"Again!" Splinter commands his sons to go through the warm-up sequence for a third time, not for Raphael, Leonardo or Donatello's sake. Michelangelo seems a bit preoccupied in thought this morning, more so than other mornings. Splinter is being patient in allowing this extra time for his youngest turtle to clear the fog in his mind and concentrate on the task at hand. He hopes his son takes the hint and gets in gear soon or he would have to call him out on it.
Splinter also takes care to notice his two newest students. Kala follows along as best she can. Her footing is off but her discipline and fortitude impress him. What does not impress him is April's abnormal behavior. She is pushing herself too hard. This is supposed to be a warm-up, not an endurance competition. The girl is already perspiring, her face flushed and her breathing is all too loud. Splinter decides speak to her later and he gives the girls a rest as his sons pair off and spar.
He pits Leo against Donnie and Raph against Mikey. Leonardo and Donatello show much improvement, reading each other and challenging each other's skills. Although Leonardo comes out victorious, it was not easily received. Splinter knows that Donatello has been very busy in the lab and garage preparing his family for the upcoming trials. He couldn't be more proud of him. And by how long it took for Leonardo to fight him down, it is obvious that Donatello had not shorted his training.
"Hmm." Splinter wonders. Raphael and Michelangelo on the other hand… Usually it is Raphael's bandana tails the wise rat needs to reign in, but today, Michelangelo is sloppy and yet, not as care-free as he usually is. He's eerily quiet, not goading his brother with teasing. And his focus is not on his opponent, but outside of the ring. Michelangelo is beaten with little effort.
"Enough." Splinters strikes his stick against the floor. He looks at the young men and women before him. He had to try something else. They were off to infiltrate the enemy in less than 24 hours. Training during the past week has been excellent and he felt that his students were more than ready, but now… "I think a team exercise will be a good change of pace. In this way you are not just relying on yourself, but one another. You will cover each other and fight and win together. You will be in teams of three. The team left with at least one member standing, wins…. Leonardo, Donatello and April, against Raphael, Michelangelo and Kala. There are no boundaries, the entire dojo is in play. Use your skills to aid each other."
The two teams take their places on either side of the dojo. This would have been an excellently executable exercise. The six teens would have learned a lot, grown closer, depended on each other more, believed in their own abilities more, yes, it would have been awesome. But Splinter was right. Two of his pupils had other matters rattling inside their heads. And these matters surface in very unbecoming ways.
At one end of the dojo Michelangelo breathes haggardly, boring his eyes into Donatello's form. How could Donatello do this to him! Mikey sadly assumes that since his brother is super smart at some things, he should be smart in all other things, such as girls. He's a brainiac! He should have known what he was doing! It's not enough to have googly eyes for April, now he has to steal Kala too? I'll show him! He shifts his eyes to his left and hisses at Raphael. "Raph, when this thing begins, make sure you leave Don Juan to me."
Wierded out, Raph answers. "Uh, OK, Mikey." Raph turns to Kala. "You ready for this? I got your back."
"Yes, and I have got yours."
Is everyone hitting on my girl!? Mikey is being a bit dramatic right now.
Unfortunately, on the other side of the dojo, more insanity is brewing. April watches Kala like a hawk. She is trying to control her breathing but all she can think about is Kala and Donnie blasting off into the sunset together. She is CRAZY if she thinks she's taking my friend anywhere near the sun!
Leonardo glances over at April tighten and loosen her fists. "April, you OK?"
"I'm more than OK. I'll take down Kala, you handle the other two." April bites.
Leo looks at her with confusion. "Take her down? Are you sure you…"
"Begin!" Splinter announces.
So here is what is happening: As soon and their sensei starts the match. Michelangelo whips out his nunchucks, immediately swinging. He crosses in front of Raphael, accidentally hitting him in the face, knocking him out cold. Mikey's target, Hamato Donatello.
April sprints at 'GO'. She crosses in front of Leonardo, almost clipping him with her bladed fan, making him stumble back and crash into the training supplies shelf, completely covered.
In the middle of the dojo, Michelangelo flips over April and she slides under him. Kala and Donatello, who are about to engage themselves in friendly battle, don't even notice the shadows of their pursuers closing in overhead. Mayhem ensues.
