Chapter 3 part 2: The Passage of Friendship → The Sparring Tournament
Splinter, all the turtles and April go to Yuichi’s gym in the hidden city
Leo, Yuichi and April were already waiting at Yuichi’s gym. The rabbit gave martial art lessons and mystic power workshops to young students. For Yuichi, it wasn’t about making them strong, it was about them becoming confident about their own abilities. It was his dream job, seeing his students grow made him very happy. The other turtles and Splinter had never been to his gym before. When they entered, they looked in awe. Even though it was pretty secluded in the hidden city, it was still massive. You could definitely do so much here, as there was so much space in the building.
“Hey everyone,” Yuichi said calmly towards the group coming to him.
Raph and Mikey immediately ‘bro-hugged’ Yuichi and greeted him back, which was a normal occurrence for the three. Leo had more of a tighter hug with the rabbit, showing the group how close they were and how much they mattered to each other. For 2 months, they had been growing really close, almost becoming inseparable friends. Donnie just didn’t say anything, as he was playing with one of his mystic weapons. Still, he was curious about a massive dojo that went a bit underground.
Leo was normally really charismatic, but with Yuichi, he was a lot calmer. It felt like he was really at ease with the rabbit-yokai.
Yuichi also felt really at ease with the slider turtle. It was like they brought out the best in each other. The others took notice of this, and started grinning at their brother, except Splinter and of course… Donnie.
“So, just like me, you are a sensei,” Splinter laughed, jokingly patting the rabbit on the shoulder. “I must say that, even though I used to have the same occupation, I wasn’t as young as you. Already having your own dojo!”
Yuichi felt proud to hear that, to have an older, wise person suggesting to him that he was impressed by his prowess was a good feeling.
“Care boys, I am gonna BEAT all of you,” April said as she pointed 2 fingers at her own eyes and then at all her friends around her. Everyone laughed at her remark. Even though April wasn’t as strong, they were proud that even she was able to produce some mystic energy, making her punches and kicks hit harder, as well as her trusty old bat. However, she was no match for everyone else, as they had been training their entire lives to fight.
Yuichi invited everyone inside, with everyone following suit. There, everything was set up, it was like a mini arena, with some chairs to sit on so that they could watch people spar together.
“ALRIGHHTTTT,” April yelled, the sound vibrating because the space they were in was so big. “The rules are simple: whoever overpowers their opponent by making them fall on the ground or making them unable to move, wins! The winner gets to go another round, though, he may rest after each win. Both are or aren’t allowed to use mystic powers depending on what both people want.
Six people joined, the turtles, Yuichi and of course April. Splinter just wanted to watch the young adults, as he felt that it was a lot more enjoyable to see how far they had come.
The billboard, which April randomly selected based on an app on her phone, gave the following matches.
- Leo vs April
- Donnie vs Raph
- Mikey vs Yuichi
There weren’t enough people, so to make it fair, Splinter would give the one who had no matchup in the second round an intense workout so they would still be physically as tired as the rest of the group.
“LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE, WOOOOO,” April yelled, her fist up high. The turtles all started yelling, except Donnie of course… who just closed his eyes. Yuichi smirked a bit, as he was genuinely excited to spar with the turtles. He really wanted to see what they could do against him.
Leo vs April
This was honestly more like a joke match. They used mystic powers this round, but Leo just teleported around April and started tagging her with the back of one of his swords. April found it hilarious though. Everyone laughed at the situation, when… April predicted Leo’s teleportation and actually punched him hard, causing him to be thrown backwards a pretty huge amount. This made everyone… including Donnie, open their mouths wide open in awe.
“HOLY SHIT APRIL,” the slider yelled with his eyes wide open, completely shocked that APRIL bested him once.
“LETS GOOOOOO,” April almost full on screamed, causing Mikey and Raph to start yelling as well. They were really proud of her.
Leo then ended it fast, just teleporting in front of her and restraining his kick with her falling on the ground, smiling at the woman. Everyone clapped, even Donnie, who did it a bit less enthusiastically.
Onto the next round…
Donnie vs Raph
“Let’s get this over with shall we…” Donnie said, closing his eyes and sighing.
