TMNT The Glasses of Life
Chapter two, Book Three
The dojo was dead; the boys had never trained without Leo barking at them before, and April and Casey hadn't trained without Leo as a sub-instructor before. But Splinter knew the biggest fight of all would be upon them, and they needed to be ready.
"Which CD, Quinn?" Mel asked from the opposite end. Splinter exhaled and tried not to show his annoyance. He shouldn't be annoyed, really, all she'd done was ask a question, but his mind had immatured since meeting the girl.
"Uh… Battle Music!"
"Okay. Eh Sensei, it's a new record; eight times in a row."
Wayne laughed and handed Mel her wraps. "So, what do you two want to start with?" Splinter arched a brow, why ask?
"Hm… we should probably start with cardio, then endurance, then kata and precision to cool down," Mel said, "that should be our schedule from now on: it's efficient." Splinter gave a short sigh; who was in charge, Wayne or Mel?
"Yeah, sounds good. And how long should each program be?" Wayne asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Ten minutes?" Quinn asked, knowing it wouldn't happen. Mel chuckled.
"How 'bout an hour?" Quinn looked like she was about to pass out.
"An hour?! Mel, I don't wanna do squat jumps for an hour…"
"Oh it won't just be squat jumps." Quinn groaned.
"Okay, okay," Wayne said and raised his hands, "how about this: we do half an hour each, then Quinn can stop, and Mel does it again."
Mel shrugged. "Fine by me. That'll put Quinn at about four, four and a half hours, and me at eight-nine maybe." To Splinter's surprise, Quinn sighed in relief.
"Good, that I can do," she said.
The "training" Mel, Quinn, and Wayne were doing was the strangest Splinter had ever seen. They felt the need to blast rock music as they did so, and they would try to move in rhythm to said music while they jumped rope, or did squat jumps with kicks at the end, or ran some contraption Mel had called "The Agility Ladder", or, Splinters favourite: dance. They had full, choreographed routines and they would dance.
Splinter understood it was probably an attempt to keep Quinn interested in the workout, but it should in no way be part of the workout! It was definitely not appropriate dancing for an 11-year-old, either, in his opinion.
Then they moved on to "endurance", which was nothing more than an imaginary visit to the gym: more squats with kicks, push ups, sit ups, planks, something Mel had called "Cherry-Pickers", V-sits, deadlifts, which Mel did by lifting Quinn, and Quinn did by lifting Mel's guitar, and Wayne did by lifting Mel, who, by the looks of it, was much heavier than she appeared, and leg curls. Followed by smaller muscles, Splinter assumed it was the arms and feet, and then they did yoga moves. Splinter only recognised a few.
Once that was done, they finally moved on to something of somewhat fighting importance: katas. Splinter would have been okay with it, had they not attempted to follow the beat of the music while moving. The only one that had done decently was Mel, and she'd messed up countless times. "Remember, Mel, if you don't know it, walk it through slowly, perfect the movements… arm and leg movements." Instead of taking his advice and doing it over again, Mel gasped and jumped a few times.
"Does this mean it's perfectionist time?" Splinter had no idea what she meant, but Wayne smiled and nodded, which excited her. "Yes!" she turned to Quinn who was stuck in the middle of a kata. "I'm gonna level up, I'm gonna level up!" the girls shared a celebratory squeal, which was cut short by Wayne.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, remember what I told you?" Mel stopped smiling and nodded.
"Yeah, I know, I'm a white belt till I'm a black belt, but I can still level up by my own standards, right?"
"Sure, just don't get over-confident, or I'll show you what a black belt can do, alright?" Mel put a hand on her hip and tilted her head.
"I've been asking you to do that since you started teaching me." Wayne laughed.
"Yeah I know, but you didn't deserve the beating."
"But I wanna spaaaaaar," Mel whined. Quinn laughed at her childish complaint. Splinter found it all the more irritating. It didn't help when all Wayne did was laugh and pat her shoulder.
"Someday, kiddo." Mel pouted and was about to start a Kaki-Uki, when a voice disrupted everyone's peace.
"I'll spar with you," Raph said and strode towards her. He hadn't gotten to spar since returning, no one had wanted to, and Leo's condition was eating away at him. Leo was usually the one he'd spar with when he was angry, the cocky bastard would jump at the chance to show off a little, but only to him. Raph and Leo had a different sort of relationship, one built on sparring and sniping, and the occasional 'moment'.
Mel looked at Wayne, who was uncertain. "Um… I don't know-"
"Raphael," Splinter bellowed, "you are in the middle of training, get back here at once!" Raph ignored Splinter, too angry to care. Mel must have sensed it, because she stepped forward.
"Okay, let's do it. I'm not as good as you, but I do have a trick in my cap," she said and flicked the brim of her Pikachu hat.
"Raphael!" Mel flinched. Raph blinked and stepped back a few feet.
"Mel, I'm not sure about this," Wayne whispered.