Mikey clobbers Donnie and they tumble back in a big, green ball of furry. Donnie yelps and Mikey growls and mercilessly blasts his brother with the dense handles of his weapons.
April pounces on Kala and they topple onto the floor. Kala is able to get away from the fiery girl as she swishes her fan, hungry to make contact with the Alien's perfect skin. But Kala is too fast. This makes April even more heated. She throws her fan away and wrestles Kala to the floor.
"April! What are you doing? This is not civil!"
"Forget civil, you sneak!" April tries to stay on top of her and Kala flips them over, twists her arm and pulls away.
"Mikey! What the heck! This isn't fighting!" Donnie yelps.
"You're right! It's revenge!" Mikey lifts his hand high to deliver a powerful strike but Donnie catches his arm and flips his fuming brother away.
Donnie stands and jumps back to get some distance from Mikey. He backs into April and turns. "April, I don't know what has gotten into Mikey, but I need your help."
"Enough." Splinter says.
"Help?" April turns and punches him in the arm.
"Ah! April what are you doing? We're on the same team!" Donnie says.
"No, we're not on the same team. We HAVEN'T been for a long time." She scowls. "Oof!" April rubs her rear. She turns and looks at Kala. "Did you just kick me in the butt?!"
"I thought I would, since you are acting like one." Kala sneers.
"Enough!" Splinter calls out.
April swings her legs and drops kicks Kala to the ground. Not yet satisfied, April jumps on her and the girls swing pathetically at each other, and then start to pull hair.
"April, stop! Have you gone nutso?" Mikey says.
"Look who's talking? What's with the mad-turtle attack?" Donnie says.
"I'll show you mad, you, you two-timing, sap-sucking, dweeb!" Mikey shouts, crashes his plastron into Donnie's.
"Mikey! Ack!" Donnie gasps and Mikey clobbers him to the floor.
"I said ENOUGH!" Splinter flies into the fray and jabs his fingers into the four tantrum-filled teens, expertly hitting pressure points in their arms and legs, totally incapacitating their movements. Donnie, Mikey, April, and Kala slump to the floor, barely able to groan. Splinter looks at his fallen children and sighs. He turns to the sound of the dojo doors sliding open to see Casey poke his head in.
"Hey guys! Whoa, what did you do to them?" Casey says with awe.
"Casey, please help Leonardo and Raphael to their feet and take them out. I must speak with the others in private.
"Whatever you say, Senor Sensei." Casey quickly lends his hands and shoulders to the eldest turtles and slowly guides them out of the training room.
Splinter turns his attention to his embarrassing students. "I am going to make myself some tea. When I return I want you kneeling in line and prepared to tell me what the MATH is going on." With that, Splinter leaves, giving the teens very little time to recover from their teacher's disciplinary blows.
…
Less than ten minutes later April, Donatello, Kala and Michelangelo kneel side-by-side in front of a very irritated, mutant rat. Splinter sips his fragrant tea and sets it aside. He looks over his students in turn: April is finally calm. Her eyes are closed in shame. Whatever has come over her is slowly receding to reason.
Donatello looks very nervous and quite confused. He tries to steal glances at April with whom he is very worried about. To Splinter however, it does not seem he will have the answers to what is actually going on.
Kala is looking her surrogate sensei straight in the eyes. It seems as though she is ready to take whatever discipline is due her and will not deny anything. But Kala thinks her actions were necessary and by how aggressive April was attacking her, Splinter may not disagree.
Finally Splinter looks upon his youngest son. Michelangelo's eyes will not leave the floor. His hands are balled fists of fury. Even as his father looks at him, he refuses to meet him in the eye. What Splinter does not know is that if Michelangelo looks at him, he would start to cry. So many emotions, anger, frustration, and betrayal is swarming in his head and heart. It's a miracle he is able to sit still for so long.
Splinter takes an even breath. "I just witnessed two ninja, a kunoichi and a boombow warrior degrade themselves down to bickering children. If what Leonardo has been sharing with me is as severe as it sounds, you should be making every effort to prepare for battle. You are supposed to be helping and pushing each other towards the next level of readiness, instead you're pulling hair and slapping faces... If you think I am allowing you to go on tomorrow's mission, with this kind of behavior as your battle plan, you are utterly mistaken. Postponing your offensive plan a week should suffice."
