Quick note we're starting with an imagination spot just so there's no confusion. Remember Tiger Claw is a Dragon Ball fan. Hates Evolution thinks GT Has some good highs and awful lows and could be better.

Something I wanted to mention in the last chapter but forgot too. If Slash had been kept by Draxum his name would've been Julis, if Splinter had rescued him his name would've been Giovanni. Also, he and Raph are from the same clutch of eggs but they're unaware of this fact.

I own nothing except the stuff I made up

The Tale of Hamato Takeshi

Despite gathering six of the Black Star Dragonballs they were too late. The Regular Dragon balls had returned Goku to normal. They had quickly arrived on Earth and rushed out in time to see the giant amount of blue smoke. And in it was a large Blue Dragon serpentine like Shenron and looked similar but he was blue and grey with large bat wings and a flatter head and black spikes in its forearms.

"That's not the Shenron that came out of the Black Star Dragon Balls!" Goku gasped.

"Well, he did come from them." Pan replied looking up at the Dragon who sneered looking down on them.

"I don't like this guy!" Bulma said looking up.

"Come on Mom he's an Eternal Dragon so he needs to be respected." Trunks added. The Dragon Laughed.

"The Fresh air outside is amazing it's been so long since I've been freed. And now that I have it's time to have some fun!" he said swallowing up the Black Star Dragon balls that had now turned blue with Bright Red Stars. Once he had the smoke surrounding him whirled into a powerful gale Goku could see the Black Star Dragon balls inside as bright red lights swirling around as they protected themselves from the Debris.

"I'm getting a crazy amount of power!" Krillin shouted.

"What is this?" Vegeta groaned.

"MUHAHAHAHAHAHA This is the punishment for those who dare to use my Master's Dragon Balls. Since you insects failed to regather them at the year's end your world is now in for, a torrent of suffering. He laughed maniacally as the smoke closed in on itself and burst.

Once the sky cleared there was only a large white Dragon Man left which had all the Dragon balls imbedded in his chest with six black Spikes behind him and large horns and a couple of shoulder Spikes. And a blue core.

"Grandpa look!" Pan screamed as the Dragon raised his hand and blew up Bulma's house.

"MY HOUSE!" Bulma screamed.

"If we don't stop him, we're next!" Trunks shouted as he Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Pan, Trunks and Goten all turned super Saiyan and went to attack him, but he batted them away like flies and instantly everyone was in a heap out of Super Saiyan.

Omega Shenron began to laugh.

"MUHAHAHAHAAHAHA!" Takeshi a small Asian boy with blue eyes and short cut hair with a part wearing brown pants and a white shirt with a silver Dragon ball on it, laughed as he bounced the Omega Shenron Figure in his hand up and down. "Foolish Mortals as long as my brothers and Sister exist you cannot defeat me! I am All Powerful and not even your Super Saiyan 3 or Patara fusion can defeat me Nothing that worked against Majin Buu will-!"

"So that's it!" shouted his father's voice from the entry way. "Your own Grandson is nothing but a backup tool to you!?"

Takeshi nervously looked out the door and snuck over to the open hallway where their homes entry way was as he saw his father in his usual business casual outfit with a white shirt and brown pants and Grandfather Yuuta wearing a dark blue robe with their family crest on the left side fighting.

"I told you Sasuke, your son should be training to Defeat the Shredder should he ever return and you two should be doing your Duties! Especially since Hamato Yoshi has betrayed us! You're flabby and soft from pursuing your ridiculous psychology career! And you think yourself a philosopher, but a philosopher would do his duty! Like a responsible Adult which clearly you are not!"

"So, it's responsible to force a mother away from their Five-year-old child?! You know damn well, Sho wanted to wait until his Grandson was Eighteen!" Sasuke shouted. "But you forced him to change his stance! Maybe if you considered the impact of your actions more people might be more receptive to your so-called Duty. You twisted that because now you want to punish the rest of us for what happened to you!"

Yuuta merely glared and he went out the door making sure to slam it behind him.