“Dude what’s your problem, I am gonna beat your ASS,” Raph said, who then immediately made a gigantic fist with his knuckle weapon. He used to use the sai, but he found it way more practical to just punch people, hence the new weapon choice.
Everyone was in shock, even Yuichi. Yuichi knew he would be able to break that fist with his own mystic power, but he wasn’t sure Donnie would be able to.
Donnie jumped over the fist, summoning a plasma cannon from his hand and immediately shooting Raph in the leg with a mystic dummy round. Raph fell to the ground on one knee and Donnie immediately created some kind of flexible pole from his staff that launched him towards Raph. Raph couldn’t even react. Then, Donnie already had some kind of plasma cannon aimed at his head.
“DONNIE WINS,” April yelled. Yuichi was in shock, but he was also kind of excited. If there was someone he wanted to face outside of Leo, it would be the one who disliked him. He didn’t even want to beat him badly. Instead, he just wanted to see how the matchup would go.
Mikey vs Yuichi
“Let’s not use mystic powers this time shall we? Lets keep to the basics,” Mikey said, jokingly winking at the rabbit. He held his 2 real chains in front of him. Even though he used to use nunchucks, he felt that this style of battle suited him better. Mikey was an expert in the mindful aspect of mystic energy, being able to sense how strong someone was. He knew that Yuichi’s flames were way more powerful and that his chances of winning would probably be higher like this.
“Sure man! I’m down,” Yuichi smiled, readying his katana. The battle started with Mikey jumping over the rabbit, trying to use his chains to make the rabbit trip. Yuichi just jumped, and sprinted towards Mikey. The turtle actually managed to dodge a lot of attacks, but the chains weren’t really good for super close combat.
Then, when Mikey tried to swing all the chains around him to create distance, Yuichi just jumped on his neck, and put him in a choke hold. Mikey was shocked and tapped immediately.
“YUICHI WINS!!!” April yelled.
“Wow… you really are something Yuichi,” Mikey said, smiling at the one who just beat him. He was humble, and took his loss like a champ.
“So who wants to work out wi-,” April immediately got interrupted by Donnie loudly proclaiming: “I will.”
“So that settles it…” Splinter sighed. Even he thought Donnie should take it easier, but he couldn’t say no to someone who wanted to work hard. He sympathized with Donnie, because for 2 years now, he had been training hard to make sure he could beat anyone or anything…
Then, after a break of course, the matchup that a lot of people wanted came…
Leo vs Yuichi
“But I like your mystic powers, they are so coooool,” Yuichi said, sounding a bit whiny.
“I won’t win if you use your mystic power Yuichi, I’m not gonna lie, it’s just too strong.”
“If you say so,” Yuichi winked at Leo, both readying their swords. Leo always used 2 of them, being able to teleport with them and create portals. But now, it would just be close combat between the two great friends.
They immediately ran at each other and their swords collided. After slight clashes of blades Yuichi started to put up a lot of pressure. He wasn’t just using his katana, he was using his legs, his elbows, and his other hand to completely bring Leo off balance.
“Damn Yuichi, you really know how to annoy someone,” Leo said, sweating, winking in the process. He couldn’t help but feel intimidated.
“The saviour becomes the enemy it seems,” Yuichi said, winking back at the turtle.
“STOP TALKING AND FIGHTTTT,” Raph yelled. As he was about to say more, Splinter put an arm on his shoulder, while Donnie was doing some individual exercises in the meantime.
“Let them enjoy themselves, Raphael, you know how Leo has been off these last 2 years. This will be good for him.”
Raph immediately felt guilty, he never meant it that way. He was about to apologize when…
“And besides, Leo seems to have quite an interest in that young man. I wonder what will come out of this.” Splinter said smiling. He knew his son very well, probably almost too well. He had helped Leo through thick and thin after what happened two years ago. Raph didn’t know what he meant, maybe subconsciously, but he wasn’t thinking about that kind of stuff. April however, who overheard the conversation, had a huge smile on her face. She knew too.
The battle continued with Leo being on the defensive, trying to dodge Yuichi’s way to pressure him. This was exactly what the rabbit wanted, as he could then just freely keep hitting at the turtle. Leo, who kept walking back, eventually tripped really hard with his shell on the floor. There were mats, but Leo walked too far back.
