Chapter 8:The Wolf Predator

Halkrath was slowly walking the hallways of the sewers with mutagen on his whole body. He felt weakness and pain coursing in his blood, mutating him into a mutant. Then Halkrath tripped and fell, but he decided to crawl his way back to his ship. Halkrath became very tired and he slowly closed his eyes. The mutation began and it started to transform Halkrath into something bigger. Fur grew from all over his body, his teeth became bigger and sharper, and his hands became claws. After it was over, Halkrath stood up and felt energy through his veins. Some parts of his gear was still equipped, but they have shrunk a little bit. Halkrath let out his usual roar combined with a howl. He then finds his way out of the sewer and sees Kirby flying in the distance. Halkrath followed him to make sure that his friends would okay from the mutagen.

Miwa and April were in the streets, looking for their lost friend. They searched the whole city, but they had no luck of finding Halkrath at all. Instead, they both found the Turtles and asked if they have seen him. The Turtles told them that they haven't seen Halkrath ever since they left from April's apartment. They all decided to search for Halkrath and Kirby together by going through the streets and the sewers of the city. During their search, Michelangelo was searching in the alley ways when he saw a shadow, resembling a bat. He went closer and closer until he saw Kirby, looking in the trash for something to eat. Leonardo and the others caught up to Michelangelo and saw the same thing he did.

April suggested, "Listen guys, I can try to talk to him. He is my dad after all."

Donatello felt worried about her safety and said, "No, it's too dangerous to go alone. Maybe I'll go with you instead."

Leonardo also said, "We're in this together, we can talk to him with you."

With very sensitive hearing, Kirby heard their conversation and attacked the group. Leonardo and Raphael were pushed back, Donatello and Michelangelo were tossed away, and Miwa was thrown towards April. They both fell to the ground and crawled to a corner. Kirby was screeching at them and it had frighten the girls. The Turtles couldn't get up and they had thought that it would be the end.

Kirby was about to swipe at the girls when a howling roar was filling the alley way. Everybody looked up at the roof to see a wolf-like mutant staring down at them. The mutant jumped down and it revealed to be Halkrath, who had mutated very much. Halkrath took off his mask, which still fits, and went to a fighting stance. Kirby screeched and charged at Halkrath, who evaded the charge and swung a punch at him. With improved strength, Halkrath took Kirby down instantly with little effort. April and Miwa stood up from the ground and walked towards Halkrath and Kirby. The Turtles slowly got up and did the same thing. Halkrath saw them staring at him, but he ignored it and tied Kirby up.

Halkrath and the others took Kirby to the lair where Donatello was working on an antidote for him.

Halkrath went back to his usual spot in the lair and stared at nothing, but Miwa went to him and said, "Don't worry too much, Donnie will try to finish the antidote as soon as possible. In the meantime, just hang out with us."

Halkrath wasn't worried about his mutation, but he was worried about Kirby's mutation. He didn't even want Kirby to mutate, but he had failed trying to protect him from it. Miwa and April went back to their high school to live out normal lives with Halkrath still stalking them. One day, Miwa and April encountered a boy at school named Casey Jones and they immediately become tutors for him. Halkrath felt a strange feeling towards Casey and decides to stalk him. He followed Casey and the girls to the park, hiding in a tree with his cloak on. A dog came up to the same tree Halkrath was in and started to bark at him, but Halkrath simply barked back and scared the dog away. Halkrath looked back at the group, only to see Donatello stalking April. He saw his face full of jealousy when Casey was spending time with the girls, but mostly April. Halkrath went up to Donatello and grabbed him when he was about to fall into a dumpster.

Donatello saw Halkrath holding on to him and said, "Thanks, I don't wanna go back home smelling like trash."

Halkrath pulled him back from the edge and they both watched as Casey, April, and Miwa walked away. After the tutoring was done, Miwa went back to April's apartment while April decides to take Casey home. Halkrath was on the roof of April's apartment, waiting for his two friends to head home. Suddenly, he sees something particular in the distance and went to get a closer look. When Halkrath got near the object, he saw that it was Timothy, a human who recently mutated into a slime-like creature and was kept in a glass container. He heard Timothy yelling something about April and he knew that she could be in danger. Miwa was close by and she also saw Timothy, who charged at her yelling April's name.

Halkrath attacked him at the last second and pushed him away from Miwa, who said, "Timothy, Halkrath ? What's going on ?"

Timothy stood up from the attack and shouted, "Me find April ! I make her friend !"

Timothy ran away, still on the search for April while Halkrath said, "Miwa, come with me. April may be in danger if he gets near her."