"Dad?" Takeshi said standing in the hallway door looking worried. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'll explain everything." Sasuke said. It was then Takeshi learned of his family, Yuuta's family betraying the Hamato Clan to the Foot Clan during the second world war. The Legend of the Shredder was passed down through the family. And what happened to his first cousin Hamato Yoshi.

"This should've been handled better," Takeshi murmured.

"You're absolutely right." Sasuke said petting his head. "But there's no proof of the Shredder either, at this point it's just a legend." He replied.

"But what if it is true?" Takeshi said worriedly.

"Don't worry, you should just focus on your studies and enjoy your childhood. It sounded like you were having fun in there." Sasuke said kindly.

Takeshi nodded rushing to get back to his story.

My Father was a psychiatrist, he helped a lot of people. A lot of them were older kids that were overwhelmed with pressure. He was a bit of an amateur Philosopher too. I loved listening to some of his stuff. My mom, however, had something that surprised people at the time. She was a Black Smith. Which was more so seen as a man's job back then. She did it for fun and profit.

"And then I have Sheron Nuova sacrifice himself like in the show, but it now also get rid of Omega's invincibility factor. And Goku gets mad and powers up." Takeshi explained.

"Oooh Omega's in for it now." Suki dressed in her worker outfit with thick gloves and overalls and her hair said as she poured the metal into the mold. "Whew!" she muttered when done and stood up her hair that usually hung behind her was now resting on her left shoulder it looked pretty.

"Yup!" Takeshi chirped before humming. "I heard Hamato Sho passed." He muttered sadly.

"Yes, he did." Suki said solemnly.

"It's sad we never really knew him. Kind of wish I did." Takeshi muttered.

"It's a very complicated situation," Suki said.

"We won't end up like that will we? What If we lose our love?" Takeshi asked worriedly.

Suki turned to him shocked, but she smiled. She went over to her vault which she opened. "This was for your birthday, but I think I should give it too you now. She said coming over with a sword in a beautiful green colored sheath with gold markings to make a scale pattern. It reminded Takeshi of Shenron.

"Wow! That's really for me!?" Takeshi said as he excitedly pulled it out and looked at the blade impressed by it. It had a Dragon flying to the sun on it. But he also saw an inscription of sorts near the hand guard. "Ai wa eiendesu. Love is Eternal!" Takeshi said his eyes sparkling.

"That's right, I want you to have that sword as an heirloom to pass down if you have children. So that you and they can always remember that their family will always love then and will always with you. Even if you can't see them." Suki said.

Takeshi had no words he smiled brightly and hugged her. "Okay I gotta find my Goku action figure." He said, placing the sword on his back. "I'll see you later…."

I didn't know that was the last time I'd ever see her again….

Takeshi groaned while laying back on a rock. "Where'd you go!" he sighed. He glanced at the sword worst case scenario he could by a new one. But he had that Action figure forever. He looked at his sword and smiled. He unsheathed it and played around pretending to be Trunks. However, as he put the sword back in his sheath, he suddenly smelt smoke. He turned and saw it was his house.

"MOM, DAD!" Takeshi shouted rushing towards it. "Please have gotten out please!" he said to himself as he heard sirens off the side of him. He saw them pull in as Fire Fighters broke into the house. Takeshi looked around he didn't see his parents anywhere. However, he turned to see Fire Fighters come out carrying two familiar figures. Takeshi let out a horrified scream.

X X X

Takeshi curled up in the police station as someone stood in front of him. "Grandpa Yuuta?" he said.

"I'm here to take you with me." Yuuta replied. "It's good you'll finally have a responsible more dutiful role model in your life."

"What was wrong with my parents?!" Takeshi growled standing up quickly his fists clenching. He felt anger in his chest. Also, surprised, how could Yuuta not miss his own son!?"

"Your Father was a disgrace and a wastrel. Who'd rather leave the world to die then take responsibility. And then there's his manish stunned floozy of a-"furious Takeshi punched him as hard as he could causing the old man to hit the ground and groaned looking up angrily at his Grandson.

"I won't go with you! I DON'T WANT TO GO ANYWHERE WITH YOU!" Takeshi shouted running out of the building he rushed as fast as he could to the sky tree and snuck inside to the top. He sat down and began sobbing loudly curled up in a ball.

