Revolution
As he knelt in the Dojo to face his sons, Splinter couldn't help but release a small sigh. Traditionally in the Dojo each turtle had their own space in line going from Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello down to Michelangelo. However, the turtles had clearly decided on a new order. Raphael now knelt in Leonardo's place followed by Donatello and Michelangelo. Leonardo knelt the other side of Michelangelo though there was a sizeable gap between Leonardo and his brothers. Deciding to let the turtles squirm a little longer, Splinter stared hard at his sons in an attempt to see which son seemed the guiltiest for the current…situation.
Unfortunately for the Ninja master, they all seemed of equal guilt. Before Splinter could address the turtles, a voice broke the silence of the room, though not the voice Splinter would have expected.
"Master Splinter. I know you probably want an explanation and we will answer any questions you may have, I just want you to know that I was voted into this position and take it very seriously" stated Raphael while holding a perfect kneeling position, with his shell straight. It was unnerving, normally only Leonardo would act as such.
"Thank you, Raphael. I take it you will begin the explanation then?" he questioned, deciding to go along with the behaviour for now.
"No Sensei, I'll be delegating that to Michelangelo. He handles all queries and public relations on the team"
"You need your own publicist? Come on guys, this is just pathetic!" said Leonardo, clearly annoyed with his brothers.
"If you have any comments or critiques for the leader then you can write down your concerns and post them in the anonymous box outside his bedroom. Raphael doesn't want there to be any conflict on the team, and will not respond to you when you're antagonising him" interjected Michelangelo with an eerie calm, as Raphael and Donatello nodded along with their brothers' words.
"I'm antagonising him!" raged the blue clad turtle in disbelief
"Technically, yes. You are deliberately provoking him to get some kind of reaction. It's actually quite sad to watch" declared Donatello with a slight shake of his head.
Seeing that Leonardo was preparing to argue back, Splinter decided it was time to intervene.
"Enough, all of you. Michelangelo will explain and I will not hear another word from anyone else until he has finished. Understood?"
"Yes, Master" chorused three turtles in unison, while Leonardo nodded once as he continued to glare at his brothers.
"Well, it all started when we were out on a training run…"
Two Days Earlier
"Do you want to say that to me again, Leo" growled Raphael
"I said, we are going to do an extra two hours training tonight" repeated the leader, with a bored tone. "We are all going to stay for an extra hour after we finish training with Master Splinter in the mornings from now on, as well. We can be performing better than we are now, and I think the extra training will help you three keep up"
"Keep up?" repeated Raphael as if he hadn't heard his brother
"Do we not get a say in this?" questioned Michelangelo in desperation. Extra training was being discussed, and his disapproval would be heard.
"No. I'm the leader and I will lead us to be better" stated Leonardo with resolution "Now follow me. We'll be going on quite a long run across the city tonight, to build endurance"
Not waiting to see if they followed or not, Leonardo took a running jump onto the next rooftop and began to set the pace. With much grumbling the three brothers that remained started to follow after the blue clad turtle.
"Who does he think he us? Thinks he's so much better than us" said Raphael, clearly aggravated as he ran across the rooftops. Whilst they were following Leonardo's route, the three younger brothers were quite a distance behind the eldest.
"He's the leader Raph" said Michelangelo without any enthusiasm "Dude seriously needs to chill out though"
"Is he the leader, though?" questioned Donatello, who up to this point hadn't offered any input
"Well yeah. Where've you been for the last 16 years dude?" said Michelangelo, currently running between Raphael and Donatello
"We live in a democracy Mikey, and I certainly don't remember voting for him" stated Donatello casting a sly grin to his brothers
"Neither do I, now that you mention it" agreed the red banded turtle. He liked where Donnie was going with this
"So what? Should we go on strike or something?" mused Michelangelo
"I'm saying, all leaders should be voted for regularly. I think we need to elect a new leader" plotted Donatello
"We don't exactly have a lot of other options" said Michelangelo, not quite seeing the point of this
"I disagree. Raph, how would you like to run for leader?"
With a wide grin Raphael faced his brothers "I thought you'd never ask"
Following a night of training, the four turtles eventually returned to the lair. Leonardo went straight to bed, while the three younger turtles gathered in the lab to strategize for the forthcoming battle.