"It's okay, Sensei, he won't hurt me. I won't let him," Mel teased and winked. Wayne sighed, put a hand on her shoulder and leaned towards her ear.
"Listen, Mel, I've seen the way these guys spar on the show, their "sparring" is your "beating the bag until your knuckles are bloody". Not to mention Lefty," Wayne poked Mel's left hand, "and they've been hit in the face before. You haven't. They've been cut before."
"I've done that," Mel said. It bothered Wayne, how casually she said it.
"That's different."
"I'll be fiiine." Wayne sighed and released Mel.
"Alright, I'm trusting you." Mel fist-pumped and skipped to Raph. She got into her position and waited—Wayne realised—for someone to tell them to begin.
Splinter was fuming. How dare his own son disobey him? How dare he? All because he was a little upset? Because he felt he didn't need the training? Fine then.
Splinter had seen Mel's attacks on the bag; she was vicious under the right circumstances. Hopefully vicious enough to teach Raphael a little respect. Splinter growled. "Alright." He glared at the duo. "Hajime."
Raph was first to attack. No weapons, of course, but Mel did panic for one second. She thrusted her arm forward, fingers straight and stiff, and jabbed his eyes. Raph yelled and stumbled backwards. Mel hesitated: she couldn't punch him, it wouldn't even dent him; she would have to rely on her legs. She kicked his stomach as hard as she could, which she'd initially thought wouldn't be very hard because she had bare feet, but Raph gasped and clutched his gut. Mel took the chance to grab his head and, once she was certain no one would stop her, slammed it into her knee three times, making sure she did not hit his nose; she didn't want to kill him. She then positioned herself like Wayne had shown her: feet at 45 degrees, back foot pointed out, channel the chi, and… Mel struck his wrist with a roundhouse kick. She'd aimed for his temple, but he'd blocked it just in time. Raph swung his leg but Mel jumped like it was a Skip-it and landed on him, careful to avoid his chest—she didn't want to stop his heart—and jumped off again. Still, Raph pushed himself up. Mel growled. She wasn't denting him fast enough; at this rate she would burn out trying to burn him out.
Wait, she'd landed on him for god's sake, why wasn't Splinter telling them to stop? Mel coughed and glanced at Raph, who was rubbing his gut. "So… am I doing it right?" Raph grinned. His teeth were dyed red.
"You're doing it the way I like it, rough and dirty." Mel couldn't help it, she laughed.
"Please, Raph, you have to buy me dinner first." Mel ducked just in time. She then realised her mistake; she practically had a target on her face for Raph's knee. Without thinking, Mel sprung and uppercut Raph, whose knee slammed her clenched abs. Raph fell on his butt then rolled to Mel's left and rose. He almost didn't see her clutching her hand, the one she's just punched with. Raph stopped just as he reached her.
"Uh, Mel?" she was wincing through her teeth. Then Raph noticed the budding blue, black, and purple on her last two knuckles, the bubbling blood sprouting from in between. Raph gagged. He'd never seen anything remotely close to that; April had punched him several times and her knuckles never looked like that.
"I'm okay, I'm fine," she said and took deep breaths. Raph looked at Wayne, who was shaking his head.
"Mel, are you okay?" Quinn asked as she ran to her.
"Peachy," Mel breathed through her teeth. She took a deep breath and: "Quinn, be a lamb and grab me an ice pack? And some Polysporin? I think I may have broken a knuckle. Again." Mel smiled and let her hands fall to her sides; the blood trickled down her fingers. Once Quinn had left, Mel walked calmly to the bag, gave it a mighty slug with her other hand, and shouted: "MOTHER FUCKER!"
Donnie had looked over Mel's hand after she'd explained to the group that she was incapable of punching with her left hand. It wasn't broken or sprained, to Donnie's amazement, only bruised. Mel had grinned as Donnie patched her up, claiming her knuckles were used to it by now.
Sam heard it all as he carved. He heard Raph apologising, and Mel saying—annoyed, it seemed—it was alright, and that she was the idiot who thought she could do it. A pause, then: "It was fun. You and I need to spar more often."
He heard Splinter at Karai's door, asking gently if she was coming out for dinner. Sam knew she wouldn't; she was depressed. Rightfully so, but Splinter didn't understand, because despite his vast knowledge, he didn't know about Leo and Karai. He didn't know the bright, dripping ball they made together. Sam sighed; Splinter was very smart, but Leo had proven to be pretty crafty in all the years Sam had known him; he was a very good liar when he wanted to be, even with his family. Leo didn't lie to Sam because he never asked uncomfortable questions. In fact, Sam realised, he never talked to Leo, except when Leo talked first.
He heard Quinn, once the others had walked ahead, murmur to Mel: "Nice language by the way," as they walked behind him. Sam had heard Mel's scream as well. He hadn't looked up from his work, but he'd been surprised to see Quinn, walking out the "kitchen", clutching an ice pack, smile and shake her head. "Hey, Sam?" Sam looked over his shoulder.
