, Rahzar, Fishface, Dogpound, Karai, Snakeweed. Heck, even Justin had been programmed into these computers. I looked through the computer's files and found what I was looking for: Planet Earth, locations.
I pressed a few more buttons to look through the file of people I could fight. And when I saw that none of the ideas I had in mind where there, I looked through the programs. I was really good with technology, that was not exactly a secret, but I was still adjusting to this new tech, as well as everything else aboard this ship. After a bit of looking, I noticed a plug that stuck out of the computers, one that was very similar to the ones on the Food Replicator, and got the idea. In order to program what I wanted on the computers, maybe I had to... I shrugged. What was the harm in trying? I placed the plug on my forehead and immediately the computers started to work and progress my thoughts.
After I was done putting the new changes into the computers and the file of enemies and locations, I removed the plug from my head and re-entered the room, closing the door behind me. For the first few seconds, nothing happened, but then the room started to change again. The cold, white metal changed into a much smaller room. A medium-sized room with Japanese-style decor, carpets on the floor, weapons racked up along the walls and a big tree growing in one end of the room. I didn't have to think for a second; I recognised it immediately. It was our family's dojo, back home in New York City.
The sight was so new, yet so familiar all at once. And even though I had seen it a million times in my childhood and had grown used to seeing it every day during training, I had never so happy to see that dojo in my entire life. It was all so familiar; every single detail was warm and comforting as apposed to the cold metal that made up most of the ship I was on. Even the stench of the sewer felt like home to me; which I never thought it would. It all made me tear up. Home. This was home- my home.
I rubbed my arm over my eyes to get rid of the few tears that had started form in them, but then got another surprise thrown at me.
The sound of a Shōji being opened made me turn around, mostly out of instinct, but also to investigate what happened behind me. And if I wasn't tearing up before, I most certainly did at that exact moment. There, with his red-brown robe that always seemed to smell of tea and Japanese herbs, calm yet firm amber-coloured eyes looking out over the room, standing proud and tall and with an air of wisdom and strength around him, he was. Master Splinter. My father. Dear, beloved father.
I felt the tears fall from my eyes and I fought against the sobs that threatened to get out. He walked out of his room and towards the middle of the dojo, waiting in front of the tree with his walking stick in his hand and his eyes closed. Relaxed and still ready to smack anyone in the face. I walked up to him, felt a few more tears fall down my cheeks and fought against the urge to run up to him and hug him and never let him go.
"Sensei... Father..." He stood there, like he hadn't heard a word I said, but before I could do or say anything else, another voice reached my ears.
"Come on, dudes! Dojo-time, bros- get your shells moving!" I gasped and an unwelcomed sob managed to work its way out of my mouth. That voice. So childlike; eager and filled with energy. Managing to make even the most serious and deadpanned person in the world crack a smile.
"Mikey?" In through the door they came. Tired, slightly unfocused and, in one case, agitated at being woken so early. Leo, Raph and Mikey. My brothers, right there and ready to train.
"Guys!" The smile that came at the sight of them threatened to split my face in two and I wanted nothing more than to hug them, right there and then. But before I could, Splinter opened his eyes and walked up to the four of us. The guys quickly formed a line, and I was quick to get in line as well, albeit a bit more clumsily and awkwardly than I would back home.
"Today you are going to spar all at once. You will have to use all of your senses, and look out for an attack from every possible way. Last turtle standing wins." I felt myself getting nostalgic; this was how a training session was supposed to be. Familiar and inviting, not completely new and ruthless. And even as we all turned to each other, I couldn't help but smile like a dork at how familiar this was. Raph noticed this, rolled his eyes at me pointed the tip of his sai in my direction.
"Why are ya smiling like that, you dork? You can't be that eager to be thrown to the floor, Brainiac!" I was shaken out of my thoughts, and my determination to prove I could defeat Raph took over. I twirled my staff and smirked my cockiest smirk at him.
"Bring it on, Meathead!" Raph made a move to attack me, but then Mikey came in from the left and managed to knock Raph out of his attack and gain his attention.
"Mikey! I was going for Donnie- now move it!" Mikey spun his nunchucks and smiled teasingly.
"Last turtle standing, bro! Gotta get your head in the game, dude!" He whacked his weapon at Raph's head, who managed to dodge and then went to stab him instead, only to be stopped by Mikey's kusarigama chain. But that was about as much as I got to see of Raph and Mikey's fight, 'cause Leo came from the left and swung his katana at my face. Out of instinct I raised my staff and blocked his attack, and then swung my leg out, sweeping Leo off of his feet. He managed to catch himself before he could hit the ground by landing on his hands and jumping back up onto his feet.
He swung his sword at me again, and I kept on blocking his attacks. I knew Leo would keep on attacking until I decided to counter, and only then would he change his attacks and try to throw in a finishing blow, knocking me out of the game. But this time I was determined to at the very least get one of my brothers knocked down. After all, I had been fighting soldiers and aliens that were much tougher than my brothers. How hard could it be?
