New York

Present Day

Rahzar slunk through the rooftops in the darkness of the night. It was a few nights after planting the spy devices on the Foot base that the Hamato Clan had found. Unable to do much else, the mutants continued to give the lair some much needed repairs.

That, unfortunately, resulted in a very odd sleep schedule for everyone but Rahzar wasn't tired, for once, right now though he was supposed to be back in his room asleep. But he had too much on his mind to try and pass out for the night.

A few days ago, Leonardo had given all of the New York natives permission to go scope out their old homes and see how those who they had left behind were doing. Rahzar didn't care much for his old family- his new one had much more of a place in his heart- but he went anyway to satisfy his curiosity. And he wished that he hadn't.

Rahzar had done some snooping around and tried to find his brother Cooper. He followed a scent to a dojo where the mutant was immediately attacked by a swarm of Foot Soldiers. Unable to flee, he danced the dance known as fighting all over the area, getting glimpses of where his brother lived. It seemed to be a dojo for training new recruits to the Foot Clan. And it seemed that Cooper was the head of the dojo.

As much as he wanted to forget, Rahzar couldn't get that thought out of his mind. Back when he had been the young Chris Bradford, Rahzar had been closer with Cooper than any of his family members. Of course, Cooper had been a teenager when he last saw him which had put a wedge in their relationship but Rahzar still had good memories of him. He didn't seem like the kind of person to train soldiers for an evil organization.

But then again, he hadn't seen him in nearly fifteen years so he couldn't really say anything about his character. It still bothered him though. And that was why he was out here, in the middle of the night, body covered by a thin, black cloak, racing over the rooftops.

Rahzar didn't want to risk heading to the dojo again after what happened last time. Instead, he dropped down a few blocks away and tried to find a scent. Surely Cooper walked around outside the dojo once in a while.

It took him a while but he found it and began to follow. Thankfully, due to the hour, there weren't really any humans about. Some cars but none of the riders were awake enough to care about the cloaked shape walking around with its face pressed into the ground.

Rahzar realized he was in a pretty nice neighborhood. Cooper was a Bradford afterall, he had the cash to buy a nice place. Rahzar just had to find it.

The task was harder than the super mutant expected. Who knew one residential street had so many apartments?

Rahzar swallowed nervously as he suddenly got cold feet. He didn't really know what he expected to accomplish here. He didn't know a lot of things and this definitely was not an exception. But that never stopped him. With one quick glance around, he bunched up his muscles into a flying leap and began scaling the building.

It did not take long to reach the window to the apartment that Rahzar had identified as Cooper's. He wrapped the cloak around him as tightly as possible, not wanting his brother to see his mutant form in case he decided to reveal his identity. Rahzar took a deep breath before raising a paw and tapping his long claws against the window.

Rahzar tensed, expecting the window to open but it didn't. He blinked a few times in confusion before lifting his paw back up. He pressed his ears against his head and ran his claws against the glass.

That did it. His sharp hearing heard some cries from inside. He shut his eyes for a moment, trying to figure out what was happening.

It seemed a man was sitting at a table with a woman. The two grimaced at the sound and asked each other what it was but neither of them got up.

Rahzar opened his eyes and glared with annoyance. He clawed the window once again.

This time it actually worked. He heard the man get up from the table and head to the door but before Rahzar even moved, the window swung open and the super mutant was suddenly face to face with a woman.

The woman screamed and ran away from the window. Rahzar nearly lost his grip and fell from surprise. His two hind paws actually slipped. Rahzar's hands grasped the ledge of the now open window and he pulled his weight up onto it so he stared into the house in a squatting position. He nearly fell again from what he saw.

His brother froze when he lay eyes upon the cloaked figure. His paralysis didn't last long. He pulled the woman back and stood protectively in front of her. "Isa, get back!"

Rahzar merely blinked as the woman ran out of the apartment. His brother stared at him with fright, Rahzar didn't know why until he realized Cooper could only see his glowing, yellow eyes through the cloak.

Cooper reacted quickly. Out of nowhere, he drew a kunai and hurled it across the room.

Rahzar leaned to one side to dodge and shot forward to get on more stable ground. He tried to pin his brother but he leaped backward with unexpected speed to safety and landed a few kicks on Rahzar's flank in the process forcing him to be the one to back away.

