45Okay, here it is, a Saturday, and I'm posting another chapter! Go, me!
TMNT belong to Mirage/Peter Laird. All the O.C.s belong to me. And if I had limitless money, I'd be among the 500 who will be in NYC getting the limited edition NECA turtles with autographs by both Laird and Eastman no less...
Bragging Rights
LAST TIME:
Meanwhile, he approached the unsuspecting brainy turtle, who had just managed to lift a particularly bulky and heavy something from the huge mountain before him. The noise of displaced clutter masked the stealthy approach. Jun, drawing the sword he'd secretly brought along, got into position.
The turtle suspected nothing.
Without a sound, Jun struck!
The sound of metal meeting metal echoed around the junk yard loudly and jarringly- Jun's arm actually vibrated from the force of his blade hitting something that was not flesh and shell...
Then, before he could recover from the shock of seeing his intended target literally vanish before his eyes, a powerful blow across the small of his back sent him flying forward, entangling him with his own blade and unidentifiable junk... he by some miracle kept himself upright on his feet, but only for a few seconds, as there was an excruciating strike to the back of his ankles, and he was suddenly on his back, a Bo pressing into his throat...
Don, despite the fierceness of his attack, studied the young Foot as if he were one of his many projects.
"Hmmm... I'll give you top marks for getting so close, but seriously- if you're going to directly attack from behind, make sure your target can't see your reflection in whatever he's standing in front of. Also, make sure someone has your back- otherwise you're open to being attacked yourself."
"Aww, Don, why help him?" Mike's whine sounded, and Jun now saw that the "unaware" turtle was entering from behind.
Don calmly gazed at Jun, but intended to respond to his brother.
Before he could, however, Jun produced the ninja-stock-in-trade blinding powder and flung it with a triumphant cry...
And the wind blew it towards his three companions, who scrambled to shield themselves, even while the two turtles stared with amusement at the struggling Jun, trying to vanish like he had been taught.
"I guess he needs to work on his Santo Tonko no Kata as well as his Shinobi-iri," Mike commented as Jun continued to try every trick he could to free himself from the ground. The turtle bent down and retrieved the sword, hefting it expertly. "Hmmm. I don't remember getting to use real weapons when WE were in ninja kindergarten... I'll just hold onto this, young man, until your father and mother come to retrieve it."
Don, with a ghost of a smile, addressed the still struggling Jun.
"Come after me again, and I'll send you back in so many pieces your parents will spend weeks trying to assemble you."
Then he released the boy, who managed a fairly decent escape.
Mike, still shaking his head, got back in the truck, storing the sword in a safe place.
"How old do you think he is?"
"He looks like he's twelve, but I'm guessing about fifteen."
"Shame. He's not gonna make it to sixteen at this rate. What was Karai thinking, sending him out like that?"
"Maybe that's her way of culling the herd," Don said, driving them home.
Meanwhile, Jun was facing the team, already making several excuses in a forty-five second span, half of them being the fault of the others- everything from making noise by shifting around in the junk pile to deliberately warning the turtle.
"And you three could have helped!" he ended his rant, glaring daggers at his so-called "teammates". "After all, there were TWO of them!"
"We were ordered to merely observe," Asuka sternly replied. "Just as YOU were ordered to merely touch the turtle and escape."
Jun huffed in disdain, but before he could resume his tirade, Naoto cut him off with a gesture.
"Enough, Jun. You failed. And the reason you failed was because of your pigheaded belief in your own greatness."
"Did you lose the coup stick as well as the sword?" Yuuto asked. "The Jounin will punish you for the loss of the weapon, but he will not forgive the loss of his family artifact."
Jun, a brief catch of panic in his throat, quickly felt behind him; despite having been hit across the back as well as pinned to the ground, the coup stick was still attached firmly to him. He wanted to see if it were damaged, but he'd already shown enough concern in front of the others. He resumed his former sneering attitude.
"Next time I will not only kill the turtle, I will bring back the sword."
"Next time? What makes you think the Jounin is going to allow a next time?" Asuka laughed in disbelief. "Once the Jounin hears of your failure-"
"You can't tell the Jounin!" Jun shouted, panic cracking through his angry pride.
"Jun," Yuuto began, but Jun reached out and caught him by the arm, almost pleading in his demeanor.
"Please! You can't tell! I have to be able to do this! You can't tell the Jounin!"
The others exchanged looks. Each seemed just a bit- stunned.
"Excuse me," Naoto finally said, almost smiling, "but did you just say 'Please'?"
Jun closed his eyes, swallowed hard, then nodded.
"Yes. Please. Please don't tell the Jounin."
"I can't believe what I'm hearing," Naoto said, trying not to laugh.
Asuka, however, did not look amused.
"Why? Why should we keep this secret from the Jounin?" she asked seriously.
Silence... for about thirty seconds...
"Because the team will look bad."
Asuka struck him without warning, nearly sending him to the ground.
"The team will look bad? YOU fail, YOU blame us, then you BEG us to not tell the Jounin, and your reason is that the TEAM will look bad?"
She shook her head in disbelief.
"The 'team' wasn't involved! The 'team' as you put it, aren't considered good enough! Only the Pure Blood who has centuries of history..."
"OKAY! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it to come out like that!" Jun was doing his best to make it up to them. Umm... look... I'll do anything you want, anything at all, if you'll just go along with what I tell the Jounin. I'll... I'll clean all the toilets... for a... week. Yes, a week!"
