I can't believe how fast this story has gotten popular. 40 views within the first three hours (This is amazing to me.) So thanks to anyone who's taken even a second of your time to look at any of my stories, even my dopey little Pokémon Christmas special. And again I apologize to the AHM followers out there, however few you may be, but I swear if an idea strikes I will write it up.
"So, Dad, where do we find these nasty turtle boys?" Elle asked.
"Wait a minute, Ellie dear." Stockman stated, "You have no weapons, not to mention I don't even know if you are able to fight. Luckily, I thought of this beforehand."
He left the room and beckoned to them from the hall. They followed, Lea very reluctantly, into a large white room at the end of the hall. Blue and red school-gym padding was everywhere. Stuffed beige dummies, archery targets, and moving stuffed birds with bulls-eyes on their sides.
All of them, including Leonara, gazed in wonder around the room. "I built this training center for you girls, knowing you would need practice to defeat those wretched turtles." Baxter said, "They've had fifteen years of training, but I'll bet since you've got some of them in you, you'll be even better."
He walked over to a large button on the opposite wall. The wall was a bit lighter white than the rest and completely void of any decorations. "But before you can get training, you'll need to pick your weapon." He declared, lighting up Lea's face. Baxter Stockman pressed the button and the white wall slowly turned around. And, like in all the good spy movies, the other side of walls was stacked to the ceiling with weapons of all sorts. Shuriken, kunai, and every ninja weapon known to Japanese man, along with various European, African, and Amazonian artillery perched on racks.
"And since Leonara is the youngest, we'll let her pick first." Stockman added, nodding to the awe-struck punk turtle.
"Yes!" she cried, rushing forward. She stood right in front of the wall, staring up at the arsenal.
"Feel free to test as many as you need." Baxter said, "Find one that screams 'Leonara!'"
Lea scanned over them all, top to bottom, but not much jumped out at her. Sure, weapons were weapons, but none of them 'screamed Leonara'. Then her eyes locked on a pair of daggers, a bit longer than usual, seated at eye level towards the right. She picked them up, drew them out of their sheath and admired them.
Stockman looked at a number written under the hooks and checked some catalogue. "Nice choice, those are tanto knives, straight line over the 'o', crafted by Mei of Kunimitsu…" He began to prattle off facts about the knives, while Lea ignored him. She twirled the knives around in her hands, then randomly threw one. Elle yelped and ducked, even though she was furthest from the knife. Mika stepped out of the way and let the dagger calmly sail over her shoulder. It stuck a dummy right where the heart would be. The second knife struck it between the eyes, y'know, if it had eyes.
Baxter eyed the dummy with awe. "Nice throw." He said, dazed.
"Thanks." Lea answered, "I don't why, but it feels like these daggers were made for me. I think I'll pick these."
"Interesting." Stockman mumbled, "Leo has long swords…"
"Hmm?" Fay asked.
"Oh, nothing. You're next, Rafayela." He replied.
Fay glanced around nervously. "Uh…I want to go last." She squeaked.
"O…kay. Elle?" Baxter stated.
Elle chose a pair of short metal staves that looked like miniature versions of Donnie's bo. When she squeezed the centers, a little bamboo arrowhead popped out of one end. Their short length (they were about a foot long; Lea's dagger was roughly 14 ½ inches) made them look silly and useless, but Elle proved difficult to beat with her little staffs.
"Cool." She said with a smile as she twirled the little sticks. Stockman noticed that there was a gap between her front teeth, just like the boy's.
"Another opposite. Hmm…" he muttered.
Mika looked over the tall artillery wall. She tapped her foot and glanced from one weapon to another quickly. Baxter glanced away for a second, and when he looked back, she was balanced on two sword-holding racks near the ceiling. In her hands was a curved sword. Stockman flipped through his little book as Mika navigated down. "That's an Egyptian sword," he read, "called a…"
"Khopesh." Mika finished, twirling the blade in her hands. She grinned and read the hieroglyphics on the handle. When she smiled, a trio of freckles on each cheek could be seen. One difference between her and Mikey, since his were visible almost always…Ohh.
