Update! Well, folks, I'm finally out from the hospital. I'm still sick due to the anti-virus for my sickness has yet been discovered (seriously, there's no cure yet) but the doctor said my antibody would slowly destroy them. Antibody FTW!

April sat down on the dining chair on her apartment's kitchen. She took out her T-phone, searched on her contacts for the number named "Ichiban Tora" which is Japanese for "Number one tiger". She chuckled while somewhat mocking herself for giving Leo such a lame nickname, even though it was just for her phone contacts. She pressed the call button and waited for Leo to answer. Waiting for no longer than 10 seconds, Leo answered her call. "Hey, April." She was a bit startled when she heard the voice from the other side. It was rather … hoarse, like he just yelled his throat out not long ago. Or maybe …

"Leo? Are you …" She couldn't believe she was about to ask this but it was pretty convincing. "crying?" She finished. She felt rather stupid asking this. She can't even imagine Leo crying. On the other hand, Leo was still a human … or at least a part human so it's even more impossible to imagine that Leo never cried before. There was a slight silence from both sides. She wondered if asking that question was actually a good idea.

Thankfully, April got her answer. "Y-yeah." He answered, then, she heard him sniffed and sighed. "You know how much of a jerk life can be." He continued. 'Things must be really tough for him right now.' She thought. It saddens her thinking about what could be the tiger's problem and just how big the problem is that it was enough to make him cry. "Oh, April." His voice called out, snapping her from her thoughts. "I heard you and my- I mean … I heard you and the turtles talked about a kraang warship." He said, emphasizing the word "turtles".

Chill struck down her spine as soon as she heard Leo's accusation. Well, more like he knows rather than accusing. Still, she was pretty sure it was only her and the rest of the gang was around that time. April was also sure that none of the guys could feel anything because if they did, they would've at least warned each other. Heck, even with her own strange powers she still couldn't detect any other presence that time. It would only means Leo was very good at stealth, maybe about as good as Master Splinter.

She shuddered at the thought of someone could get past her psychic power and "spied" on her. Of course she knows Leo wouldn't do anything like that, he's not a stalker like how Casey and Don are in some occasion. "How did you know?" She asked. It would be easier just to ask the person or mutant in question directly, saves her a headache.

"I just happened to pass by." He answered simply and casually. What are the chances? New York isn't some small town where things like that could easily be a coincidence. However, the last think April could think of what Leo would be is a stalker, there's just no way. I dropped it for now since there are much more important questions to ask.

"You're not trying to do anything with them, are you?" April asked, albeit shakily, worrying about her friends. Leo had made it clear that he's really hunting down the Hamato Clan not only under Shredder's orders, but also his personal vendetta against them. They have talked about it a few times. Whatever the Hamato Clan did to him must have been quite traumatizing for some reason. Every time Leo talked about it, the expression in his eyes says everything but the most noticeable one is that he actually scared of the Hamato Clan. Her heart beats faster as she waited for the answer.

"I told you, I will only kill them in a fair fight. I also told you I hate those brainy aliens. With this, we actually have a common enemy." Ignoring his first sentence, he actually got a point. Kraang was actually good for one thing, surprisingly.

"Okay, I trust you, Leo. There is a kraang ship detected on Donnie's computer. It was at the dock. I think its …" April was in deep thought, trying to get a direction from a place where Leo might know. "… northwest from Murakami's." She informed him. She heard the door opened and her aunt entered the apartment. She panicked for no reason. "My aunt's here, I gotta go. Bye Leo." Without letting him saying good bye, she ended the call. Her aunt seemed to catch the last part.

"Who is that, April?" She asked curiously.

She flinched when she heard the question. Why is she scared about her aunt finding out about Leo? It's not like she knows that Leo was a mutant or anything. "Just a friend …" She replied with a soft, long sigh following after it. She slumps her shoulders and relaxed against the chair.

The answer isn't enough to satisfy her aunt. "What's his name?" She asked as she put down the groceries on the table, motioning April to help her put them away. With her tone, April could tell that her aunt was teasing her. Even just assuming that she was calling a boy is a part of the tease.

'I guess it won't hurt anyone if I told her.' She thought. "His name is Leonardo but, people call him Leo." She answered as she took frozen groceries from the plastic bag and into the freezer.

"Leonardo … Strong as a lion." Her aunt mused.

It made April chuckle. 'Well, he's actually a tiger, not a lion but, close enough.' Knowing clearly it wasn't a question didn't stop her from answering it. "Yes. Yes, he is." She said absentmindedly.

Foot Clan HQ with Leo…

Leonardo entered the Foot Clan building using the front entrance. It was night so nobody would see him enter other than the workers themselves. With his objective, a purple glowing canister on his paws, he strode confidently inside. The guards on the lobby are the still the same ones as other nights. To not look suspicious, the Foot ninjas whom currently on guarding duty don't wear masks so Leo already had all their faces memorized.

