Chapter three

Death by training

"Raphael!" Father yelled as he banged his cane on the cement floor, making me jump from my position on the floor.

Raphael scoffed and turned to Father, his weapons tightly clenched in his fists. Father released a sigh and shook his head.

"Raphael, this attitude of yours is affecting your concentration. What is bothering you?" Father asked and we all turned to face Raphael. Raph and Leo have been sparring and Leo hardly lifted a finger and Raph got caught off-guard. This wasn't normal for either of them, they're usually fighting like they want to kill each other.

Raphael kept his gaze fixed on the ground and I could feel Father's patience wearing thin.

"Forgive me, Master Splinter." Raphael asked, his fists slightly loosening. "I just can't get over what happened."

Father gave a slight nod in understanding before he spoke.

"You should rest and try to find acceptance for the events that have occurred." Raph put away his weapons and then left, his body language showing just how upset he was. Leo put his swords away in the pouches he had on his back and walked towards us. "Donatello, Simone, your turn." Father instructed.

Don and I stood up, Don with his stick and me with my chain, and we took our positions. My chain was roughly three meters in length and had a scythe at the one end. Once Father told us we could begin, we both charged forward to attack. We were just sparring today, just to test our skills, and we weren't going to return to actual training for a while. Father wanted us to perfect our fighting skills rather than our physical strength and stamina.

"Master Splinter," Leo spoke and Father hummed in response. "Raphael needs more than time on his own. Perhaps it would help if he talked about it?"

I saw Father turn to Leo just as I dodged another attack from Don and we continued, putting our all into our combinations.

"Leonardo, your brother rarely, if ever, talks about what bothers him. Leave him be. He will talk when he is ready or he'll be back to his normal self once he has worked through his problems. You must focus on your training for now." Father answered, turning back to us.

Don and I were still going at it as if we're fighting in a war and Don was currently winning.

"Simone, your timing is off." Father scolded and I stopped just as Don did and I locked eyes with Father. "Remember the training! You cannot lose your concentration!"

I nodded and took my stance and Don copied before we went at it again.

#?#?#?#?#?#?#

"It's finally weekend." I sighed as I fell onto the couch, blowing my fringe out of my eyes. I've had a really hectic week and having it come to an end was heavenly…until Mickey ruined the moment.

"Simone! You'll never guess what happened!" he shouted, falling onto the couch beside me.

"Don't tell me…" I replied with a shocked gasp, like I always do when he uses that line.

"No, Raph isn't nice to everyone."

I groaned and turned away from my brother.

"That just ruined my optimism. So what?" I asked, slightly depressed.

"We heard on the news that there's a new gang in town! They're called The Rebels and they totally stirred up trouble yesterday! The police are looking for the members as we speak and we decided that we're going to help them! So tonight…"

"I'm staying home and watching movies." I cut him off, my voice deep. "I'm not getting dragged into what you four are planning. I do not want a repeat of last time."

I'm still getting nightmares about that night we went after some criminal and caught him, but then Father found out about it when it got on the news and they showed a picture of us. They even interviewed us and my brothers had to pretend to be wearing suites while I refused to copy them. Father grounded us for three months, took away Mickey's comics, Don's gadgets, Leo's training books, Raph's training gear and my phone. He also disconnected the gaming consoles and the tv's, he even hid the cables, so Mickey nearly burst into tears. Father's scary when he's mad.

Silence reigned between Mickey and I as we both thought back to that night. Mickey shuddered and I got goose bumps.

"Ya…ya know, maybe we should go with your idea." Mickey said after a few seconds and I nodded in approval, glad that he was using his head for once. "We'll drug Master Splinter and then go after them! It's brilliant!"

Or not.

#?#?#?#?#?#?#

"If this backfires…"

"Simone, you worry too much." Raph said as we jumped from rooftop to rooftop, heading towards the hideout of the new gang.

"I told you I didn't want any part in this." I hissed, glaring at him.

"Oh, come on!" Mickey cheered from behind me. "Have some fun every once in a while!"

I scoffed as Don laughed.

"She doesn't entirely know the meaning of the word 'fun'. She thinks fun means listening to music and reading crime novels." Don informed Mickey, as if he didn't already know.

