A/N: Sorry that this took some time. You see, the first week of March was really...really...REALLY stressful to me. By the way. Thank you for the great feedbacks from the last chapter! I really appreciate them! And you know what; I finally have much time to write stuffs. And! If you have a pet, I'm sure you will understand this chapter. AND! I apologize this early for a very long throwback/dream and Author's note below.

Well... Why bother, right? Just go on with the chapter and enjoy! Please leave a review! ;)

Chapter 11

Leo

Little Leonardo was wandering the dark sewer tunnels, alone by himself; the first time in his life. He knew he wasn't supposed to be here, and he knew the consequences. Well, it was not his fault why he was here the whole time; it was Thunder's fault, his playful dog.

Leo was shivering because of the coldness, his fingers and feet were numb, almost paralyzed. His breathing was rigid and his sight was so obscured. He and the winter season had never been best of friends; he was in fact a reptile/mammal hybrid. He frowned and stomped a foot.

"Thunder! Come on you little dude! I have something for you to chew!" he called, but his voice only bounced back into him. He continued to search for his only dog friend, although he felt like both of them were already lost. He squeezed his eyes and blinked several times. His eyelids were getting heavy and he could hear his stomach's plead.

He stopped at the edge of a sewer tunnel and folded his knees. He sighed and closed his eyes. Out of all animals living in this planet, his pet dog was the naughtiest of them all. Raph's pet turtle, Spike was very timid, of course because it was a turtle -a normal turtle to be exact- and his pet dog was just really...more hyperactive than his little brother, Mikey.

He sighed and rolled his eyes around. His eyes narrowed because of a shadow that had passed from his right. He quickly stood up in his fighting stance. "Who's there?!" the shadow passed again on the same spot, but this time, it was accompanied by footsteps. "Uhm... Sensei?" his voice cracked and his knuckles trembled. "Th...th...thunder?" Leo slowly tiptoed and peeked on the edge of the wall. His eyes narrowed and he shortly gasped.

He saw a big man from a short distance, which was holding his little puppy on its back, like a cat grabbing its kitten. The man seemingly heard him gasp, so Leo hid himself again and covered his mouth with his hands.

No... Thunder... Tears started to flow from his dull bluish gray eyes. He scanned his ground for any weapons; a little stick, rock, or anything just to inflict damage to the man who tended to hurt his pet. Thunder was his only friend. He was the only one who listens to him and would never scold him. If that man ever tried to pinch Thunder, Leo wouldn't hesitate to hurt him, even though he was a lot smaller than the mountain man.

What would Captain Ryan do? He thought. Leo took a deep breath and grabbed the stone he had found. He slowly crept and went at the edge of the pipe and aimed the rock at the man's hand. He swiftly threw the rock, as the object hit the person's hand directly. The man grunted, and instinctively let go of the whining brown puppy. The canine fell on the wet sewer floor with a thug, given the height of the man.

"Thunder!" Leo revealed himself out of the shadows, as he furiously glared at the man. His teeth were gritted, and his fists were tightly clenched. He didn't decide to attack the man soon, because he knew that he could crack his shell with a click of a finger. So, he stood in a fighting stance, and let the person notice him.

The tall man rubbed his hand with gritted teeth, as he slowly turned his head towards the spot where he heard a childish voice. "How dare you to-" the person stopped in mid - sentence and narrowed his dark brown eyes at the little turtle child. He had expected that he would see a wimp little boy, but instead, he saw a standing turtle who was as tall as a normal child of his age. In his mind, he saw a freak.

"What are you?!" the person pointed a finger at Leo who had plastered a poker face, and was still standing in a fighting position; his fists were crumpled into solid rolls.

Leo scoffed and rolled his glimmering sapphire eyes. "Never saw a mutant turtle?" he said with full confidence. He studied the features of the first human he saw; he had dark brown and messy hair. He had countless of tattoos all over his body starting from his head and down to his feet. His biceps were indeed large and seemed to had crushed a ten- wheeler. He had steel rings protruding his nostrils and his bottom lip and the man was a lot taller than his sensei. He felt like his legs were going to collapse anytime, but he had to be strong for his puppy. He needed to save him.

