Tmnt An Agonizing Secret

Chapter 5. The Exhausting Match

Mikey entered the dojo just as Splinter seated himself down on the thick floor mat. I don't think Sensei plans to discuss anything here, but I can't help feeling anxious. Gah, I've got to stop worrying—it's giving me a tummy ache!

Mikey and his brothers quietly sat themselves around Splinter and began the first part of morning training: meditation. I never knew I'd be so grateful for meditation. And here I thought it was the most boring thing in the world, but now I can understand its importance. It's the easiest way to stall for time!

And for those several minutes in silence, Mikey was able to almost fully relax. Breathing deeply in and out, he tried to reassure himself. I can do this. I can do this. Just gotta keep my cool, and concentrate on doing as minimal movement as possible. Focusing has never been my strong point...but I have to pull through somehow!

When Splinter signalled that meditation was over, the four turtles stood, ready for practice to begin. "My sons, it is time to start our ninjutsu training," Splinter announced. Leo was already making his way to the far side of the dojo, where the turtles did katas every morning before sparring. "Wait, Leonardo," Splinter called. Confused, Leo stopped and Don, Raph, and Mikey also turned to their Sensei.

"Are we not doing katas, Master Splinter?" Leo asked politely.

"That is correct," Splinter answered. "Today, you will train through sparring matches only." At the look of Raph's brightening face, Splinter added, "Without weapons." Raph huffed and crossed his arms.

"What's the occasion?" Don inquired.

"There is none," Splinter said, turning his face to smile at Mikey. "I thought it would be good to have a change in pace."

But Mikey didn't buy that. Shell, I bet I'm the 'occasion'! Dude, I had no idea that Master Splinter would pull a fast one on me. If he's trying to make me crack under pressure, he's got another thing coming...

"For now, Raphael will spar with Donatello, and Leonardo with Michelangelo," Splinter said.

The turtles split up and went to their respective sides of the room to start their training. Mikey was nervous but smiled anyway as he bowed to his older brother and got into a defensive position. Okay, so no twisting, no stretching, and absolutely no sneezing!

The match started as Leo moved forward with a basic straight, just to get himself and Mikey moving. Mikey easily dodged by sidestepping it, followed through with a high kick—and suddenly realized his mistake. A terrible stinging pain flared in his side and Mikey instantly decided to turn his attack into a feint. He cut off the kick with a wince and swung around to trip Leo with a sweeping move. Leo jumped on instinct and evaded his brother. Mikey saw an opportunity for Leo to strike him and braced himself in a protective pose, but instead, Leo jumped back. Mikey backed off as well, and the two brothers started to circle each other, waiting for the next attack.

Out of the action for a couple of moments, Mikey put more effort into hiding his discomfort. This is harder than I thought it would be. I can tell Leo saw something was up. He knows I don't do feints or calculated stuff like that—it's totally not my style! I've got to be more careful and bear with this. Mikey tried to ignore the spikes of pain each pounding heartbeat sent and narrowed his eyes in concentration. My attention should only be on avoiding Leo and getting a few hits in for good measure. Gotta focus, gotta focus...

Without warning, the youngest made his move. Mikey put all his energy in his right foot and propelled himself at Leo. As Mikey had predicted, Leo reacted with a quick sidestep and then went on the offensive. Leo's uppercut was directed at Mikey's plastron, but the turtle moved at the last moment and got away with a weak cuff on the chin. Eeep! That was close!

Content with the first hit, Leo started to put more energy into his punches and strikes, just as Mikey wanted. Pushing the pain into the back of his mind, Mikey fell into the rhythm of the fight. He ducked and dodged, immediately avoided anything that came near his bandaged side, landed some half-hearted swings, and managed a couple of backflips.

But Mikey was getting tired, fast. The pain is getting worse, and it's harder to pay attention to the fight. I'm running out of time! Mikey evaded another roundhouse kick, but this time Leo was able to connect with Mikey's shoulder, and Mikey was thrown to the ground.

"What are you doing, Mikey?" Leo said heatedly, panting a bit to regain his breath. "It's like you're not fighting at all today."

Mikey stood up slowly, taking in deep breaths to keep from literally fainting. Ngh...my side feels like it's burning...or like someone is poking me with a bunch of pins or something. Just need to hang on for a little more. With all of his might, Mikey resisted holding his side or making a pained expression. He shook his head, both to clear his headache and to answer Leo's question. "Nah, bro," Mikey replied with a crooked smile. "I'm giving it the best I got." And that's the truth. Out of the corner of his eye, Mikey caught Splinter looking directly at him. He's watching me, but I won't back down yet!

Leo wore a disagreeing frown but remained silent. He brought his hands up in front of him to indicate the start of a new round. Breathing heavily, Mikey initiated the spar once more. This time, Mikey was barely able to keep up with Leo's movements and only concerned himself with defending his side. It was only several minutes in when Mikey's face was starting to show discomfort. His eyes were squinted, his mouth was clenched, and sweat was rolling down the sides of his face. Mikey knew he only had one option left. I have to lose on purpose. I can't even believe I'm still able to stand, and I'll use that to my advantage. Now is my domain. Focusing is way too much work. But playing dead? Easy peasy.

Just as Leo aimed a powerful kick to his brother's legs, Mikey jumped up but didn't tuck his feet under on purpose. Leo only managed to catch the youngest's ankle, but Mikey used the momentum to flip around and land flat on his shell on the dojo floor.

"Ouch!" Mikey yelled, this time voicing the pain he really felt. Can't pass out...gotta block the pain.

"You okay, Mike?" Leo asked worriedly.

Mikey nodded, allowing his face to scrunch up in the grimace he had tried to cover up for the entire match. "A little help here?" he mumbled.

"Sure," Leo responded, latching onto Mikey's waiting hand. He gently pulled Mikey up and checked his brother over. Though Leo thought it would be the bandaged side that Mikey had hurt, the youngest was rubbing his head instead.

"Have you hit your head, Michelangelo?" Splinter's voice cut through the room, and Leo and Mikey looked up in surprise. The dojo went silent as Don and Raph had stopped to see what was going on.

"Uh, yeah. I think so." Mikey said. Please, please buy this. I need to make this aching go away, it's killing me. I just want to lie down and sleep for like twenty hours or something. Wake me for breakfast tomorrow.

To Mikey's relief, Splinter nodded and motioned for Don and Raph to come over as well. "Morning practice is over, my sons. You may go now." Splinter and the four turtles bowed to each other, and then Splinter retreated back to his room.

Finally able to relax, Mikey couldn't help but smile to himself. I...I made it! I totally got through training, and nobody suspects a thing! Okay, Master Splinter does, but he doesn't count because he knows everything anyway. No helping that. Now I just have to get to my room and—

"What're ya smilin' for, chucklehead?" Raph said, interrupting Mikey's thoughts.

Still a bit out of breath, Mikey took a few seconds to answer. "I don't know," he said, smiling even wider. I may be exhausted, but I still know how to annoy the shell out of Raph.

Raph smacked his forehead. "You're such a dope, ya know that?"

Mikey just shrugged innocently, his tired smile never fading.