Miwa and Halkrath were chasing after Timothy, who seems to be far ahead of them. Halkrath grabbed Miwa and placed her on his back. Using his new wolf strength, he ran after Timothy with his arms and legs, giving him speed fast enough to catch up to Timothy. Miwa didn't pay attention since she saw April and Casey in the distance, talking to each other. Instead of yelling out to them, she drew her sword and tried to cut Timothy's legs off. She tried reaching close to him, but Halkrath stopped her and decided to push Timothy into a building. The noise attracted April and Casey's attention as they saw Miwa, who jumped off of Halkrath in time, running towards them.

She said to them, "April, Casey, you guys have to run. We're in danger."

They were too late to escape when Timothy burst from the rubble and started attacking them. With April and Miwa drawing their weapons, Casey took a random metal bar from the ground and readied himself. Timothy charged at them when the Turtles arrived and stopped him. They battled Timothy while April, Miwa, and Casey escaped. Halkrath emerged from the rubble and saw the whole fight, he even saw April, Miwa, and Casey running away. As they left, Halkrath assisted the Turtles until Timothy ran out of mutagen and became defenseless. The Turtles put Timothy into the Shellraiser and took him back to the sewer. Halkrath went with the Turtles to make sure that Timothy wouldn't escape again. With Timothy taken care of, April and Miwa safely took Casey home and went back to April's apartment. Days later, Halkrath did his usual stalking on Miwa and April, but there was another person he had eyes on. Casey secretly became a defender of his neighbor, but he never really got any action of fighting. It became a really boring thing for him until the day he met Halkrath.

Casey was on a rooftop, looking for anything suspicious. Halkrath was cloaked right in front of him, but he wasn't aware of it.

When Casey saw that nothing happened in his neighborhood that night, he said, "Man, I really thought I get to do some fighting today."

He was about to go back home when Halkrath said, "You are a determined young boy, but you do not have the strength to overcome your enemies."

Casey turned around to see nothing and said, "Well it's my lucky day. Come on, show yourself !"

He readied his weapon, which was his hockey stick. Casey still looked around to see nothing until Halkrath turned his cloak off. Once he did, Casey prepared himself and charged at Halkrath. He was about to land a hit when Halkrath took his mask off to reveal his face. Casey saw ugliness in Halkrath's face and fainted, becoming unconscious.

Halkrath sighed and said, "You'll get used to this face sooner or later."

He picked Casey up and took him to the sewer. Luckily, no one was in the lair and Halkrath placed Casey on the couch. He looked around for anybody, but the Turtles are gone except for Master Splinter, who was meditating in the dojo. The only other turtle was Spike, who is Raphael's pet, eating his leaf as usual. Halkrath decided to talk to Master Splinter about Casey and went into dojo. Casey was slowly waking up and he saw the whole lair. He stood up from the couch and walked around a bit, touring the whole place.

Once he came to the dojo, he heard voices that said, "This human is a friend of Miwa and April. He will keep the secret of the Turtles' existence unless he is forced to."

Master Splinter then said, "It's too risky. The boy is lacking the proper training to fight our enemies and we can't be held responsible if he gets hurt."

Halkrath replied, "I can train the boy and I will be the one responsible for him. You don't have to do anything."

Master Splinter then sensed someone's presence and he opened the dojo door, revealing Casey.

He stepped back and said, "Okay, this night just got a little more interesting."

Halkrath walked up to him and said, "I'm guessing you've heard everything we talked about."

Casey felt frightened and shook his head in disagreement.

Master Splinter turned to Halkrath and said, "As long as he doesn't spread our secret, he can come here anytime to train."

He went back to his spot and continued to meditate.

Halkrath walked out of the sewer with Casey following him. He said to Halkrath, "So, you're actually friends with April O'Neil and that crazy chick, Miwa."

Halkrath whacked his head and said, "Never insult anybody, it is very rude to a friend of somebody."

Casey felt pain on his head and said, "Okay, okay, I get it. Oh and also, what are you going to be teaching me ? Maybe some techniques or give me some super cool weapons or..."

Halkrath stopped him and sniffed the area. He smelled Dogpound, Fishface, and Baxter Stockman near by and decided to go to them. Halkrath put his cloak on and carried Casey towards their location. Once they finally got there on a rooftop, they both saw Michelangelo fighting of what used to be Dogpound, but looks more like Halkrath.

Casey became excited and said, "Finally, I could use some action right about now."

Halkrath grabbed him again and smashed the roof, making them fall on top of the fight.