There was some sinister laughter next to him that made him stop. He looked over. Two men were standing there, one smoking after placing his lighter back into his leather jacket with many chains and black pants with brightly colored hair. The other just had a jacket with spiky hair covered in gel and several tattoos with dark blue Khakis who looked impressed with his friend. "Wow dude I can't believe you did that! Burning those two alive in their home like that!?"

"I know right? It was actually pretty easy to lock them in." the man laughed as Takeshi began punching numbers in on his flip phone. "I wish I could've-wait! Someone's here!" he said rushing over as Takeshi tried to run. But his body didn't respond to his mind's command in time, and he was grabbed by the shirt. He hung his head before looking up at the man snarling.

"YOU KILLED THEM! YOU KILLED MY PARENTS! YOU BASTARD! WHAT DID THEY EVER DO TO YOU!?" he screamed loudly. The man shoved Takeshi back making him stumble.

"Your Punk pops convinced my Girl friend to leave me that's what!" the thug snarled. "Saying I was abusive. That Bitch was my property and I get to decide what to do with her! And, if you're their kid, I'm gonna have to finish the job!" he said, grabbing Takeshi by the shirt again and holding a knife to his cheeks. "I think this time, I'll kill you nice and slow…." he said sinisterly. Something snapped within Takeshi at that moment. He sung his arm out as quickly and as hard as he could into the man's chest, he only heard a grunt before pulling him off like his Dad had taught him and threw him out the window as hard as he could. He wasn't aware of the man rushing away in horror or over the wet sticky sensation cooling on his hand until he heard screaming down below. He looked up and saw the window broken. He gasped and rushed to the edge seeing a group of people gathered around with the man he had just thrown out. He gasped, raising his hand when he suddenly saw his fist covered in blood. It hit him what he had done just then.

Takeshi immediately started rubbing his hand with the clean one but that just spread the blood. He wiped it on his shirt, his pants covering himself in it in desperation. "It won't come off! It won't come off! It won't come off! It won't come off! It won't come off! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean too, I'm sorry." He sobbed to himself he heard sirens and snuck out of the building before the Police could begin investigating. He rushed as far as he could running as fast as his feet could take him however, he suddenly realized he was running towards a cliff he tried to stop but it was too late he stumbled off a cliff into the rapids of a river and thrashed no matter what he did he couldn't fight the current and was swept away….

X X X

It was ages before he was awake again, the blood was gone, and he was in some simple shorts and T-shirt. A dark drab color and very large on him. He sat up rubbing his head. But then he realized he was in a cage. Terrified, he gripped the bars and tried to look outside. "Hello?" he asked, trembling.

"So, you're alive." Said a voice Takeshi looked up to see a Goat man of sorts. He was well built and muscular. His legs were small but powerful, looking in their own right. He had large mighty clawed arms and was glad in gold and teal armor. His face looked human under his strange helmet which made a nose for it. His lips seemed to phase through the metal armor and move freely. He had long magenta hair that fell neatly off his shoulders.

"Please…." Takeshi murmured in fright. "Please let me go! I….I won't-"

"Nothing you say will make me release you human. I need to make sure my Ooze works." He said opening the cage and lifting Takeshi out with a huge vine he struggled as he was placed inside more vines wrapping around his wrists and ankles holding him in place. Some kind of creature was placed above him. Takeshi could see many creatures inside cells looking very odd and screeching wildly. Takeshi shivered as he suddenly felt a jolt. It suddenly felt like something was being drained out of him. And within a few minutes Draxum pulled it out from above him. There the creature was now more human shaped and even looked a little like him as it shrieked wildly. The scientist put it in it's own cell without a thought.

Takeshi stared in sheer horror and started screaming. "HELP SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE SOMEBODY! ANYBODY!"

"Awww poor little human so afraid." The Scientist mocked pulling him out of the cage again as one of his tentacles reached for something else. Within a couple seconds now placed where Takeshi had been moments ago was a severed Tiger Paw. The Scientist shoved him into some kind of gold liquid. He was inside and thrashed wildly unable to breathe but all of a suddenly he felt something surge inside of him and felt his whole-body surge in such intense pain that he screamed flinching. He could hear his own bones and face break and contort. His arm got significantly thicker as his nails became claws with white fur with black stripes appearing over his skin. Within minutes as he shrieked in agony he was spat out.