The mountain man raised the ridge of his left eyebrow and wrinkled his nose; giving the look of grimace. "Mutant... Turtle?" the man laughed manically, which seemed like he just called an earthquake. The laugh indicated that he was insulting the little turtle, who kept calm and collected despite of it. Leo was just being curious, so he waited for him to talk further. "Is that your pet, turtle? I'm very sorry to say but it's time to say goodbye to him," with that, the tall human took a step forward and aimed his fist down at his paralyzed pet dog on the floor.

Leo responded to his senses and quickly dashed towards Thunder. "Don't touch him!" He landed just above Thunder, his dog in between his feet. He took a glance at his poor pet; he almost threw up when he saw his dying puppy. He had so many cuts and bruises all over his little body and the breathing of the small mammal was very rigid; at any moment it would end. His little brown eyes were wet with tears, like he was pleading to his master. Leo's heart broke into pieces by seeing his only pet near to his demise.

Instead of landing the last blow at the puppy, his fist hit the head of the turtle. Leo's world seemed to crush towards him, as every piece of him ached, but his head was too much of a pain. He collapsed as he kneeled down, holding his head. He closed his eyes tight and yelled in agony. He didn't expect that humans were like this; strong but reckless in their way. In fact, their cruel way

The man was surprised by the turtle's sudden action, but then he never regretted hitting Leo accidentally. He even felt proud by what he had done, rather than feeling sorry. He grinned and revealed a single gold tooth from his mouth. A man with this on the surface was respected. They could get what they want and could do what they want to anybody. It didn't matter even if they step on to an innocent, as long as they get what they think are for them.

You'll pay for this, mud boy. Leo thought, as he regained his senses, but still throbbed with pain. He slowly steadied himself to stand straight, although his bleeding head was killing him softly. He glared at the man furiously, showing the man that he was all ticked off and ready to seek for a little revenge. But then, his fierce was slowly dispersing because of thinking of the life of his pet dog. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't since this time, he needed to fight for his life. His hopes to rescue his puppy were sluggishly turning into a retrieval. He just didn't know what to do; especially that no one was around to help him. A stray tear fell down from his eyes, but it was quickly wiped away by him in a harsh manner.

By seeing this kind of attitude of the human, Leo's entire dream of befriending a single one of them was all gone.

The high man showed no fear despite of little Leo's attempt to make him feel it. He was more fired up; ready to give the child the pain he deserved. "How could you endure that kind of blow, freak?" he cracked his knuckles, indicating that he wanted to crush some more bones from the young turtle.

Leo already knew that stance, just by experiencing that from his younger brother, Raphael. If his hot headed brother starts to crack his fists, it means that you must take a distance away from him or grab a trusty shield to protect your face from deforming. But it wasn't Raph in front of him; it was another man and far more dangerous than his little brother.

He relied upon his instincts and he swiftly ran past the man. He had fooled the human, because he averted his attention from the dog and turned to Leo. This time, he enthralled the person and gained all of his concentration towards him.

"Now, mud boy! Give me your...best shot!" Leo said with the best confident voice he could muster. He tried to hide the trembling sensation from his body, which, almost failed. He watched movies starring actors that were people, but he never thought that they were scarier than he ever imagined.

The man smirked, and launched himself forward towards the turtle with a yell. Leo folded his knees and placed a leg backwards, collecting his momentum. He applied what he learned from Master Splinter, now to protect himself.

The tall man stretched his leg, aiming a kick at the turtle. The time his foot was only an inch away from Leo, he swiftly ducked and rolled, dodging the attack. After he avoided the hit, he kicked backwards, pounding the back of the man with a force he wasn't satisfied. He was a lot weaker than when they were in training. Leo doubted if that kick inflicted damage to the tall man.