“AGH,” Leo yelled, gritting his teeth, as the impact hit.
“I AM SO SORRY, ARE YOU ALRIGHT,” Yuichi yelled, trying to turn the turtle around to see if there was a wound. Luckily, it was only pain, but it still hurt. April came running towards the situation. The others just looked with their eyes wide, standing up from their chairs as well. Nobody was angry at Yuichi… except Donnie. He straight up stopped his exercise and ran towards Yuichi, and punched him in the face.
“WHY CAN’T YOU BE MORE CAREFUL, YOU CARE ABOUT HIM DON’T YOU?” A frantic Donnie yelled.
“HAVE YOU GONE INSANE?” Leo screamed at Donnie, who then actually stopped. Even though Donnie didn’t like Yuichi, he knew he had gone too far.
Yuichi just looked at one of the mats, his hand on his face and his eyes wide. Him and Donnie were both tired from all the physical training they were doing. Afterwards, Yuichi quickly ran to the changing room to see if the injury was bad.
“THAT’S ENOUGH, A BREAK… DONATELLO COME WITH ME,” Splinter said so firmly, that it caused everyone in the gym to feel the pressure. The rat had something you couldn’t get around. As Splinter said this, Donnie closed his eyes, sighing in the process. He felt disappointed with himself for losing his cool and proceeded to follow his father to one of the changing rooms.
Leo, Yuichi, and April
“I HATE MY BROTHER,” Leo yelled. April just listened, her face looking down a bit. She felt sad that this supposedly fun outing had gone so wrong. As they walked into the changing room, Yuichi came out of the toilet and started to speak.
“Don’t Leo… Even if he doesn’t like me, he is still your family.”
“I WISH HE WASN’T, HE IS AN ASSHO-,” but before Leo could finish his sentence, something unexpected happened.
“THAT’S ENOUGH LEO, EVEN IF HE DOESN’T LIKE ME, HE DOES CARE ABOUT YOU. IF HE WERE TO GET HURT, YOU WILL FOREVER REGRET HAVING SAID THAT.”
Total silence erupted. April didn’t understand what was happening. She just observed the situation, though her demeanor was somewhat stiff. Leo just looked puzzled. How could Yuichi defend Donnie, and not his friend?
“Shit I’m sorry…” Yuichi put a hand over his face. As Leo looked closer, he saw that Yuichi’s eyes watered. Leo did not know what to say at that moment. He really cared for Yuichi, but he was perplexed that he was defending the one who just punched him in the face.
April, with a slight comforting smile, started to chime into the quarrel. “Let’s just sit against that wall for a second, shall we?” The other two just did as they were asked. They wanted nothing more than to make up with each other.
“I’m sorry for losing my cool like that Leo, Donnie was in the wrong. It’s just that…” April and Leo started to listen intensely at what Yuichi was going to say as he definitely started to open up. They wanted to support him every moment of it.
“I reacted that way, because I had to run away from my home in Japan. Mom, Dad, I don’t see them anymore. I miss them… so, so much. And to see you bash your brother like that. I’m sorry, it triggered something in me.”
“Yuichi… I am so, so sorry, I never knew…” Yuichi smiled back slightly, still being a bit tearful.
Leo tried to get to know more about this by being charismatic towards him. However, it didn’t work this time. “But why? You are so talented and strong.”
“That’s… a story for another time Leo…” Yuichi sighed, looking towards the ground. “I used to live with my aunt in the fields in the outskirts of the hidden city, but she died too. She couldn’t handle all the labor. I didn’t want to help her, I wanted to fight. We had money problems, so she pushed her body too far…” Yuichi just started crying at this point, looking at both Leo and April. He really needed some comfort.
“I feel like I can only run away… I was so…so…” but he didn’t finish his sentence as he was just too sad at that moment.
April immediately sat next to the rabbit, putting her arms around him.. Leo started to comfort him as well. “You know Yuichi, you don’t have to run away with us. We will always be there for you, me and April. Heck, even Mikey and Raph like you. Donnie just has to suck it up a little and accept you.” As Leo said this, he opened his arms widely.