Mika whispered the names of the gods and goddesses on the handle. "Sobek, Isis, Osiris, Hathor…" she mumbled. She ran her finger along the flat of the blade and said, "There subsist not a scabbard for it, despite."
"I'll make one." Baxter decreed, "I can make ANYTHING, if I do say so myself."
Leonara coughed twice and whispered, "Show-off."
"Fay, your pick." Stockman stated.
The brunette turtle inched forward cautiously. Unlike her sisters, who found the wall of weapons exciting and cool, she found them disturbing and off-putting. She glanced up and down the rows quickly, hoping she would find her weapon quickly like her sisters and be over with it. She instinctively snatched up a very odd-shaped pair of weapons. Handle and all, they were about 18 inches long, with the handle being 10 inches of the length. The actual weapon was shaped like a spoon, with a shallow bowl. The sides were slanted and squared, not rounded like a normal spoon. It formed a 3D trapezoid. The end has long tines, like a Spork. It was weird, freaky, and looked like someone combined a spoon, a fork, and a dagger. The perfect weapon for a mutant turtle.
"Those are called runcible spoons." Stockman declared, "They aren't traditionally ninja weapons, actually they were invented by some wackjob in 1891 as a nonsense thing, but you'll make do."
Fay scanned over the oddball weapons she had chosen, or that had chosen her. If it were up to her, there would be no weapons, no fighting, no battles, EVER. But what did she know? She wasn't even a day old.
"Hey girls." Baxter called, "I've been thinking, and I believe I have found something that might be useful." Three of the girls came over and listened; Leonara juggled her daggers. "You already know you were reengineered from those other turtles' DNA." He explained, "Well, I think something went…off. Not wrong, just…different than expected. Instead of creating perfect replicas of the four MALE turtles, I believe it created FEMALE turtles, but not only that, I think you are the opposites of the turtles themselves."
"Donitellia." He said, "Your counterpart, Donatello, is smart, reputably dorky, mature, and the second youngest out of his…brood."
Elle nodded, then furrowed and asked, "What do you mean by 'smart'?"
"Nothing!" Stockman answered quickly, "Leonara, Leonardo, your foil is very responsible, slightly bossy, infatuated with the show Space Heroes, and the oldest of his little clan."
"Ugh," Lea decreed, "Sound like a total geek."
"Rafayela, your equivalent, Raphael, is stubborn, violent, hotheaded, and the second oldest of the group." Baxter prattled.
"He sounds…scary." Fay murmured.
Stockman stated, "Michelangelo, Mikelanjela's counter, lacks in intelligence, is very hyper, fun-loving, and acts his age as the youngest of his brothers. They all have a love of skateboards, pizza, and their teacher, who goes by Splinter."
"I cannot envisage comprising an intellect anyplace beneath middling." Mika decreed, "Save you discern what they articulate, 'Unawareness be ecstasy.'"
Lea gave her an odd look and asked, "Say what now?"
Fay sighed and repeated, "She said 'I can't imagine having smarts anywhere below average. But you know what they say, 'Ignorance is bliss.''"
"Wow, now I actually understand what she said." Leonara stated teasingly, "Fay, I hereby appoint thee 'Robot Translator'!"
All but Mika, who looked like she would strangle Lea if she wasn't her baby sister, laughed. Suddenly, Elle asked, "Hey Dad, doesn't that make you our Splinter?"
Baxter was caught off guard. "Yeah…I guess." He said. Then he shook his head and decreed, "You girls have your weapons, so you should start training as soon as possible. But first I must ask, do any of you have some trait, something you got opposite of the turtles, that might prevent you from fighting?"
Fay stared at her feet, wondering whether she should tell him about…that. Maybe when she started training, it would go away. Or she'd grow out of it. Deep inside she knew that no, it would never go away, but she listened to her excuses.
"That's kind of an odd question, isn't it?" she pointed out.
"Just answer it." Stockman grumbled.
The brunette giggled nervously. "Nope. I think we're good." Rafayela declared.
"Alright girls, get training!" Stockman exclaimed, leaving the room.