To his surprise, his kick did damage because the human winced. But hurting the man wasn't a really great idea. It just made the taller guy in a rage.

Leo gulped and cautiously took a distance away from the guy. He could imagine the human steaming off and his face turning red.

The man did not utter any more word. His gritted teeth with a sound that drums your ears was just enough sign to say that he'd turned into a big monster. He recklessly ran towards the already fearful turtle and quickly pounded a fist on the leaf green terrapin.

The poor turtle was sent flying towards the nearest sewer wall. He grunted, as his eyes were slowly closing. He opened his eyes wide and saw his dying puppy on the floor. He literally gnarled and forced himself to sprint towards his pet. Fighting wouldn't do a thing to both of them, so he decided to run away.

But things were not easy as they were said.

He was able to grab his dog and run within distance, but the man was fast enough to catch up. The human took a tight grasp of his carapace which made him take a full stop. He tried to escape from the hold, but the man was strong. He wagged his legs and screamed. "Lemme go! Lemme go!"

"You'll pay for what you did, you little twerp! " the human threw him from afar with a great force. He never let go of the little puppy in his grasp and tried to protect him when the gravity finally pulls them down. Leo didn't fail to protect his pet when they both crushed on the wet sewer floor. He had landed on his back, with his puppy around his arms.

"Yo-you're safe now, little Thunder. I am with you," he whispered softly. He raised his wobbly head and met the deadly gaze of the tall human. He trembled, as he stared against the human's dark brown eyes, pleading. His pet dog raised his head as well and slowly turned around. Leo's eyes widen when he saw it.

Thunder barked loudly, as if trying to drive away the human. He gnarled, showing his fangs.

Leo narrowed his eyes and tried to get up. His pet dog was standing on his plastron, ready to fight back the man. "Thunder..." tears started to fall from his eyes. His dog was trying to protect him; trying to do its best to shield his master. This was remarkably the best act of a very loyal dog towards his master; sacrificing his life for the life of the one who took care of him.

Thunder continued to bark and when the man took a step forward, the canine leapt and bit the tall man's hand. He buried his teeth and fangs in the human's skin, blood oozing out from the wound. The man screamed and vigorously shook off the dog from its bite.

Leo tried to call his pet and told him to stop, but the dog only deepened its bite. The turtle's heart started to beat so fast; he was really nervous and afraid. He didn't know what to do, whether he would help his pet puppy, or not. He kneeled down, as he buried his fingers on the concrete ground.

The moment turned into a slow motion when the tall man slid something from his pocket; a short knife. Leo yelled as he watched in horror. The human stabbed the poor puppy, ending the animal's precious life. The dead body of Thunder fell on the ground, as Leo screamed the loudest.

The turtle's eyes remained dilated, and were locked on to the bloody figure of his dog friend. At that time, his world collapsed like a brittle glass. His mind flashed countless of memories he and Thunder shared. He goes into training with his puppy. They eat their foods together, like real friends. He tells his secrets and tells some stories with the dog. He cuddles the brown puppy in bed and he takes a bath with it. He was happy with Thunder, but with just a spark, all of those joyful memories disappeared. The little pup he saw all wet in the sewers back from over a year ago was now lying down, dead. As cold as the ice; gone with the wind.

He was lost for words. He didn't know what to do next, now that his dear pet was gone. His tears were all dried up and he was so tired. But then, he raised his head up and saw the one who stole Thunder's life. The young turtle suddenly felt rage. He wanted to do the same thing towards the man. In fact, he wanted to tear him down.

Sensei was right about humans. Not only some of them! They are all cruel! He remembered what his father told him about humans. They wouldn't accept them on the surface and would just treat them like rubbish. They would just try to hurt them or worse. They wouldn't understand them; they wouldn't accept freaks like them. He glared at the man more furiously than before.

"You, humans don't have hearts. You kill innocents!" with that final word, he charged at the one who killed his dearest pet. He kicked and punched with all of his remaining strength, even though some of it didn't do anything. He wanted the man to pay from what he did; he wanted the man to die as well.