"Master Splinter, the more we delay, the more time we give the Kraang to fix their ship and come back." Donatello says hastily.
"I would rather you be ready at the Kraang's return, then pursue them with an unreliable team." Splinter states.
"No!" April yells. She wouldn't make it seven more days of Kala sticking around. She wants this mission to be over as soon as possible so Kala can leave. "We are ready. We can go through with this. I just got a little carried away, that's all."
Splinter turns to April. "Can you explain to me why you got 'carried away'?"
April sets her jaw sternly. She knows Splinter is not her father. But he has opened his doors to her, has kept her safe and has taken her on as a student. She respects him too much not to answer him. But she's not quite sure what to say. She had been a mess all morning and sleeping on the lumpy couch had not helped. And she definitely doesn't want to bring up almost half of the testy subjects that she and Kala and talked about last night. To admit that April was trying to knock out Kala because of her crush on Donatello, would make her reasoning sound all the more immature. "My actions resulted from a conversation Kala and I had last night. My disagreement turned to anger and I wanted to extinguish that anger on her pretty little face."
Donatello is shocked. He hopes that he was not the subject of the girl's conversation. He'd hate to think that April would instigate a fight after he told her how he felt about her. Would she forget so easily?
"It does not sound like your anger is fully extinguished." Splinter comments.
"No. It is not." April answers truthfully.
"April, you are usually such a level-headed child. Can you not see another way of quelling this anger other than unnecessary violence?"
April pouts her lips and shuts her eyes tight. She will not cry.
"Maybe it is just her Earthino way, viciously trying to get rid of everything not under her control." Kala cuts in.
"First of all, Neutrino, we are NOT Earthinos." April spits. "We are Earthlings, and THIS Earthling is getting tired of you trying to steal my friends from me." She looks over at her, eyes red with flooding tears. "My mother was taken away from me and then my father. And here you come with your fancy machines and fighting and heroic stories and all you want to do is whisk my friends away to your planet!"
Kala, unshaken by April's outburst responds. "My intent was never to 'steal' them away. I was going to give them a choice, unlike you, desperately trying to keep them all to yourself."
"You want to use them in your war!"
"And you want them to live out their lives in a sunless sewer, just within your arm's reach." Kala says firmly.
April gasps. Her words hit a very sensitive place in her heart. April knows that she would never want her friends to stay in the darkness of the Lair forever. But what could she do about it? She can't offer the world to her friends, but it seems like Kala can.
Splinter is surprised at what Kala and April had spoken about. He may have to address that later. The effect that it has on April is what he is most concerned with now.
Donatello looks at the downcast head of the trembling girl. He places his hand over hers and speaks softly. "April, I know you don't think that."
She slides her hand away from his. "You don't know what I think. You've been too busy in your lab with HER to know anything I've been going through lately." She looks up at him and huffs a small, sad laugh. "You're so smart and you have no idea what I'm talking about."
He shakes his head and looks up at Splinter. "She's right. I have no idea what's going on. I've been working like crazy all week, I come to practice after only getting three hours of sleep and now I'm here because I got attacked by my brother and my best friend."
Both April and Michelangelo scoff and Donnie's words.
"What am I missing?" Donnie exclaims.
"I know what you're missing. This knife you left in my shell!" Mikey accuses.
"Michelangelo! I am most surprised at you. What has made you so angry that you would attack your brother?" Splinter asks.
"I'm mad because… I'm mad at him because he, he's smart and he knew it was happening but he didn't do anything to stop it!"
"Stop what, Mikey?" Donatello pleads.
"Like you don't know! I guess since you can't get what you want, you just take what's available!" Mikey spats out.
"I… am… totally confused! Is this about the last slice of pizza?" Donnie says.
"No!" Mikey shouts. "It's about the BEST pizza I ever had! And you took it and you don't even want it!" Mikey hides his face behind his arm and cries.
Everyone else is completely perplexed.
"Mikey." Kala whispers. She lays a hand on his shoulder.