Yuichi looked at Leo and immediately sprung into the turtle’s arms.
“HEY DON’T STEAL HIM FROM ME,” April yelled, trying to sound furious when in reality, she was happy they were making up. It was good to see a dispute come to a good ending. In the end, everyone laughed about the situation and went back to the gym. They were immediately greeted by Mikey and Raph, who hugged Yuichi as well. It was their typical bro-hug that they always do. Everyone started happily talking again, until silence arose when Donnie came back from the other changing room…
Donnie and Splinter
Earlier, Donnie had a heart to heart with Splinter. At first, Donnie didn’t say a word, just sitting silently on one of the benches. Splinter was fuming at his son’s behaviour, however, he did know where the turtle was coming from.
“DONATELLO, YOU HAVE COMPLETELY LOST IT. YOU CANNOT PROTECT HIM OR YOUR OTHER BROTHERS FOREVER. EVEN IF YOU TRAIN 48 HOURS A DAY. TO JUST PUNCH LEONARDO’S BEST FRIEND LIKE THAT. HOW OLD ARE YOU?!”
“Pa-pa please stop yelling…” Donnie just said silently, his back towards his father.
“NO, YOUR BROTHER IS FINALLY GETTING TO BE HIMSELF AGAIN AFTER TWO YEARS. HAVE YOU LOOKED AT THOSE TWO BOYS TOGETHER. YOU CAN SEE IT TOO CAN’T YOU? YOU ALWAYS HAVE BEEN MORE OBJECTIVE EMOTIONALLY, BUT YOU CERTAINLY AREN’T STUPID.”
“I just want to protect him… or anyone pa-pa. I just can’t see him lying under that metal arm, again…” Donnie said, his face in one hand. He did not want to make eye-contact at that moment.
Splinter went quiet, and then calmly said: “Look, if you care about your brother, apologize to Yuichi, he is the one who deserves a real apology.”
Donnie was quiet, who then proceeded to look at his dad…
Splinter didn’t know if he was going to do it. He didn’t control his sons anymore. He could only hope…
Donnie vs Yuichi
Donnie walked towards Yuichi. The rabbit, while sweating and secretly trying not to shiver, looked him straight in the eye. He did not want to look weak in front of him.
“Yuichi, if you really want to be with us… prove yourself.” Donnie said, his gaze almost piercing Yuichi’s soul. “No limits, meaning we can use mystic powers any way we want.” Leo and Splinter were about to protest, Mikey and Raph’s eyes were wide, but April didn’t object. She held her hand out in front of the others.
“Let it happen, this is what they need,” a bloodserious April said, ready to intervene if things went too far. Yuichi had slight drops of sweat from the nervousness, while Donnie was full of rage. They each took their stance. And then… they started.
At first, Donnie tried to hit Yuichi with ranged attacks, creating a gun on his arm. Yuichi was way too fast though, and immediately attacked with fireballs of his own. They were small, but they were incredibly fast. It almost looked like an insane game of dodgeball. Then, Yuichi propelled himself forward by holding his katana backwards, catching Donnie off guard. He then proceeded to kick Donnie’s feet, causing him to slip and almost lose his balance. But Donnie wasn’t finished yet, as he immediately created some kind of pickaxe, slicing it under one of the mats and throwing it at Yuichi, repositioning himself in the process.
The rabbit just sliced it in two, and started attacking with greater fireballs. Donnie was sweating, as he realised he might be in trouble here. He could shoot things of his own, but his main mystic power was one of machinery. He had desperately trained the last 2 years to improve his firepower, but would it be enough?
Furthermore, this fight had no words, it was just a battle of wills. Everyone looked in awe thinking: “How strong are these two.” Leo was rooting for his best friend. Even after the conversation he just had, he wanted Donnie to be taught a lesson. Splinter though… he just looked down. The rat wasn’t a fan of fighting with a lot of emotion, but even he had to admit that because of fate, it had to happen.
Then, Yuichi sprinted forward again behind one big fireball this time. Donnie took care of the fireball by creating some kind of shield made from technology, but then massive amounts of smoke appeared. As Donnie started to panic, Yuichi immediately attacked from the angle he least expected, being just in time to avoid certain defeat. Yuichi kicked Donnie in his upper left leg and as he was about to claim the win… he forgot his katana was still on fire.