But just as I was about to hit Leo, I was kicked in the side and was sent flying across the dojo, only barely managing to catch myself and get back on my feet before I hit the floor. Raph had managed to knock Mikey out, who was now sitting on the sidelines, watching the fight with interested eyes. And now Raph had his eyes set on me. And if I knew Raph as well as I thought I did, I knew he wasn't going to play nice or give up on trying to beat me to the floor.
He and Leo shared a glance, smirked at each other and then turned back to me. And I knew what was going on. The look in their eyes showed that a temporary truce had formed between them so they could both take me out and then fight each other. Which we all knew could get pretty rough- something they both loved.
I gritted my teeth and gripped the staff tighter in my hands. No way. I was not gonna let them take me down, especially now since I've been facing and fighting a lot worse this past month. Raph made the first move, sai tightly gripped in his hands, and yelled his signature battle cry, ready to pounce. Then, suddenly, as I was trying to think of a way to take him down, Traximus' words rang in my head.
"You can't keep looking for an opening all the time! An enemy won't always give you an opening, so you have to keep fighting and keep trying." It threw me for a loop for a second, and I was surprised that I actually remembered that small lesson. And then, out of nowhere, Splinter's voice joined in as well.
"The key is to unbalance your opponent." An idea entered my head, literally in seconds, and I narrowed my eyes in determination and readied myself. This time I was gonna take Raph down.
I got ready with my staff, making sure he thought that I was gonna raise it to block his sai. But then I got down on my knees and kicked up at Raph's chest, making him stumble back. He dropped his sai and placed his hands over his chest, gasping for air, leaving him vulnerable to an attack.
I dropped the bo-staff, got down to the floor and shot my leg out, sweeping Raph off his feet and making him fall on his shell, knocking him out of the battle. For a few seconds he just lied there, trying to catch his breath, his eyes closed. When he finally opened his eyes he glared at me.
"Ugh, lucky shot, dork..." Master Splinter stepped up to him and looked down at him sternly. That was all Raph needed, and he slowly got to his feet, walked over to Mikey and knelt down beside him. Mikey smirked and stuck his tongue out at Raph, who just smacked him across the head and crossed his arms over his chest.
Leo, who hadn't thought that Raph was gonna be taken out so easily and looked like he had been meaning to attack but then stopped short when I managed to knock Raph to the ground, stood there and looked a little irresolute, but then gripped both his swords and smirked at me.
"Huh, you're pretty good today, bro! You've really done well- I'll give you that. But don't get too cocky, little brother. You know I'm gonna knock you down anyway." I bent down and grabbed my bo again, smirking cockily at Leo.
"Heh, don't be so sure, Leo. I'm gonna kick your shell today!" He raised a brow at me, clearly not used to me standing up to him like this. He gripped his swords a little tighter and then ran towards me, ready to attack. I raised my staff and got ready to block, but then Leo got down on the floor and tried to sweep me off my feet. I barely had time to jump up and out of the way before he managed to get me, and then tried to swing my staff at his head. He rolled out of the way, got up on his feet and swung his swords at my face, barely giving me time to block the attack and try to push him away from me. But Leo insisted on pushing his swords against my staff, refusing to let up. It was essentially nothing but a battle of who was gonna give in first.
Leo was stronger than me; he always had been. Even if I was determined and had a will to never give up, it wasn't going to change that Leo was both stronger and more skilled in ninjutsu than I was. But I had gotten stronger over the past few weeks, both from the little training I had gotten with Traximus the past few days and from fighting aliens and having pushed myself so hard to, you know, survive, and it had left an impact on me and my muscles. I gathered up my strength and managed to shove Leo away from me. He stumbled and I took my chance. I took the staff and swung it at Leo's head, but he looked up at the last second, got down and used my attack against me. He kicked me in the chest, just like I had done with Raph, and sent me flying to the floor, defeating me and making him the winner.
"Yame!" Splinter's voice called out and we all looked up at him. He looked at all of us proudly with a warm yet strict smile. We approached him and kneeled down in front of him, looking up at our father in respect.
"My sons, you keep excelling in your training. And even though you still have a lot to learn, it is clear that you are getting stronger each day." He turned to Mikey, looking down at him firmly.
"Michelangelo, a surprise attack is very resourceful and will serve you well in a fight, but you still need to work on your focus." Mikey bowed his head and nodded. Splinter turned to Raph.
"Raphael, your strength and passion in a fight is remarkable, but you are allowing yourself to become overconfident. And that will hinder you if you allow yourself to underestimate your opponent." Raph pressed his lips together, clearly not happy about being defeated, especially by me. And I couldn't help but smirk at his reaction to that, and at the fact that I had managed to beat him. That felt really good.
"Leonardo." Leo straightened his back a little when his name was mentioned. "You continue to show that you are very good fighter and tactician, but, like Raphael, you show to be too overconfident. An opponent that can be unassuming may be your worst enemy to date. Never forget that- both of you." Leo bowed his head in respect, showing that he understood, and Raph nodded slowly and begrudgingly.
Then Master Splinter turned to me. And, after so many weeks, looking him in the eyes almost made me want to cry. I actually felt tears sting in my eyes, and quickly tried to blink them away before they could roll down my cheeks. But the smile that threatened to split my face in two was too strong to fight back.