"My 'fun' is something I enjoy. This sneaking out and catching criminals is not my kind of thing. I hate it when we do this." I replied as we landed on the rooftop of the warehouse.

"But it is fun when you see their shocked faces." Mickey chipped in, grinning broadly.

"Alright, here's our plan." Leo began with a serious face and voice, but Raph cut in.

"We barge in and show them what we're made of!" he said, grinding his fists together.

I looked hesitantly at Leo, half of me expecting him to shoot down the idea while the other half of me wanted him to agree with Raph. I got neither.

"Raph, we can't charge in like that. We need a strategy and then we can show them by charging in."

Raph groaned while I tried to hide my amusement. My brothers can be quite strange sometimes. Our plan was simple: sneak in, catch them off-guard, fight without killing anyone and then leave when the cops arrive. Phase 1 was where we all snuck in through windows and roof panels, but that got ruined when Mickey decided to walk through the front door and yell "Honey, I'm home!" at the top of his lungs.

Next thing I knew, I was hiding with Leo outside as guns fired like hail. My breath was uncontrollably fast and my fists were turning white from gripping my chain. Don and Raph were hiding on my left with Mickey as pale as a sheet.

The firing stopped and I heard the last bullet barrel drop to the floor. I could smell dust and gunpowder, as well as the suspense that hung in the air. These guys were not to be messed with. I heard cautious, silent, footsteps approaching and I raised my chain slowly, preparing for an attack.

I saw the gun slowly peeking out of the doorway and then when I saw the hand gripping it, I grabbed my opportunity and swung my chain right at his face. After that the war started. We were fighting members left, right and center while dodging bullets that just wouldn't stop coming, the smell of blood quickly filled the air and screams and groans echoed around the building as member after member dropped to the floor. It was all over in mere minutes.

I fell to my knees, trying to stop the blood flow from a gun wound on my arm, as Leo surveyed the area. Mickey was limping since he twisted his ankle, Raph was breathing heavily and Don looked exhausted.

"That's looks like all of them." He said, also out of breath as he put his swords away.

I surveyed the building as Leo went after the leader. There was blood everywhere, bodies littered like random tossed paper and you could hear the beating of your own heart in the aftermath. I hated doing this, but my four brothers could be very convincing sometimes.

I got up and took out my phone, dialling the police as my brothers began to tie up the members, keeping the leader separate. I made up a small lie as to how I got to the warehouse and what occurred, making sure there was no place for a possible change in my story. Once they told me they were on their way, I called my brothers.

"Guys! They're coming!"

Mickey quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper and placed it in the leader's palm before we rushed off, sirens blaring in the distance.

#?#?#?#?#?#?#

When we finally got home, we found Father waiting for us. I could tell from his stance that we were in big trouble. His fingers were tapping his cane, his eyes showed anger and the grunt he made in greeting only confirmed my suspicions. We were screwed.

"I hope you have a decent explanation for this one." He said, eyeing each of us in turn. Leo wanted answer, to explain what happened, but he couldn't as Father cut it. "'Glad to be of service, your friendly neighbourhood heroes.' Whose letter was that?"

I glanced over as Mickey raised a quivering hand and that's when our fate was sealed.

#?#?#?#?#?#?#

The Shredder stood by the window, gazing into the ocean of lights. It was past midnight but people were still awake, enjoying the nightlife. It was amazing how people remained unaware of that that were around them, beneath them, among them. It was something she sometimes simply could not believe.

A small, almost soundless, thud entered her thoughts and her gaze shifted to the ninja reflected in her window. Bowing in submission, the ninja waited patiently to be addressed.

"And?"

"Your plan succeeded. The decoys were taken out and the girl survived. However, she was with them."

The Shredder said nothing, thinking over the events. This girl surely had talent as those were the most powerful weapons she's ever laid her hands on and this girl escaped unharmed...almost. The only problem now were those turtles. She can't get near her unless they were taken out first.

"Follow her, take note of her routine. I need a way to reach her and talk to her without any disturbance, privately."

The ninja disappeared with a nod and the Shredder sighed. Her army was lacking both number and skill, she seemed perfect. She was human, had exceptional abilities with a chain – the most difficult of all weapons to master – and she was still young. She could still mould her into a warrior of her liking. It's just a shame the turtles won't be around to see it.