Chapter Seven

Broken

In the Dojo area, Monalisa had decided to take out her anger and frustrations with the punch bags and other equipment there.

She hoped that no-one would be in there at this time, and luckily no-one was, though she knew the Chicago Knights would be coming in to train and Master Splinter would want her and the turtles to train as well at some point.

But right now she really didn't want to talk to anyone.

After her talk with Callum, she felt so heartbroken, as well as angry after what he said to her, saying he would have rather died that be saved by being mutated, she refused to acknowledge anyone, not even her beloved mate or her best friend, she didn't want to be spoken to, or touched, she just wanted to be alone.

Taking a few deep breaths, Mona walked over to the music system and turned on the music, turning it to a rock music station which matched her mood and she strode over to the punch bag before starting to punch and kick it with her fists and feet along with her tail trying to get rid of the feelings inside.

As she punched the bag, she could feel every emotion coming up inside her, almost like a volcano about to erupt, she punched and clawed at the bag, yet each time she did so, she didn't feel satisfied, she felt like her whole world was crashing down.

So much had happened in the past two weeks, she had finally reunited with her brothers, after eleven years of thinking she would never see them again, wondering whether she should just forget about them, and forget she was ever a human, she had finally reunited with them, even if it was through horrific circumstances.

She never imagined she would be in this situation, after what the Shredder did to Callum, it was because of him she had given her youngest brother the water from the well, saving his life and mutating him.

Yet she knew the reason Callum and Jake had ended up in the hands of the Shredder was because Callum had left the lair, according to what Jake had told her, so if Callum hadn't left the lair, then this never would have happened.

"You stupid idiot!" she growled as she punched the bag again "You stupid fool!"

She punched the bag again, and this time, more thoughts came to her head, including what Jake had told her about what had been going on at home after she had disappeared.

Tears flowed from her eyes as she thought of her mother, and how Jake had spoken of her depression, before the cancer came and claimed her life.

She struck the bag harder as she thought of what her mother had gone through, and how she had pined for Mona to come home.

Even though she knew it wasn't her fault, she couldn't shake away the pain or the feeling of guilt at all that had happened back home and she hadn't been there.

How she wished she could see her mother now, how she wished she was with her, they were so close and she always went to her for advice or if she just needed a hug, but that would never happen again, much to her grief.

After a while, Mona stopped punching the bag and rested her head on it trying to get her breath back.

As well as something to punch, the bag was also a good rest and structure to hug when she needed a break. Sweat dripped down her forehead and down her bangs as she tried to regain her energy, which came as soon as it went the first time.

Yet she felt the bag wasn't a worthy opponent and she looked across to some thick wooden blocks by the wall.

She held up her fingers and flexed them, and she remembered what her Kung Fu instructors used to teach her when she was training in Tiger Kung Fu to make her strikes harder and like that of a tiger claw.

Striding over to the blocks, she clawed her fingers and began to claw and strike at the wooden blocks, she could feel a slight pain each time she did so, but it would soon subside and she could strike again harder.

Unknown to Mona, Sephie had followed her after George had gone into the Medical room to speak to Callum.

At first the turtles, Splinter and Tyroth had discouraged her from trying to talk to Mona in her state but Sephie assured them she was only going to watch the lizard lady from afar just to make sure she didn't do anything silly.

She only remembered a few Christmases ago before Pandora was born Mona had left Mutopia because she was upset and jealous about Tyroth being reunited with his family and how she had almost died in the cold after being attacked by thugs and she hoped Mona wouldn't repeat the same thing.

She was relieved when she saw Mona go to the Dojo area, and she hung back so the lizard's ninja hearing wouldn't pick her up as judging by Mona's upset demeanour, she didn't want to talk to anyone.

She watched as Mona started punching the bag and after a few minutes of punching it, saw her move to the wooden blocks.

Watching the lizard lady, Sephie was shocked seeing how Mona struck the wood with her fingers, but then she remembered Mona telling her a while back about her different animal styles of Kung Fu.

This was not her usual graceful Crane style or her accurate Praying Mantis, but it was the lethal aggressive Tiger style.

She remembered Mona told her that when she would practice, she would strike hard objects with her fingers so that it would make the bones stronger and more like claws when she fought in battle and when she had seen her fight with that style, she wouldn't have wanted to be any Foot Ninja, Street Thug or any enemy for that matter in Mona's path.

As she continued to watch, she saw Mona strike the wood harder and harder, then she noticed blood start to appear on the wood!

Sephie gasped as she saw it and she realised Mona wasn't stopping, and she couldn't imagine the pain she was feeling, if not in her fingers, but in her heart and soul, if anything, the mental pain was worse than anything physical right now.

Seeing Mona continuing to strike the wood despite her fingers bleeding, Sephie felt she could stand it no longer and she walked into the Dojo to make her friend and honoured little sister stop.

"Mona?" she tried to get the lizard lady's attention but Mona kept striking the wood, also the music on the station was blaring out loudly which wasn't helping.