Those ninjas weren't that bad. They've started to warm up to Leo and some had become friends with him. They sometimes go for a drink after their shift ended and would ask Leo to join. Of course, they didn't know his actual age but most of them guessed 18, which is 3 years older than his actual age. Not that they cared about age. Rumors had been going around about him being Tiger Claw's son and most people believed it.

Scanning around the lobby, he found a new face from the guards. The new guy seems to be watching him intently and looks … awestruck? For some reason, he is. Maybe he never seen a mutant before? "Who is that?" He whispered to another guard. Leo, however, could hear his whispering. If this guy doesn't know about him, let alone new to the guards, he's new to the Foot Clan entirely. So, new recruits … This has Shredder's name all over it.

"Yo, Leo!" A guard who Leo recognized as Carl called out to him. Not an unusual name but justified since he's also a New Yorker. Actually, most of the Foot ninjas here are New Yorkers with exceptions of the Elites that were trained at Japan at a young age. Leo turned around to see him standing near the new recruit. "Can ya come here for a bit?" Leo stopped for a few seconds but then just shrugged and went to the two guards.

Carl is a 30 years old man with an average build, stood around 6'1 with dark skin tone and brown eyes. His hair is brown with some tattoos on his arm, a sign of his gangster background. Just like the other guards on shift, he wore black jeans and T-Shirt with a communication device on his left ear. "I want'cha ta meet someone." He said loudly. "This is Scott Peters. This is his first day … or night. He's a special recruit, handpicked by your old man." He said.

Leo smiled from ears to ears, figuratively speaking. "You don't wanna let him hear that or he's gonna to mop the floor with ya." He said while chuckling. Calling Tiger Claw an old man is one of a few red buttons he has. He not old so he felt offended by it, but his own personality makes people mistake him for one. After he stopped laughing, he inspected the new recruit. He stood around 5'7, blond hair, blue eyes with pale skin tone. His build is slightly above average, signs that he's a trained soldier. From his face, he's just around Leo's age or maybe a little older.

"Well, it ain't gonna hurt if he ain't here to hear it." He said calmly. "Oh, and Scott, this guy's Leonardo. He's a mercenary, joined just a few months ago but he's already in the high ranks 'cause he can make a mincemeat out of everyone here. Well, except Shredder and Tiger Claw. Leo here is the friendliest guy around but gettin' close ta him when he's drunk ain't gonna do good."

"Geez, yell it out on the world, would'cha." Leo said. A few seconds later, he realized his accent was slipping out a bit.

"Better safe than sorry, buddy. Last time ya got drunk, a guy almost lost his head." He reasoned.

Leo rolled his eyes as response. "Well, nice to meet you, Scott." He said, offering a paw. He had to look down to him due to their height difference.

He took his paw. "Nice to meet you too, Leonardo." Scott said as the two shook hands.

A Foot Elite approached the party of three. "Leonardo-san, the Shredder is expecting you at the underground lab. Please, come this way." He said. Leo had never entered the lab as it was a restricted area so he doesn't even know how to go there. As Leo nodded, he turned around and walked towards the lift. Leo immediately followed him. They got into the lift.

The elite pressed several buttons in order of 15-6-11-9-3, making the five buttons glowed. After that, the lift started to move up. As it moves, he pressed the five buttons again in order of 11-3-6-15-9 and the five of them stopped glowing. The lift stopped abruptly with a shake and started descending. Soon, the room was filled with beams of red lasers, scanning the passengers. Not long after, the lift door showed the identity of the two.

Name : Leonardo
Rank : Mercenary
Age : 15
Type : Tiger-Human
Style : Niten-ichi Ryu

Name : Akinari Itagaki
Rank : Elite
Age : 31
Type : Human
Style : Togakure Ryu

'He's also a katana user, huh?" He thought. Togakure Ryu is one of the Katana based kata that was used by ninjas. It is, however, only requiring one katana instead of two. Only a while later, the lift stopped and the door opened, revealing a large underground facility. "Whoa." Leo said in awe. There are a lot of scientists going back and forth. This place is filled with all kinds of robots, jets, tanks, practically any vehicular weapon one could think of in development. 'What are they trying to do? Take over the world?' He thought with a chuckle. But then … 'This is just like Space Heroes.' He thought in glee. His eyes shone like a little kid who just got a new toy.

The elite had started walking but Leo just froze in place, scanning every detail of the massive room. "Please, come this way." He said, snapping Leo out of his fan boy mode. He jogged to closer the distance. They stopped at Stockman's lab, where Shredder, Stockman who just happened to be mutated into a fly recently, and two more "guests", bound to the test bed were waiting. One of the guests was a turtle mutant and another one is a monkey. It was quite surprising to see another turtle mutant. No doubt they were captured since both of them was trying to squirm away.

"Leonardo." The Shredder begins his speech. "I see you have completed your mission, in a very short time too, just mere hours. I am impressed." He said, pleased with Leo's work. Without exchanging as much as a word, Leo handed the purple canister to the Shredder, who in turn handed it over to Stockman.