Michelangelo saw Halkrath and said, "Whoa, I didn't expect you to come by. Anyways, help me with Rahzar."

Halkrath turned towards Rahzar and saw that they both look alike.

Rahzar then said, "Look who we have here, it's the guy that keeps hanging me like a pinata. Looks like you have a mutation of your own."

Halkrath drew his wrist blades and Casey took out his hockey stick.

They began to walk slowly in circles and Rahzar said, "I know that we may be enemies, but look at us, we are the same. Come on, join me to defeat the Turtles and the Shredder. We won't have to be controlled like someone's dog and we can be in a pack of wolves, dominating everything we face."

Halkrath howled and replied, "I'd rather fall in a batch of mutagen than join you in battle."

Rahzar became angry and said, "Very well, we'll see who is the real alpha of the pack."

They ran towards each other, while Michelangelo and Casey watched as the two wolf mutants fight for dominance.

Rahzar took the first hit as he was knocked back a couple of feet by Halkrath. He charged at him again and swiped across his face, damaging his mask. Halkrath evaded more of the swipes by kicking him in the torso and then punched him in the face. Rahzar elbow-punched Halkrath and pushed him to the ground. Halkrath tripped Rahzar and then threw him at a wall. Rahzar stood up from the throw and drew his claws, piercing them on Halkrath's body. Halkrath roared when pain filled his body and his blood started to leak from the wounds, but he grabbed Rahzar's arms and head-butted him. It took quite a hit, but Rahzar didn't give up as he saw Michelangelo and Casey being attacked by Fishface and Baxter's Mousers. Halkrath turned to see the same thing and he was about to go after them until he turned to Rahzar, who punched him hard in the face. Halkrath was knocked back and his mask was broken into pieces. Rahzar walked slowly to Halkrath and placed his foot on Halkrath's face.

He laughed and said, "I guess your mutation isn't as strong as you thought. Too bad, your friends are going to feel my wraith especially that kid over there."

Rahzar was pointing at Casey, who was trying to defend himself from the Mousers. He put more pressure on his foot, trying to squeeze Halkrath's head. The Turtles then came in time to help Michelangelo and Casey, but Rahzar took his foot off Halkrath and kicked him away. He slowly walked to the Turtles and began to fight them. Halkrath tried to get up, but he became weak and he picked up pieces of his mask.

He looked at it and thought to himself, "I am a warrior, the best in my clan. No one would be able to defeat as long as I have great pride in myself."

He placed his fists angrily into the ground and lifted himself up, feeling strength returning to his body. He turned towards the occurring fight and charged at Rahzar, trying to regain his title as the Wolf Predator.

Casey and the Turtles were having a hard time trying to defend themselves against Rahzar.

He easily defeated them and said, "I feel alive, I feel so powerful. Now I can finally eliminate you Turtles."

He was about to swipe at Casey when he heard a howling roar. Rahzar turned towards it, only to get kicked in the face by Halkrath. He was knocked back a couple of feet and landed on top of a few Mousers. He quickly got up and charged at Halkrath. Rahzar swipe at him, but Halkrath grabbed his arm and swung him around. After the swinging, he slammed Rahzar down into the ground and slammed his foot into his torso. Rahzar felt great pain and was tossed in the air. He landed back on the ground and Halkrath grabbed him by the throat.

He said to Rahzar, "You will never harm my friends or anybody else. Who is the true alpha now ?"

Halkrath punched him a couple of times and threw him at Fishface. The Turtles fled with the item they needed and Casey stayed behind with Halkrath. Fishface and Rahzar were hurt badly and Halkrath walked up to them, holding a rope in his hands.

Rahzar weakly said, "Please, not that. I hate being hanged."

Halkrath ignored him and he did his usual thing. Rahzar and Fishface were hanged upside down for the third time and Baxter Stockman was also hanged with them. Halkrath and Casey left the place and traveled on the rooftops.

On the roof of Casey's apartment, Halkrath held pieces of his mask and gripped it hard.

Casey was about to go inside until he said, "So when does training begin ? I have a feeling that I'm really involved in this now."

Halkrath looked at the city and said, "You are not the only one involved as April and Miwa are in it as well. They are great friends of mine and I'll protect them with my life until this whole problem is over."

Casey then said, "When do you think that it'll be over ?"

Halkrath became silent and he turned to him.

Halkrath walked up to Casey and said, "Your question will not be answered, but I will say that I will train you to protect the girls and maybe the people of this city."

Casey nodded in agreement and left. Halkrath saw the sun rising in the distance and he put his cloak on, returning to the sewers.