There was Quinn, smiling, her dimples ever prominent. "Are you coming or what?"
"It's dinner time and I haven't started cooking yet," Mel clarified. "Quinn said she'd help out, but it would be nice to have more hands." Mel looked at Quinn and stuck her tongue out. "That's how you ask for help," she teased. Quinn mimicked her. Sam put down his knife and rose.
"Okay." They walked past Karai's door and Sam only saw black. Black tentacles throwing anything colourful into the gaping hole they'd immerged from. He noticed Mel had stopped and gazed at the door, as if she saw it too.
At about two am, Mel rose and crept out her door, towards the kitchen. She gathered some leftovers and made two teas, chamomile, and tiptoed to Karai's room. Her "door" was nothing more than a sheet draped over the entrance, but Mel still knocked on the wall. "It's Mel," she whispered, "I hope you're decent, and awake, because I'm coming in."
Karai heard Mel, but she pretended to be asleep. She was not in the mood to talk. Something clanked and Karai felt another presence about a foot away from her. "I know you're awake; your breathing is too sharp to be asleep." Karai didn't respond. "REM, I studied it in Psych." Karai growled and sat up.
"What?" she snapped. Mel shoved something in her face, a mug… a full mug. It smelt like grass… no, not grass… petals.
"Chamomile," Mel said.
"… oh." Karai hesitantly took the mug, cupped it and breathed the warm scent. "Thanks," she whispered. Mel nodded.
"So, did you hear about my major fuck-up today?" Karai took a sip of tea, half interested.
"I guess that's why you screamed earlier?" Karai thought she saw Mel's cheeks darken.
"Oh, you… heard that, huh?"
Karai nodded. "How is it?" Mel took Karai's hand and placed it on the swollen mound of flesh and bone. Karai grimaced.
"Sore," Mel replied. "But I'll live."
Karai removed her hand and looked away.
"You know, you never did tell me what was with you and Leo," Mel said as she sipped her tea. "Are you two canon?" It took Karai a minute to remember what that meant. She nodded. Mel was grinning. "It's probably not my business, but, have you kissed?"
Karai arched a brow. "You're right; it's not your business." Mel pouted. Karai looked away and tried to calm down. "… Yes," she answered. Mel squealed. Karai looked at her. She was in mid-fist-pump.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES! Take that, Leorai haters! Yes!" Karai waited until Mel was done celebrating to give her an odd look. "Hehe, sorry, but I've shipped you two since I first saw you. This is Christmas morning for me!"
"'Shipped'?" Karai asked.
"It means support, agree, 'I want these two to end up together'. I also ship Donnie and April for the first season, and about half the second one, but they stopped going places and it kinda died." Karai sighed, nearly growled.
"Quit doing that."
"What?"
"Stop calling it an 'episode', it's not, it's our life!" Mel held up her hands in surrender.
"Okay! Sorry."
"And stop using those stupid terms! Would you ever 'ship' people in real life?!" Mel looked away.
"You probably won't like my answer." Karai groaned. "I see you're taking advantage of your bitch pass." Karai didn't respond. "Can't blame you; I would too." Mel scooted beside Karai. "I know this entire scenario sucks balls, but you don't have to take it out on me; there's a perfectly hittable bag right around the corner." Karai got in Mel's face.
"Is that always your solution? Just hit the bag, that'll solve all the problems?!" Mel was about to respond, but she sensed Karai's frustration and shut up. "Life isn't a punching bag, Mel, you can't solve all your problems by hitting something! Just hitting the bag won't make the Kraang go away, it won't make Shredder leave me, us, alone, it won't bring Leo back…" Karai was breathing like she was giving birth. Her eyes shined in the darkness and Mel knew she was crying. "It won't bring my mother back." Mel didn't speak. "It won't wave a magic wand and make us all a family; it won't… make life easier. Life isn't a punching bag; it's nothing but… but…"
"Endless train wrecks with only brief commercial breaks of happiness?" Karai nodded and hugged herself. Mel looked at the wall and sang quietly: "Life's like a jump rope: up, down, up, down, up, down, life's like a jump rope… well, I guess this scenario is more like a falling rock, down, down, down, more down..." She let Karai sob and berate herself for letting this happen. Mel would have intervened, but she felt Karai needed to get this out of her system.
The next day was better, Mel had admitted that hitting the bag didn't solve anything, but it made things easier to solve. Karai had immerged to train with the others, and Mel could tell she felt a little better, but as Mel passed her room that night, she heard the violent sobs making a comeback.
"Life is an endless series of train wrecks with only brief commercial breaks of happiness," Mel quoted and stared sadly at Karai's "door". "I guess being with them before was the ultimate commercial break." Mel touched the curtain and sighed. "So now, it's time to return to our regularly scheduled program."