"Ah, yes. This would work." He claimed, much to Leo's confusion. "Now, all we need is the other half."

"Which is already here." Another voice joined, a voice belonged to none other than Tiger Claw. Leo turned around to the source. Tiger Claw was standing there with a black briefcase. He got taken by surprise by Leo giving him a big hug. "Looks like someone missed me." He said. The blue scarf Leo's wearing caught his attention but he saved the question.

Leo stopped hugging him then stared. "It's been half of a month and you didn't even send me any text? I thought you got killed or something." He joked using an unimpressed tone.

"Heh, sorry cub. I've been busy." He answered.

Shredder, who is already on verge of his patience, finally spoke. "I take it your mission is complete." He asked in a menacing voice.

"Have I ever failed you, Shredder?" He asked as both a reminder and a challenge. One of the many reasons he was promoted into the position of the Second-in-Command was that his missions had and still has a 100% success rate. He handed the briefcase over to Stockman who hastily took it from his paw. Stockman opened it like there was a million dollar inside of it.

Not feeling like he would want to hear anymore of Shredder's talking and since he's not actually interested at whatever plan he had right now, he poked at Tiger Claw's shoulder to gain his attention. "Can I talk to you? Alone." He said seriously.

Tiger Claw thought for a moment. 'Had he figured it out?' "Of course, cub. Let's talk at the dojo, I want to see if you really trained or not when I was gone."

Half an hour later …

"GAAHHH." He screamed as he was flung backwards and smashed against the hard, concrete wall and fell to the cold, hard floor. His swords fell with chattering sounds, echoing through the quiet room. There were only the two of them in there as no one else wants to train at 3 in the morning. He stood up immediately, brushing off all his pain without any problem. All Tiger Claw could do is face palming at his son's antics. Surely he got stronger and could now use his body without any problem, but his fighting was still off and it was for one reason:

His uncontrollable adrenaline rush.

His surge of adrenaline that replaces lost stamina served as double edged blade. While it grants him better speed and strength and widens the set of skills he could use which could save his life in tight situations, it's more often than not gets him into even more trouble, or even the sole reason he got into trouble in the first place. His tendency to get fired up in the presence of an opponent stronger than himself had been both good and bad for him. Unlike most people who would think twice before facing a strong opponent, Leo would do that without a single thought if it involves protecting those he cared.

His body adjusts itself to match his opponent's level. If the opponent was too strong, his body gets stronger the longer he fights as the adrenaline starts to take over. "The Berserker." A very rare fighting style mostly due to how hard to get it and the users have a very low chance of surviving a battle. Leo is back at on battle position again. But, Tiger Claw lifted up a paw to stop him. "Hold up! That's enough." He said firmly. "That's enough fighting for now." He said again.

As he finished, Leo's shoulders slumped, his arms fell down limply, followed by his own body and toppled to the floor as he breath heavily. 'It happened again.' He's still unaware of his unique type of fighting but at times he forgot just how tired he is if he was fighting. He's not overly tired this time, but he really need to catch his breath. When Tiger Claw made a move to leave the room, Leo finally remembered what he wanted to talk about with him. "Wait!" He struggled as he took a sitting position with his legs crossed. "You said about telling Murakami that I'm your son… It's not just that, isn't it? And that scarf…" Leo pointed at the scarf he placed near his bag. "It was you who gave it to me."

There was a deafening silence between the two, but Leo breaks through it.

"You ARE my real father, my dad …" But then, Leo started to cough furiously.

"Leo, what happened?" He asked as he rushed to his son's side.

"I-I don't-" But he was cut off by his coughing.

His parental intuition suggested him to focus his chi on his eyes. What he sees was something he never thought he would. Dark Chi, and it was overflowing. But how? He was able to block his killing intent so, how did he generated Dark Chi? His eyes widened as he realized something. Dark Chi was made when one have ill intentions.

Sometimes, criminals have a rather pleasant background. Times when people would say: "He used to be a sweet child" when someone unexpectedly makes a turn for the worst. Dark chi was the reason. Even "nice people" have pent up frustration and ill wishes that they kept for themselves and dark chi builds up from it. As a result, when it overflows, they will do anything that they have suppressed all those times.

Leo wanted to kill his family, but he can't if he still loved them. Now, his desires are getting stronger than his reason. It caused dark chi to overflow in his system. Tiger Claw hit a few points on his body. After he hit the last one, dark chi erupted from his body. He sighed in relief that his technique worked, but… "Leonardo, you have to kill."

Leo looked at him in confusion. "W-What are you talking about?"

"You have pent up all of your intention to kill your family. It won't take long until the bottle to shatter from the pressure. You have to kill, be it someone you hate, or even people you don't know, before you ended up killing someone you cared about." He announced the harsh truth. "I'll find an assassination task that would fit you from the Shredder, and you WILL succeed." He then left the dojo without another word. 'This is for his own good.'

You don't think Leo stopping himself from killing anyone won't have side effect, do you? Things will go dark next chapter, just a warning.

Anyway...

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