He couldn't concentrate, or even observe the things around him. He was writhing with pain and confusion as he was thrown back into his cage.

"Perfect! It works perfectly, now to find henchmen that steal Lou Jitsu from Big Mama, I know Goyles of Fortune. Those are beef cakey too…..bonus…" he smirked to himself.

When the pain began to subside Takeshi looked at his hand he gasped and looked over he wasn't human anymore. He was some kind of Anthropomorphic tiger now. He sat against his cage staring at his hands flexing them a little. He could hear humming from far away and see the lab clearly now. It was still terrible but not nearly as intimidating as when he was human. He looked himself over. He wasn't human anymore….he wasn't The Murderer Hamato Takeshi anymore….

Immediately I began to see my Mutation as a second life. And justice had been brought to Takeshi, the Murderer who was killed and no more. Only Tiger Claw was in his place….but I was still stuck in there until Draxum and your father started fighting with each other about a week later….

Tiger Claw gasped as he saw one of his cousins fighting the scientist. Something happened that knocked the scientist down. Hamato Yoshi rushed over and scooped something up just as the building was beginning to explode. But suddenly he pressed the release button. Takeshi immediately rushed out hearing the mutated creatures behind him he ducked and followed them out as fast as he could as he heard the explosion the shockwave of which knocked him off his feet. He groaned sitting up.

He looked to see to his surprise a city. The closest building was a large stadium of sorts. He could definitely find help there. After a few hours of walking, he made his way inside. He could see various creatures of shapes and sizes. It was like Spirited away. He did however see a tall woman that looked human like.

She looked important and seemed to be talking about the Stadium a Battle Nexus? He slowly approached her. "Hello?" he said, catching her attention.

"Oh, hello Stripey-Boo and who might you be?" she asked sweetly, maybe a little too sweetly.

"I'm Tak- no Tiger Claw," he said simply.

"Tiger Claw, where are you from?" She asked.

"Not from around here, listen I want to talk to you about maybe a Job and a place to crash here?" she said. "Even if the payment is just food and board. It can be temporary if you want?" Tiger Claw said sounding calmer than he felt.

"Aren't you a bit young?" the Woman asked skeptically.

"I'm Twelve next year I'll be thirteen. That's the age of consent in some parts of my homeland. Which is practically the right of an adult!" Tiger Claw declared.

"Is that so?" She hummed. "Well, I suppose I can give you something easy-weasy to start until your older."

"You will?! thank you!" Tiger Claw cheered.

"I started as a limb catcher for the battle Nexus. It was a bit more than what I was used too. But everyone else seemed happy and they wouldn't have come here if they didn't know the risks, right? At least that's I believed at first. Big Mama was impressed with some of the stuff I knew and how organized I was from my father. Said I could probably make Manager one day. A Year had passed and when I was starting to feel better…..I noticed something….

Tiger Claw now in an outfit more accustomed to his body had followed the thugs that had been following the Drug deals for some time now. They had been using the Battle Nexus as a base. He'd make sure that Big Mama caught wind of this and kick them out. He saw the thug Yokai gathering around and pulled up a crystal right away. Within minutes the Arachnid's face appeared in it.

"Big Mama I know it's late but there are criminals in the building's basement! You've get down here right away!" Tiger Claw warned.

"Ohhh Stripey-Boo I'm already here!" she said sinisterly. Before he could process this Tiger Claw felt a webbing on his back and he was yanked down into the ground before onto a web. His limbs flat out on the web as Big Mama stood over him. "You weren't very stealthy," she hissed sinisterly in a way he had never heard before.

"Wait, you're behind this!? You let them in here!?" Tiger Claw gasped trying to pull himself off the web to no avail.

"Of course I did this is my operation after all." She sneered right in his face. "Big Mama's got her findily claws in many bumpily pies."

"What!? You're a crime Boss?!" Tiger Claw gasped thrashing wildly now. "No, I won't let you get away with this!" he screamed.