Sephie quickly sauntered over to the music station and lowered the volume before going over to Mona again whose strikes slowly ceased and she turned around to come face to face with Sephie.

"Mona? What are you doing?" the Gecko asked shocked.

Mona was silent yet she looked at her fingers that were bleeding and peeling due to the none stop strikes.

"Mona..." Sephie placed her hands on Mona's shoulders to which the Lizard Lady looked at her dear friend who she saw as the sister she never had and the tears streamed from her eyes as the emotions came pouring out of her.

The volcano had erupted, it had already burst into the air, but then now came the aftershock and the magma was pouring out rapidly.

Mona sank to the floor, onto her knees and sobbed, unable to speak due to the pain she felt in her heart and soul.

"It's okay little sis!" Sephie comforted as she helped Mona sink slowly to the ground "It's alright, just let it out, don't hold back, you know you're safe with me."

Mona nodded and lowered her head, and wrapped her tail around her knees, before grabbing her hair and tugging at it and sobbing softly.

Sephie sat in front of her and held her head trying her best to comfort her. She didn't know what to say to her best friend, not that anything could help calm her or soothe her, she couldn't say she knew how Mona felt because she didn't.

All Sephie could do was kneel there with Mona's head in her lap and just let her cry.

She hoped no-one else would come into the Dojo, but she knew the Knights would want to do their daily training at some point, and the last thing she wanted was them asking questions about Callum and the way Mona was feeling, it would only make her feel worse.

After a few minutes, Mona looked up, her eyes were bloodshot and puffy and her cheeks were red.

Sephie sighed sadly seeing her friends heartbroken expression.

"He hates me." Mona whimpered "He wished he had died rather than be mutated, he hates me so much."

Sephie said nothing but placed her hand on Mona's cheek.

"We had such a close bond." Mona lamented "He always came to me when he was sad, angry or worried, he never spoke to mum and dad much, only me or Jake, he felt safe when he spoke to me...where...where did the bond go?"

"Mona." Sephie said softly "I'm so sorry...this wasn't your fault, don't you dare, don't you dare ever think that this was your fault, you never asked for this to happen, you never wanted this."

Mona's heartbreak soon turned to anger.

"The reason Callum is what he is, is because of my enemies!" she hissed "I know he left the lair when we told him to stay inside! His foolishness lead him to my enemies! But he never intended to become their prey! He was in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

Sephie bit her lip as she saw the darkness in Mona's eyes she could feel her shaking in fury.

"I blame Shredder!" Mona growled "First the Purple Dragons, and now the Shredder is on my list of hate!"

Sephie remembered how Callum had been drugged up with Crystal Meth by the Purple Dragons, he was lucky to live that day, but because of Shredder, Callum had to go through the mutation or die from his wounds.

"Jake already killed Hun, so he's off the hit list, but Shredder will suffer my wrath," Mona growled as she flexed her bloody fingers "I don't care that he is an alien and hard to kill, he will feel my fury every time we meet!"

"Mona." Sephie wheeled "There's no point in talking about it now, let alone thinking about it, what is done is done, and Callum has his life back, as a mutant yes, but I hope after George has spoken to him and shown him Mutopia, he may start to realise that this is a chance at a new life."

Mona lowered her head, unable to think of what to say to Sephie.

"Look Mona." Sephie said taking Mona's hands "Your hands are bleeding, and maybe you've fractured the tips, you need to see James."

"I can heal..." Mona croaked.

"Not as fast as the Mutopians." Sephie corrected "Please, let's just get them seen to, and you need to relax for a bit, look, lets go to the Medical unit then we'll go the baths for some relaxation time okay? It'll make you feel better, everyone would have had their washes as this time." she added glancing at a clock on the wall.

Mona sighed, yet she reluctantly agreed.

"You don't have to put on a facade Mona." Sephie comforted "Tyroth's doing all the talking, along with Leonardo, making sure everyone knows about Callum and how to handle the situation, and Sonia's doing a great job looking after Pandora, along with Kemeko, Loki and Freya!"

Mona's tensed as she remembered her daughter, in her anger and frustration she hadn't even considered checking on her own child!

"Don't worry Mona." Sephie said quickly "Raphael is making sure she's okay, and he'll tell her you're upset, you have such a great mate and lover, you couldn't have asked for a better father for your child."

Mona gave a weak smile, she knew she could rely on Raphael as well as the other turtles and her dear friends.

"Come on." Sephie said helping Mona to her feet and leading her out of the Dojo, "We'll get your fingers seen to."

Mona nodded silently and leaned on her best friend as they walked together.

As she lead Mona out of the Dojo, Sephie wondered how George was doing with the Raven, wondering if his talk had gotten through to him, and more importantly if Callum would think twice about his words to Mona and Jake?

Poor Mona, but at least she has Sephie there to look after her, since their first meeting and ice breaking conversation in Tyroth Darkstorm's first fic 'Mutant Vigilantes'

Find it on his page, the one fic that started all our collabs! :D