Even after hours of beating on dummies and sticking birds full of kunai and shuriken, the girls still attacked their dummies, and each other, with the same vigor. Well, ¾ of the girls. Fay stood in a corner by one of the dummies, deep in thought. She didn't want to learn how to fight. It just felt…wrong. Whenever one of her sisters glanced her way, she'd smack the back of her runcible spoon into the dummy's face or sweep its base out from under it. Otherwise she stood in the corner and scratched 'Rafayela Stockman' into the wall padding. Then, Elle came over.
"Hey Fay! Hehe, 'Hey Fay'. That rhymes." She giggled, "We're having a tournament thingy to see who the best fighter is, and you're versing me. Come on! I'm gonna win!"
Fay reluctantly followed Elle to the designated mat. Elle stood at the other end and twirled her little metal staves, cleverly pressing them so the bamboo spikes popped in and out. "Ready?" she asked.
Rafayela instinctively got into a fighting pose and pointed the tines of her runcible spoons at Elle. She tersely nodded.
"Okay, here are the rules, because APPARENTALLY street fights now have instructions." Leonara stated, glaring at Mika, "You're not allowed to cut each other, even the hair, stab each other, scratch each other, or anything that may make them lose some blood. Although I personally want to know what color our blood is. You shouldn't damage the person's clothing, and you can't tug on hair, in Fay's case, earrings, or in Mika's case, a scarf. No tripping, taunting, or running away. To win, you've either got to get the other person to surrender, or basically beat on them until Mika and I decide you've won. Got it? Cuz I ain't repeating myself."
The pair nodded. Lea hit the blades of her daggers together and made a sound reminiscent of a wrestling bell.
Elle circled Fay and made lunges at her. Fay dodged every time and tried desperately to think of a way to win without attacking. She couldn't trip, tease, or bail on Elle. It was against the 'rules', not to mention just plain mean.
Before she could come up with something, Elle attacked, landing three quick hits on Fay's shell.
Fay caught the end of one of Elle's sticks in the bowl of her spoon and tossed it aside before she could recover. Fay caught an approving nod from Leonara.
While she was distracted, Elle whacked Fay upside the head, HARD. Fay fell down, and Elle retrieved her lost weapon. Lea facepalmed.
Rafayela defended against all of Donitellia's attacks for five minutes straight, a long time in a battle. She got up, but Elle swept her legs out from under her and knocked her down again. Elle pressed one of her staves against Fay's neck and held her down. Fay wriggled and squirmed, but couldn't escape.
"Leave go!" Mika commanded.
Elle and Fay stood up and separated. "We rule in favor of Donitellia. Donitellia is triumphant!" Mika declared.
Elle looked to Fay for translation. "You win." She admitted.
"Yay!" Elle cheered. Fay smiled; so what if she'd lost? Elle was happy, and it was over and done. So she thought.
Since it was a 'tournament', Fay was forced to fight Lea and Mika as well. She almost tied with Lea, but bitterly lost to Mika. Then she was forced to fight Lea yet AGAIN, just because they were so equally matched. Finally, the 'tournament' was over and the three waited while Mika averaged out the wins and calculated all that mathy stuff. She handed Elle a small piece of paper that must've had the results.
"Okay, the results are in!" Elle announced, trying to make it exciting, "First place, the best fighter among us, is…Mika."
Elle and Lea looked at Mika suspiciously, who held her three-fingered hands up and exclaimed, "I made it manipulated not, I avow!"
The pair looked to Fay. "She swears she didn't rig it." she translated.
"Well, okay! I guess a coincidink is going to be a coincidink!" Elle said.
"Coincidence." Lea stated. She added, "You say the word 'co-in-se-dins', not 'co-ink-e-dink'."
"Yeah, well I say coincidink!" Elle replied, "Okay, second place goes to…me! Cool!"
"Looks like it's just you and me, sis." Leonara said to Fay. Though Fay had a distinct feeling she meant herself, and then Fay.
"In third place, we have…Lea!" Elle cried.
"Yes!" Lea shouted. She looked embarrassed and added, "Y'know, its better than LAST." She gave Fay a smug look.
"Yeah, okay, I'm last, but there is a perfectly good reason!" Fay thought.
"So in fourth place is…" Elle began, looking nervously at the ground.
"I know I got last, Ellie. Just say it." Fay answered.
"Fay." Elle quickly added, "Maybe you're just not comfortable hurting your sisters or something."