The Next Day
Leonardo woke at his usual time of 5am and quickly set about his morning routine. Meditate, eat, be early for practice. He had it all down to an art form. He was not, however, expecting to see his three brothers up before him. Deciding to deviate from his routine slightly, Leonardo headed towards the kitchen where Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo were in deep discussion.
"Okay Raph, try it again and make sure you really get the passion across" coached Donatello, as Michelangelo was hard at work on something that seemed to include his art supplies. Raphael for his part, was standing in front of Donatello with a few sheets of paper in his hands. Deciding he'd seen enough, Leonardo headed further into the kitchen to address his siblings.
"Morning, guys" started the turtle "What are you all doing up so early?"
At that three green faces turned to gaze at him all in different stages of hiding an evil grin.
"Morning bro" chirped Michelangelo as he continued on with his arts and crafts
"What are you reading Raph?" said Leonardo moving closer to his red clad brother, his curiosity finally getting the better of him. Before he could get too close, an olive green arm shot out to block his path.
"Sorry Leo, but that's classified" stated Donatello, subtly shifting himself further in front of Leonardo
"Classified? Why, what it is?"
"If you must know, it's Raphael's speech for the upcoming election" explained Donatello, as if it was obvious
"What election?" said Leonardo in disbelief
"You really thought you'd get away with being our unelected leader forever, bro?" said Michelangelo
"Unelected? Master Splinter named me leader"
"Well, we've talked it over and not one of us recalls voting for you. If Master Splinter wants to vote you in as his leader that's fine, but we're holding an election to vote for who we want to lead us" continued Donatello as Raphael and Michelangelo nodded along in agreement.
A moment of silence passed as Leonardo took in what his brothers were saying, then he rounded on Raphael.
"You've always wanted to be leader, and the only way you can think of becoming it is by doing this? How pathetic. Do you really think Master Splinter will stand for this? Just wait until I tell him" ranted the blue clad turtle
"Look Leo, the people have spoken and they want a democratically elected leader. Master Splinter is out for the day and won't be back until tonight. So, if you want to run for leader we'll have a debate later and then the people can vote" explained Raphael in an eerily calm manner
"This is ridiculous!"
"If you don't think you can win, that's fine. I'm the only other candidate though" consoled Raphael in a soothing tone. There was something behind the words though, and it was a challenge. As soon as the hidden challenge was issued, Leonardo knew he had no choice but to crush his brother.
"Alright, fine. I will stand for leader" Leonardo choked on the words "and reclaim my rightful place"
With that Leonardo turned on his heel and stormed back towards his bedroom. There was no way he would lose to Raph.
With Splinter out of the lair for the day, the turtles were free to engage in the election battle without having to explain themselves to Splinter. The morning was spent in deep preparation for both candidates before the debate began at midday. At the appointed hour, the main living space of the lair had been transformed to include two makeshift podiums and a series of banners promoting the event. Team Raphael had stuck a series of posters promoting their candidate around the lair and Raphael's podium had a large 'Vote Raphael' poster fixed to the front, including high quality artwork depicting the red masked turtle in the midst of battle, courtesy of Michelangelo. Leonardo had gone for a minimalist approach, with a hastily scrawled 'Leo4leader' stuck to the front of his podium.
Donatello and Michelangelo positioned themselves on the couch as the candidates took their place at the podium.
"Who's going first?" questioned Michelangelo
"I will" stated Leonardo quickly, to which Raphael calmly shrugged.
"If you elect me leader then I can guarantee I will give the job 100% of my time and dedication. I will personally ensure all members of my team meet the highest standards of Ninja possible. This will only be achieved by hard training and a lifelong commitment to self-improvement. I promise to guarantee each member of my team one to one tuition from myself, in order to bring them up to my level" lectured Leonardo, occasionally waving his fist for emphasis.
As Leonardo's speech progressed, it became clear to everyone but Leonardo that a vote for the blue clad turtle was a vote for extra training. The declaration of being brought up to Leonardo's level was met with eye rolls from the audience, and a sad head shake from Raphael.
"A vote for me, is a vote for strong and stable leadership. It's a vote for honouring our teachings and Sensei. It's a vote for improvement" finished Leonardo with a dramatic fist pound to the podium. At that Leonardo, stepped back slightly and bowed to his audience. The blue clad turtle cast a sly grin at Raphael, silently challenging him to beat that.
With a deep breath, Raphael stepped up to the podium to begin his bid for leadership.