"Who are you?" Cooper demanded. There was another kunai in his hand. He held it up, ready to strike. "You're the one who was sneaking around my dojo, right? What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

Rahzar couldn't respond. He was too absorbed in the sight of the brother he hadn't seen in nearly a decade and a half. He was so much older. He was five years older than Rahzar, Cooper had to be nearly thirty now.

Cooper was in pretty good shape and he had short, brown hair that Rahzar couldn't see the first time he'd encountered him since his return to New York. Cooper was wearing some get up with a metal helmet and red cloth covering him. But now he could finally see him. He was just like he remembered. Only older, of course.

Cooper didn't seem to like Rahzar's silence. He threw the kunai into the ground, narrowly avoiding Rahzar's foot. The mutant didn't flinch though. He hadn't had much training but facing off against Karai had hardened his nerves, there was no way that Cooper was going to scare him now.

"I will not repeat myself," Cooper said. "Who are you? Why were you at my dojo? Why are you in my home?"

Rahzar continued to ignore him. He looked around at Cooper's possessions. A few pictures were displayed on a table off to the side. His eyes were drawn to what looked to be a wedding picture. So that woman was Cooper's wife.

His eyes then fell upon a picture of Cooper in the garb that he had seen earlier. A tall figure that also happened to be cloaked was presenting him with the helmet. Cooper seeed eager to accept.

Rahzar's gaze flicked over the other pictures but they didn't interest him. He looked at his brother with haunting eyes once more. "What happened to you, Coop? Never thought you'd be one to get in bed with the Foot."

Cooper looked surprised for a moment before regaining his intimidating composure. "How do you know who I am?"

"We've known each other for a long time," Rahzar said casually, having fun messing with Cooper. It was for the better that he didn't know who he really was. "What ever happened to Brian? I haven't seen him around since I got back to New York."

"Brian Bradford is no more," Cooper said rather loudly, alarming Rahzar. "He is a new man. Now tell me, who are you and why are you here?"

"I… I am called Rahzar," Rahzar said. There was no reason to lie when he could just bend out bits of the truth. "You don't need to know anything more other than that I do not like the Foot Clan but I have an… interest in the Bradfords. I'd appreciate some information."

"And you're not getting any," Cooper growled. He took a step back, as if to flee, then suddenly darted to the wall to Rahzar's right and grabbed a sword out from behind a cabinet.

Rahzar barely had time to weave around the blade as it rushed directly at him. Cooper landed and slid back a bit from the momentum of his jump. He turned back on Rahzar with a blade held in both hands and aimed towards him. Cooper was now standing between Rahzar and the window.

"This is your last warning," Cooper growl with a hard scowl.

"I'd say bring it but I really should get going," Rahzar said. He aimed his hand at the ceiling. A bone fragment shot out and hit the light, sending the room into darkness.

Rahzar flew across the room, picking up the fragment along the way, and tried to make a break for the window but was knocked down to the ground mid stride by the flat of Cooper's sword. Rahzar growled in frustration. He couldn't believe his brother was a ninja! He was the mutant here, he should have the advantage here but no, Cooper had to know how to fight in the dark.

Rahzar rolled away and back to his feet, dodging the sword as it came back for a second bite at his hide. Rahzar flexed his claws. He didn't really want to get into a fight right now. He wasn't supposed to be out in the first place and he'd been out longer than he'd planned. Fresh wounds would surely alert the others that he'd been doing something that he wasn't supposed to.

The sword swings just kept coming and Rahzar anything but gracefully managed to dodge them. He once again gave thanks to Karai for choosing him as her practice dummy for several training sessions. Without that practice, he'd surely have been dead ten times over by now.

Rahzar knew he could last forever but after years of running through blizzards in a mutant body, Rahzar had more endurance than Cooper. Out of sheer luck, Rahzar managed to dodge the blows until Cooper began slowing down.

The pair had made several loops around the room. Rahzar took a leap backwards and landed on the table that Cooper and his wife had been sitting at when he arrived. Cooper took a step forward, sword raised, and brought it down. Rahzar took another leap backwards and the sword sliced right through the table.

The solid object giving out caused Cooper's momentum to carry him, finally giving Rahzar a chance to strike while he fell. With an open paw, Rahzar raked his long, boney claws over his brother's side, drawing blood but not injuring him deeply.

Cooper grunted in pain and stumbled. Rahzar saw this as his chance to make a break for it again. Turing tail, Rahzar leaped out the open window and back into the night.