"Yeah…" Fay absentmindedly answered, "Maybe that's it…"
Elle watched Fay, and then said, "Here. Let's have a different competition. We'll see how many times it takes us to get a dummy's head off…"
"Easy!" Lea cried, twirling a dagger.
"Rather unproblematic." Mika declared, picking up her khopesh.
"…without weapons." Elle finished.
Lea groaned. Mika made a noise that sounded like a cross between a snort and a growl. Fay remained seemingly unchanged.
"Alright, let's get the stupid thing over with." Leonara grumbled, stalking over to the dummy. She held her hand sideways and swung at the dummy's neck. The head flew off.
Mika came over and kicked at another dummy. Her ankle sliced the head clean off.
Elle took the head off a dummy in one try.
Fay approached the dummy she'd been tripping and whacking with her spoon. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and reluctantly swiped at the dummy. The stuffing moved out of her hand's path. She swung again from the other side, but couldn't tear the fabric, let alone behead the dummy.
She heard Lea try, poorly, to stifle a laugh. She saw Mika frown disappointedly. Elle mumbled, "Oh Fay…"
Fay might not have been more than 12 hours old, but she knew anger wasn't common for her. But she was angry. Very angry. Peaceful or not, she could decapitate a dumb stuffed mannequin, and she was going to. Fueled by anger and embarrassment, she balled up her fist and punched the dummy's neck. The fabric split with a loud rip and the head fell backwards against the wall.
Once Fay calmed down, she stared in horror at the guillotined creature with stuffing spewing out its neck. She nervously glanced at her sisters. Elle's face was one of happy surprise. Mika was shocked. Lea was nodding approvingly. Stockman, who had picked a perfect time to appear, appeared stunned and maybe even slightly scared.
He shook himself, came up to Fay, and laid his hand on her shoulder. "Well." he said, "Looks like you've got more Raph in you than we thought."
"So girls, how has your training been going?" Baxter asked, "Did you inherit anything from those evils twins of yours?"
"WE HAVE EVIL TWINS?!" Elle shrieked.
"He means those guy turtles, dum-dum." Lea stated.
"Yes, I meant those other four turtles. But some say there is light in darkness." Stockman answered, "And out of those dark and twisted boys I got my light and precious girls!" He pinched Elle's cheeks. She giggled like a schoolgirl. Leonara rolled her eyes.
"It is my conviction that we boast aptitudes of the malevolent turtles, like sound as our individual dexterities." Mika prattled robotically.
"Translator!" Lea shouted.
"She thinks we have some of the guys' skills as well as our own." Fay repeated.
"I think we are just as good as those bad guys. Actually, I think we're better!" Elle exclaimed.
"Why so?" Baxter asked.
"Girl power!" she replied. The quartet high-threed, Lea reluctantly.
"What about you, Fay?" Stockman asked.
Fay blinked nervously. She stuttered, "I think…I think that…these…three…will make great…"
"Warriors?" Mika supplemented.
"Fighters?" Elle supplied.
"Turtle-killers?" Leonara suggested.
"Yeah." Rafayela answered.
"Whatever." Lea retorted, "Dad, we're ready. Sic us on these turtles; we can handle them, I know it!"
Baxter eyed the young girls. Splinter's turtles had fifteen years of training and a year's worth of experience. His girls didn't even have a day of training and not even a drop of experience. Their large black pupils sparkled pleadingly. Then again, his turtles had Splinter's turtles' skills through their blood. They had said so themselves. He sighed and relented, "Alright. I will let you venture out and take down these turtles."
"Alright!"
"Yeah!"
"We got this!"
"Our triumph velocity may perhaps be diminutive but our morale is outsized!"
"Translation!"
"Our chances of winning might be low but our spirits are high!"
"YEAH!"
"Turtle power!"
"We're the green queens!"
"Look out, turtle boys. Here we come."
I want to see if anyone can, or is bothered to try to, guess this. I pose the question, 'What is 'wrong' with Rafayela?' Basically, what is preventing her from fighting well and causing inner turmoil? It is more of a certain trait or type of personality than a disability. Remember, she is almost exactly Raph's opposite, who loves to fight.