"Do you want change? Are you fed up of doing the same thing over and over again? If you want change then vote for me. I promise there will be no more drama on the team, all suggestions will be given equal consideration. An anonymous suggestion box will be put in place, so you can give your ideas without feeling pressured. Chill time will become a compulsory part of the day and training will before 8am will be banned. A sleep deprived Ninja is a dead Ninja! Every patrol will include time for goofing off as well as smashing up punks" declared Raphael
Leonardo listened to his brothers speech, with a sad expression. Raphael really had no idea about leadership. Glancing at the audience, Leonardo expected to see looks of disagreement on their faces, he was however, met with the opposite. Michelangelo and Donatello sat wide eyed on the edge of the couch, their eyes wide with admiration as Raphael concluded his speech.
"A vote for me is a vote for real change. It's a vote for a leader who will take his time to understand his people and balance work and play. The question is; are you ready for change?"
At that, Donatello and Michelangelo jumped to their feet in applause and began to chant, Raphael's name. Leonardo could only look on in disbelief as his opposition moved to greet his adoring fans. Following the debate, a polling station had been set up in the lab. One by one each turtle entered to cast their ballot. In the interests of fairness, the ballot box was emptied with all four turtles present.
"Ok, so we have one vote for Raphael. One vote for Leonardo" counted Donatello
Both turtles nodded, they'd obviously voted for themselves.
"We have another vote for Raphael"
Leonardo could feel uneasiness seeping into his core.
"The final ballot is a vote for… Raphael!"
"Congrats, dude!" exclaimed Michelangelo as he hurried to embrace his red clad brother
"I lost?" asked Leonardo numbly
"The final results show Leonardo received 25% of the votes while Raphael achieved 75% of the vote" continued Donatello.
"This is ridiculous. I went along with it so far, but that's it! I'm the leader, not Raph" said Leonardo angrily
"It was a well fought campaign" said Raphael extending a hand to shake with Leonardo, who hastily took a step back. This whole thing was wrong. Raphael seemed so calm and sincere, it was creepy.
"This whole thing was rigged, and I'll have no part of it!" exclaimed Leonardo backing out of the lab
"Leo, a team that trusts is a team that triumphs!" said Raphael as Michelangelo and Donatello nodded enthusiastically behind him.
True to Raphael's campaign promise a suggestions box was placed outside the new leaders bedroom that evening. Leonardo, disappeared into his bedroom as the three remaining brothers decided to celebrate with pizza.
Present
"-and that's pretty much what happened Sensei. Leo freaked out this morning when Raph tried to bring him to the team meeting"
"He doesn't call team meetings, I do!" declared Leonardo indignantly
"Enough" said Splinter.
A headache had developed as he listened to his son explain the current situation. It was clear to him, the 'election' had been rigged to get Raphael into power.
"Leonardo, why do you think you lost this election?" Splinter enquired
"Why? Because they're all idiots"
"See Leo, that attitude is why you lost" corrected Raphael wagging his finger at the seething blue clad turtle
"Attitude? If you-"
"Quiet. All of you" interrupted Splinter. This needed to be brought to a swift close so he could finally get some peace.
"Leonardo is your leader" declared the rat, holding a paw up to silence the protests from three of his sons, as the blue masked turtle signed with relief
"However, I will have a word with Leonardo about incorporating some of your ideas and how to act with humility" scolded Splinter as Leonardo's look of relief quickly vanished.
"But we voted for Raph" protested Michelangelo
"I chose Leonardo" countered Splinter
"Sensei, I think the people have spoken!" said Raphael
"Indeed they have, my son. Unfortunately this is not a democracy and my word goes" explained the rat
Donatello had remained quiet throughout the exchange.
"I guess if this isn't a democracy, it's a dictatorship?" challenged the purple masked turtle
"Correct, my son. Now go, all of you. I do not want to see or hear from you for the next two hours. You are all to meditate on obeying your Masters wishes"
"Yes Sensei" chorused four voices in varying stages of sadness. As they trudged out of the Dojo, Splinter couldn't help but wonder why he thought he could leave the lair for a day without something going wrong. Maybe he should have a word with Donatello some time. It was obvious he had masterminded this whole election.
Splinter couldn't believe that after 16 years, they still though this clan was a democracy.
A/N - Thanks to everyone who still reviews! I'd love to know what you think.