He quickly sobers up and flinches away. "Why Kala? Am I not dorky enough for you? Do you not get my jokes? Did you kiss him?" Mikey spat.
Kala gapes at Michelangelo. Does she misunderstand the significance of the gesture? "I thought kisses were special."
"Me too!" Mikey wails.
"You kissed him already!" April's voice cracks. They couldn't have. Donnie wouldn't have…
Kala, annoyed at the girl's insistence, whips her head at April. "Yes, April! I kissed him. And I'd do it again, because…" Kala looks at Mikey. "I have a crush on him."
Splinter is not doing his job. The scene playing before him reminds him of the soap operas he's always watching. From the outside, it is painfully clear as to what is going on. He should step in and get things back on track but he's so delighted, and a little melancholy, that his sons are growing up and are having girl troubles… he wishes he had some bonbons.
When Kala admits that she has a crush on 'him' April and Mikey think she means Donatello. April rolls her eyes and looks away. Mikey's lips tremble. "Kala…"
Donatello, totally oblivious to April's temper and Mikey's torment, calls out, to no one in particular. "Kiss… who? A crush on who?"
Splinter can't take anymore. He bursts out in hearty chuckles and guffaws. The four teens look at him. Splinter squints his eyes to look at them again and he laughs even harder.
"Is this a joke? Am I being punk'd?" Donnie squeaks.
"Ah ha ha! No, no, Donatello. Just let me catch my breath." The jovial rat calms. This is BETTER than 'the soaps'. "What happened this morning is due to a lack of communication. You each need to be taught a lesson, but I can see that I am not the one to teach you. You must LISTEN to each other. April, your fear and suspicion, though you try your best to keep them separate, you and I both know that they are one in the same. Your heart yearns to flow freely, but when you speak, that flow is blocked with hesitancy. My punishment for you is to allow your heart to flow."
Aprils gives a slight nod.
Splinter turns to Donatello. "My son, I see much effort and determination in you. Everything you put your hands to is forever changed. You and I see that talent within you but you have admitted to keeping long hours, having little sleep… and sacrificing time away from your relationships. A warning: Don't expect your destination to be plentiful when your journey was traveled in solitude. My punishment for you is to find balance."
Donatello nods attentively.
Splinter turns. "Michelangelo, you and I both know it is not about the pizza."
Mikey sniffles.
Splinter continues. "It is about trust, honor and the bond of brothers that no power can break…I see the pain in your eyes. I am familiar with such pain. Believe me when I say that a broken heart grows stronger with each pulse. Yours will heal much faster than you think. Your mind and heart will disagree many times in life. Not matter what your mind may think; if you listen closely to your heart it will always say to trust your brothers. My punishment for you is that you ask your brother for forgiveness."
Splinter finally faces Kala and smiles. "Kala, you have caused quite a stir. But just as a small flame has the potential to give light to the entire house, your very presence has caused unresolved issues to raise to the surface. In a week's time you have stolen hearts, lifted spirits, challenged actions, confronted injustices and broadened horizons. My punishment for you is to… use pronouns. It causes much less confusion." He chuckles.
Kala bows her head.
Each pupil listens well to Splinter's words. The wise rat concludes the lecture. "For the rest of the day I think it best for you all to rest and communicate… I think a bonding exercise is in order. In pairs, Donatello, April, you will be each other's words and ears. Kala, Michelangelo, the same goes for you two. Tomorrow morning, we will have a quick training session. At that time I will decide if you are ready to go on this mission or not. Your lives are too important to be lost in misunderstandings. Will you choose to be an asset or a hindrance to your team? Can you work out your differences for the greater good?
"Hai, Sensei." They say seriously.
"Very well. Now for the second part of your punishment: ten back flips each, clean up the dojo and then you may spend the rest of the day in relaxing conversation. Goodbye." Splinter hastily exits the dojo, leaving the brooding teens to their tasks.
They each rise and take a corner. They do their flips and silently put the dojo back in order.
Donatello shyly confronts April. "Would you, um, do you want to go to my lab and…"
"Sure Donnie." April says and walks past him towards his lab, leaving Mikey and Kala alone.
…