"But I already have, and you won't have much to say from now on." She said holding up a collar and placing it on him. Takeshi felt a surge of pain and then nothing…..

The Next thing I knew I saw Mikey running away from me after he broke the first collar which left the scar on my neck. Immediately I realized something was wrong and looked into everything that happened. I'd lost thirteen years of my life! And I helped her commit crime after crime. That was when I left.

Tiger Claw had his ears flat against his head as he glanced up sorrowfully. "After that I kept an eye on Mikey as the Night Watcher to try and keep out of Draxum's way when he threatened to try and kill me if I got in his way. But he ended up putting me back in that damned collar." He glared at Splinter. "What do you still see in her!?"

Splinter was silent, he had believed there was good in Big Mama but to enslave a child and make him commit heinous acts probably even reveal his secrets….he shook his head.

"Takeshi killed a man in anger. And Tiger Claw was an idiot to trust a stranger so blindly. I have so much blood on my hands. How could I ever…." He tried to ask but choked before sobbing again. Everyone stared at him with looks of mixed horror and sympathy. Karai stepped forward and placed her hand on his.

"Anatawa hitori jenai." She said to him tears welling up in her eyes as Tiger Claw hugged her sobbing. When he let go he suddenly felt something in his hand. He looked at it and recognized the cup he had given it to Mikey who had now placed it in his hand and was using both of his to cup his own.

"You can be better you already are." Mikey replied. "When I had a rage attack and hurt Klunk and Dad I felt like a monster. Started to believe all the awful things Draxum told me. And everything he wanted me to be was the only thing I could ever be. And at that point part of me wanted too…" he took a breath shaking a little. He let a couple of tears fall. "You're a Good person Tiger Claw! You couple of Mistakes it's not the end of the world."

Tiger Claw stared for a bit and hugged him with a big smile as Mikey hugged back. Breaking into a smile himself. Carol knelt down beside him looking at Tiger Claw. "If you ever want to talk more I'm here." She said.

"As am I," Splinter offered.

"Thank you…" Tiger Claw said gratefully.

X X X

Mikey leaned out on the balcony with Klunk resting on the back of his shell. "I didn't know you carried that around with you."

"It helps me. When look at it and remember it's not okay to be perfect. And it's okay to be broken because I can be fixed. Tiger Claw feels the same way I'm sure of it. I'm glad I was able to hold out against Draxum's orders to kill things now." Mikey huffed. "it's odd because no matter what I did I could never bring myself to do something so terrible. I knew in my heart taking a life was horrible. And I can't imagine how much more I'd hate myself if I ever did do what Draxum said. Even if it meant less pain and abuse. I never could even when it would've been easier."

"Mikey…" Klunk muttered sadly nuzzling him.

"You are like the Lily by the Riverbank." They heard Karai say and turned to her as she sat beside them. "It is a lily that blossoms beautifully because it gets son and rich soil in it's location. It never wants water. But should the river rise, the lily will be washed away immediately. So, the question is should a Lily stay in the forest where water and sunshine aren't guaranteed. Or on the Riverbank?"

"I don't know," Mikey admitted. "I'm not even sure where that came from."

"It's a metaphor one must stay true to themselves. It's something my father told me when I felt no joy or any desire to fight. He told me this tale and told me he knew I would fight if I must. And he was right. When he became the Shredder, I stood up and fought. I knew if I did not more life would perish." Karai replied sadly.

"Do you miss your Dad?" Mikey asked.

"Everyday," Karai muttered solemnly looking out to the stars. Mikey leaned against her as she put her arm around him. The Pain Tiger Claw and Gram-Gram were going through he hoped he would never experience it.

X X X

There were five simple flowerpots the plants were slowly lifted out to reveal the Foot Elite. "We're in," Lieutenant hissed triumphantly. Everyone got out carefully as they set their sites on the town itself. "Now once we locate the Shadow Fiend we can –"

"WAAHHHHH!" Shouted the voices of Overdrive Dog Pound and Raptor all in a heap right next to them from falling off the wall.

"We were never here RUN!" Lieutenant shouted as the five took off.

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