"Donatello, I must say that I am impressed. You seem to have grown in strength and in following your instincts. That was very well done today. However, it seems like your mind is somewhere else. You are thinking of other things while you should be focusing on what you are doing. Is there something bothering you, my son?" I bit my lip and tried to think of a response. What was I supposed to say? That I was thinking of the aliens I had been fighting? Or that I was literally light years away from Earth? I shook my head and shrugged lightly.
"Nothing, Sensei, really. I'm just a little tired today, that's all." He looked at me and he clearly didn't buy it, but he merely shook his head at me and then looked at the others as well.
"Well then, my sons. That will be enough training for now. You are dismissed. I will see you later for your evening training." Leo, Raph and Mikey stood up and started to leave the room, but my feet seemed frozen to the floor. I looked up at my father and couldn't tear my eyes away from him. But for some reason he didn't seem to notice. It was like I wasn't there anymore. I heard Mikey call out to me that he was making breakfast, but his words fell on deaf ears. I walked up to Master Splinter, still with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes, and reached out my hand to hug him.
"Master Splinter, I've missed you so-!" Just as I touched his arm, my hand went right through his body, and he disappeared like a hologram that shut itself off. I was so surprised I yanked my hand away and took a step back, and then looked around as the dojo melted away into a white, bright room made out of metal where I was all alone.
Reality could hit pretty hard at times, I knew that, but this almost felt cruel. I had for a single, solitary moment felt like I was home again. I had for one second forgotten about my mission and how I had to save the Earth from destruction by the hands of the Triceratons, and had just had a normal training session. And for one second, I felt like a part of my family again, which hadn't happened in a very long time. And now, reality smashed itself into my face, pretty much yelling that it hadn't been real. None of it was. It was fake. Nothing but a stupid, lifeless hologram.
I felt the tears form in my eyes yet again, but this time, they weren't exactly tears of joy. I rubbed my arm over my eyes and tried my hardest to fight back the sobs that stung in my throat and made it feel like it was going to implode. I almost felt like falling to my knees and breaking down, but I fought against it. I was not about to break down right now- not in a room where anyone could walk in at any second.
I heard the doors open behind me and somebody clapped their hands. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Traximus had walked up to me. He smiled at me and slowly clapped his hands together.
"Donatello, I saw you train against those other turtles in there, and that was really, really good." I suppose I should have been happy that he was praising me about how I fought against my brothers, but I couldn't. I was thinking about other things. Or maybe I should say other people.
"Thanks, Traximus." I muttered and looked away from him, down at the floor with my shell turned to him. But he didn't seem to notice or care- he just kept talking.
"I don't understand why you can't fight like that when we train. You clearly have good skills and you know how to fight. You are a natural fighter, Donatello." 'Natural fighter? Hmph, yeah right. That had to be the biggest untrue statement of the century. But I didn't care; I just turned around, walked past Traximus and towards the door.
"Yeah... Maybe I am." I mumbled it to myself, but either he heard it and wanted ask me about it, or he was concerned about my attitude, because he called out after me. But I just tried to ignore him and left the dojo.
"Donatello? Donatello!" I walked out into the dining and entertainment room, ignoring the fact that Jhanna, Starlee and Mona Lisa were there too, looking through the window of the dojo, and trudged toward the door that led to the bedrooms.
"Donnie? Are you alright?" Starlee called after me, and I turned around to look at her. Her big purple eyes were filled with concern and sympathy, but also an innocence and naiveté that I had only seen in Mikey's big baby blues. Jhanna also looked concerned, but not as much as her sister, and she also looked more confused than sympathetic. And that, for some reason, reminded me of Leo when he tried to understand when I was frustrated with an invention or the retromutagen or something like that. And Mona Lisa was looking at me for the first time without disgust, disinterest or distrust, but rather with a mix of confusion and a sort of compassion or understanding that I had only seen in Raph's eyes and that was very rare these days. And all this made it hurt even more for some reason. I tried to smile at the girls and nodded slowly.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, Starlee. I just need a moment to myself, that's all. If you need me, I'll be in my room." I exited the room and went to my bedroom, opened the door and closed it softly behind me. For a second I felt tempted to slam the door shut, but decided against it, since I wasn't angry or frustrated and I was too upset to use any energy for something so pointless and unnecessary.
I sat down on my bed, rested my shell against the headboard and hugged one of my pillows to my chest. And then, when I was alone, I finally released the water building up in my eyes. Well, I had gotten my answer. I could train 'with my family' if I wanted to. I could train alongside my brothers and learn lessons from Master Splinter as well, but I didn't feel that much better. In fact, right now, I felt nothing short of miserable.
A/N: Aaaaaand it's finally done! You have no idea how hard it was to get this chapter done, but now it is! And I hope you liked it how I delve a little deeper into the block in Donnie's training. Maybe some of you have figured out what it is? Yeah, I know nothing much happened in this chapter, but we can't have fights and battles all the time, now, can we?
I hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!