Surely, he thought, that was enough to buy their silence.
The three drew off and consulted briefly, then turned as one to Jun.
"Done," Naoto spoke for the three of them. "We won't tell the Jounin what happened. We will back you up- but ONLY if you keep the story simple and blame-free. If we think you're screwing us over, we'll make sure the Jounin knows the real story."
Jun, despite the threats and conditions, began to regain his superior smirk. He knew they'd back him up in the end. They were his friends, after all- his team-
And he already had a story prepared for the Jounin, as well as a plan for the next time.
And the next time, Donatello, you will die!
ooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo
Jun had kept it humble, if not completely "simple". The Jounin, harboring doubts about the validity of the story, nevertheless gave Jun the benefit of the doubt, especially as the other three had supported this tale of "testing a secret weapon with his full clan viewing, as well as some huge crocodile and- Silver Sentry- and I did not feel confident that I could escape the detection of the superhero- not yet, anyway, perhaps after a few more months of practice- anyway, I know that I can find him again, after all I- I mean, we, found him with no trouble..."
Even though it did not take long for the Jounin to learn that the mighty Jun was performing toilet duty without a complaint and by himself ("He's bought their silence," the Jounin had reported to his own superior, "but I trust them all the same." "You must act as you see fit," the superior had replied.), he continued their instruction and training and allowed Jun to keep the coup stick.
He also allowed them permission to be out past the curfew, going so far as to make sure the patrols and the guards understood this.
He did worry that the Mistress would be displeased, but so far Jun's mother had given him no indication that this privilege was forbidden.
He made sure Jun understood THIS as well.
"But I feel that I must not allow this test to be without a time limit," he added.
"I don't need months!" Jun assured him. "I am confident that I will successfully ki-touch this Donatello sometime this week! I will touch him with the coup stick and return triumphantly."
The Jounin's permission, however, did not make the way smooth for them with everyone.
Daichi had been giving them an extremely hard time, detaining them outside the building while he made a show of checking out their story, loudly ordering various punishments for their breaking their curfews, threatening to drag them bodily to the Mistress himself if he caught them interfering with his patrol (this while he was supposed to be on patrol- SILENT patrol)-
And then, he had begun trying to discover what they were up to, trying to follow them, attempting to learn all he could about this extraordinary "permission" that had been granted to them.
The second week after they'd been allowed out to scout the better-known locations where the one called Donatello could be found, they nearly ran into a four-man patrol being led by...
"Buta!" Asuka hissed sharply, and the foursome faded quickly into the rooftop shadows, doing their best to avoid being seen.
The quartet passed them by, though one did briefly pause; then at a signal from "Buta", he moved on to join the other three.
The sighs of relief nearly gave them away.
"I think they're back there in the shadows," the whispered Japanese came floating to them on the light breeze.
"The Turtles? No," came the piggy snort. "They're ahead of us. I'm sure they did not double back. Let's go! The Mistress will be pleased if we can track them to their new location."
"That was too close," Yuuto sighed. "Damn Buta! It was bad enough last night when we had to hide in that dumpster from his piggy snooping. I still say we should go to the Jounin about him."
"We are not babies," Jun scoffed. "We can take care of Buta. But did you hear what he grunted? The turtles! Let's follow!"
And before the others could say a word, he was leaping across the rooftops silently, trying his best to catch up to the patrol.
Donatello was within his reach; he could feel it.
Tonight he would be the victor.
Tonight he would KILL Donatello!
ooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo
The fight had been quick and violent, so Raph was only partly satisfied.
As he stared with disappointment at the retreating backs of the bloodied Foot, he growled out a loud and frustrated curse.
"Damn Foot! They sure don't have the will to fight, despite all the threats of that big one."
"Gee, Raph, you mopped the roof with him," Don replied, going back to gathering up the supplies he and Raph had been returning home with when the patrol had (noisily) tried to ambush them. "Damn it, they destroyed Splinter's tea!"
The slender, silver package of Jippouso™, a blend of ten herbal tea leaves including Hoyyuynia Cordata, Chinese Matrimony Vine, and Striped Bamboo, lay burst wide open, the tea trampled and scattered and unsalvageable.
Raph shrugged his shoulders.
"We'll pick him up some Lipton's™ on the way home. It's just as good."
Don favored Raph with a withering look.
"Even you with your limited palate for tea cannot honestly believe that statement," he said, but Raph ignored him. He stacked up his share of the supplies, then headed in the direction the Foot had fled, going just far enough to make sure the quartet had actually fled the scene.
Jun could not believe his luck! He had waited in the shadows, behind the wall of a rooftop entrance, Donatello in his sight. The departure of the other turtle was a Gift!
Tonight he would spill the blood of this turtle; it would mingle with the scattered tea leaves, and create a message of Doom to the Kame Clan...
Tonight, he would succeed!
He quietly pulled the Kusarigama from under his loose top, where it had rested, its odd shape hidden under the coup stick strapped awkwardly to his back.
"Fool!" came a breathy curse, and Jun froze, concerned that his victim had also heard it.
But the turtle continued to salvage the many supplies.
Jun closed his eyes briefly; centered himself, then opened his eyes and silently got into position.
With a powerful, silent throw, the weighted edge of the chain made an unerring beeline straight for the skull of the brainy turtle...
oooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooo
A/N: Yeah, I know, but I had to do it at least one more time...