Moon Chronicles: The Light In My Darkness

Raph's Advice

As he was heading to the turtles' lair, Jake couldn't help but think about Natalie's compromise.

. . . . .

"I want you. . . to stay away from April O'Niel." Natalie said.

"What?" Jake said in shock. "That's not fair!"

"Don't forget. . . I still have the end of your life as you know it, socially." Natalie said, waving her phone. "If you don't comply, then I'll expose you for the monster that you are."

"You're awful." Jake said. "Fine. . . I'll oblige."

"Great." Natalie said with a smirk.

. . . . .

"I can't believe I'm actually listening to her." Jake said to himself. "Am I really that worried about being seen as a freak?"

Jake then thought back about what he had gotten into the night before.

"No. . . I can't be too worried." Jake said, reassuring himself. "I just need to get through my day. Besides, how will Natalie know? She's not following me. I should be okay for today. I'm just glad she didn't want to spend the whole day with me."

Jake didn't think about it any further as he headed down the manhole to visit the turtles and April.

Once he got to the lair, the turtles were all instantly glad to see him.

"Hey, Jake!" Mikey said with a smile. "Welcome back, bruh!"

"So, are you up for some training?" Leo asked.

"Training?" Jake asked. "For what?"

"Well. . . it's clear that you had a tough time the other night with those hunters." Splinter said, walking into the living room. "So, we all agreed to help you train to be able to fight better."

"You're. . . gonna train me?" Jake asked.

"Of course." Raph said. "It's the least we could do for you."

At that moment, April came out of the dojo and Casey was right behind her as well.

"Oh, hey Jake." Casey said. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Oh, hey Casey." Jake waved. "Hey. . . April."

Donnie scowled. "Can we just get this over with already?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah. . . let's go." April said.

With that said, everyone went into the dojo to start their training.

"So, this is the dojo." Jake said, admiring the room. "It's nice."

"Thanks." Splinter said. "I've done my best to make it feel like home to me."

"Wow, you must be really dedicated to have made this place so much like a true home." Jake said. "It's honestly inspiring."

"Just wait until you hear our origin." Mikey said.

"Which you won't." Donnie said. "We don't need to say anything about where we came from."

"It's fine." Jake said. "I'm curious, but I'm here to train, right?"

"That's that spirit." Raph said. "Now let's get on with it."

So, it started. Jake's training with the turtles has begun. Each of the turtles took turns one by one, sparring with Jake and showing him the ropes, as April and Casey stood by and watched.

And while it was easy-going at first, the turtles went harder and harder on Jake as their time went on. But he still managed to stay up on his feet.

But when it got to him sparring against Donnie, it was constant dodging and survival for him.