Together As Mutants (Book Six)

Chapter 36: Emotions Running High

Raphael seems especially fierce today.

Sarina's eyes narrow slightly as she watches him spar with Leonardo. He throws his punches and kicks with extra force that she hasn't seen from him lately. Their weapons clash again and again and Raphael just tries harder. Perhaps it's nothing, she thinks. After all, Michelangelo is still on bed rest. It's not often he's missing for training, or any of them for that manner.

Leonardo plants a solid kick to Raphael's middle and Raphael slides a few feet away, catching his breath with his fists braced against the dojo carpeting.

"So we're playing rough, huh? Fine by me," Raphael snaps.

He spins his sai and launches back into the fight. Leonardo grunts as he dodges this way and that, narrowly avoiding the sharp ends of his sai. As he leers back, unstable, Raphael drops and shoulder checks Leonardo in the chest.

He lunges and Leonardo crosses his katana in front of him, catching Raphael's sai. Raphael pushes in. "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle!" he says, glaring. "So show me what you've really got!"

Leonardo shouts and presses forward, swiping his katanas down and knocking away Raphael's weapons. He grabs Leonardo around the middle and lifts him up, only to slam him back into the ground. Leonardo grunts in pain and his katanas clatter from his grip.

Destiny's tail lashes and she twitches, as if to move, but Donatello's hand grips her shoulder. Splinter's eyes narrow as his ears flatten.

Raphael's still on top of Leonardo, punching him again and again, and Leonardo holds his forearms up in a shield in an attempt to defend himself. He pushes himself up, trying to hit back, but Raphael grabs him by the leg. For a second, they tussle on the floor, Leonardo shouting in pain as Raphael yanks his leg in the wrong direction, and then they're back on their feet, gripping each other's shoulders, foreheads together, growling and gritting their teeth.

"Sensei..." Sarina says, moving closer to Splinter. "Perhaps we should step in?"

Splinter's brow furrows. Leonardo gets a hold of Raphael's head and slams it into his knee, once, twice. Sarina's eyes flash as she bites back a wince. She understands Splinter does not like to interrupt a spar if he can help it, but—

Leonardo has Raphael on the ground, legs around his neck, arm pinned, but Raphael screams and rises to his feet, carrying Leonardo with him. He raises Leonardo above his head and, with another scream of effort, slams him to the ground with all his weight in the swing.

Destiny is on her feet in an instant but Splinter is faster, already pushing Raphael away as he starts in on punching Leonardo again. Destiny rushes to her boyfriend's side, tail lashing nervously as she helps him sit up.

"Raphael, enough!" Splinter snaps, hovering over his eldest son with his hand outstretched towards the other.

"Come on, Leo! Is that all you got?!" Raphael demands.

"What the hell, Raph?" Leonardo retorts, gripping his arm. "What's up with you?"

"What's up is that we're being too soft during training! We're not a bunch of soft-shell kids anymore. We need to stop pulling our punches if we're gonna get tougher!"

"Pummelling Leo isn't gonna do that," Destiny says. She has her arms loosely around Leonardo's shoulders, holding him protectively.

Leonardo gently pushes her away as he gets to his feet, briefly touching his stomach as he bites back another wince. "It's fine," he says. He gives Raphael a stern look that mirrors Splinter's. "What's this really about, Raph?"

"I told you exactly what it's about." He jabs a finger at Leonardo. "We're not improving at all!"

"I think I know what's going on," Donatello says as he gets to his feet. He crosses his arms over his chest and fixes his stare on Raphael. "We had a rough fight the other day, but you don't get to beat Leo up just because you're feeling emasculated."