He didn’t finish it. Yuichi, who was processing what he had almost done, was immediately trapped by a massive net from Donnie’s staff.
The smoke disappeared and everyone saw that Donnie had won… and nobody said anything. Even April didn’t want to celebrate his win, as he had been such a mean person to Yuichi this entire time. Leo just sat in shock, until something in him caused him to stand up and run towards his friend. Yuichi just closed his eyes, as he was ready for an insult from Donnie. But… something strange happened instead.
“Why didn’t you take the win?” Donnie said, being dead serious while looking down at the rabbit.
“You want to know why? If I hit you there, you would have had a serious third degree-burn mark all over your face. and I don’t fight to harm people. The only thing I want is to be with the people I care about. That includes your brothers, April, and eventually, maybe even you.”
Leo just approached when Donnie stuck his arm out for the rabbit, who was still on the ground. Once Yuichi got up however, Donnie just walked away, not saying a word. When the soft-shelled turtle was alone in the changing room, Leo came to him…
“Thank you for not… causing more trouble as it-”
“GET OUT LEO,” Donnie said with his hand on his head and a single tear running down his face. He didn’t know why he acted the way he did? Yuichi was worthy to him now. But he still felt something was wrong about that rabbit, something that was potentially…
Dangerous.
Big Mom and Gabe in their office
“I FINALLY DID IT,” Gabe almost screamed with pride. Big Mom came running immediately to Gabe. They both looked at the screen in front of them. “DO WE GET RICH????”
“Maybe… but this is about Yuichi, the one who pulled that trick on you. You might be able to…”
Big Mom looked at Gabe, dollar bills glittering in her eyes. She was going to have to play her cards wisely to get Yuichi to submit to her. Trying to flatter Gabe a little bit so he would work extra hard for the cause… which were her pockets, she was going to suck up to him a little bit. She also secretly loved seeing Gabe being passionate about his work.
“Tell me what you know Gabe, I always LOVE your talk about AI and Machine Learning. Other Yokai don’t know what kind of intelligence this can bring to their business! They are wasting valuable talent.”
Gabe was ecstatic that Big Mom was interested in his hobby. “I first searched for data on Yuichi and his mystic power from the time he was at the battle nexus 8 years ago. Then, I came across a forum for a gym. It is located on this address in the hidden city. Weirdly, it doesn’t have its own website, it’s more like a review site made by clients.”
“Go on…” Big Mom said, trying to conceal her excitement. She really wanted to get that rabbit back. Gabe immediately started rambling. He looked like he was shining, his shoulders back, his smile being wide.
“With some pictures of clients training or following a workshop, we could see Yuichi slightly demonstrate his powers. I created an advanced AI algorithm inspired by none other than CHAT GPT and GOOGLE MAPS to look for data on this flame and found more pictures. Apparently, he came all the way from Japan and is the last person alive of the Usagi family. Then I saw it… In an online dark web library was history about this so-called Usagi family. I found that in the book the same strange numbers were written, with the text: Call me if you have more information.”
“HOLY SHIT GABE THIS IS WHY I HIRED YOU,” Big Mom yelled. She immediately grabbed her phone and dialed the number inside the book.
“WAIT WAIT we don’t know him,” Gabe almost screamed. But it was too late, someone on the other end picked up.
“Do you have information for me?” A male voice answered. It didn’t really sound like there was a lot of emotion on the other end of the line. It was like it was strictly business.
“Wow, how direct!” Big Mom firmly said. After a moment of silence though, she started speaking normally, her tone being fully business-centered. “But yes. You need to bring something for me though, it is a thing called CASH. Now, we live in New York… be there at this address. And don’t forget, who has the MONEY, has the power.”
The man hung up, no response, nothing. It was like he went straight towards his goal.
“Is… is he even going to come?” Gabe asked, slightly worried. He hadn’t had time to finish his sentence when Big Mom impulsively called the number. Knowing that Yuichi was the last person alive of his family and that some strange man wanted to know where he was…
Something was off. And they were going to find out very… very soon.