Because of all the damage Leo had received from the much stronger man, he got tired quickly. The human took the chance and grabbed Leo by the neck and squeezed the air out of him.

"You pathetic being! You don't deserve to live! Freaks like you have no space in this world!" the man squeezed tighter and tighter, until Leo's face turned into purple.

The leaf green turtle gasped for air and tried to fight back, but he couldn't. The lack of air overpowered him, and his body refused to work. His eyes were slowly closing, as he was only seeing darkness. His hands fell limply to his side.

From the shadows, a figure appeared and landed a strong punch at the man's face. The human flew away because of the force, and he had released the turtle from his tight grasp. Leo coughed as he tried to regain the lost oxygen and fill his lungs again.

He rolled his eyes around, trying to find the one, who saved his life, but he was too weak and his sight wouldn't work. He was insanely dizzy and his body forces him to pass out, but he was too determined to know who saved him.

A large being landed in front of him. He stared from its feet up to its head. The bulky figure had orange feet and stripes of black all over its entire body. It had claws and short ears and stood like a human being. From the books he had read, this being was a tiger. The tiger who have saved his life was staring at him; its amber eyes were piercing through his soul. Upon seeing his savior, he slowly closed his eyes and finally passed out.

-'":;!?,.

The blue clad turtle woke up from his dream and found himself hanging from somewhat. He was carried by none other than, Tiger Claw, while he was doing several leaps from rooftop to rooftop. It was him. Leo recognized Tiger Claw; he was the same tiger who saved him back on the time when he was just eight. He still had the tail which was cut off. But still, he knew that this tiger hurt his siblings and his friends. No wonder he wanted him to pay for hurting his family.

Leo stretched out his left and good arm and hit Tiger Claw's back with his elbow. He jumped backwards and landed on his back. With that bad landing, his body seared with pain, as he screamed in agony. He forgot about his battered body.

Tiger Claw grunted and turned his back. He raised a brow and crossed his arms. "You know that you're helpless, don't you? You cannot fight anymore. You're too weak," He took several steps towards Leo, who was lying on the ground and screaming in pain.

Leo tried to resist the burning pain inside his body. He slowly raised his head and used an arm to support his upper body to stand. It was then followed by the movement of his legs, until he was fully standing.

"It was you. You were the tiger back then!" he raised his head and met Tiger Claw's gaze. He couldn't believe his eyes; the tiger back from the past that brought him salvation was now dragging him to his demise.

Tiger Claw's eyes narrowed as he entangled his arms. "Yes, child. It was me. I saved your life," He said slowly, as if talking to a kid. He smirked and stood his ground more confidently. He was very sure that he could use this advantage, now that the turtle remembered him.

"So why are you doing this, huh? You were a friend seven years ago!" Leo shouted and bit his lips. A friend. He regretted what he did when he was younger. He gave all of his trust to the tiger. He thought that he was better than the others, not like the tall man, but they were equal. In fact, betrayal was a lot worse than cruelty.

"Aren't you happy that we meet again?" Tiger Claw smirked at Leo and cracked his knuckles. He grabbed a gun from its holster and aimed it at Leo. He quickly pulled the trigger.

Leo's eyes narrowed and swiftly jumped upwards, successfully dodging the shot. "You're not the same like before. You changed!" He hissed and unsheathed both katanas from his back, even if it gave him a pain big time. He noticed the other short blade clipped from his side. He grabbed it, and bit its hilt. Now, he was about to use a triple katana.(*) "Forget everything we've been through," he muttered under his breath, with pure hatred. At this point, he already had forgotten about all that Tiger Claw did to him when he was a kid. Those were only illusions for the blue clad today.

Tiger Claw smirked. "You still have the guts to fight, Leonardo. Let's see how long you can take," With that, Tiger Claw placed the gun back and unsheathed his sharp razor claws. The two ran towards each other as their weapons clashed. The heat of the sun was diminishing, and thick clouds slowly covered the sky.

Karai

The pink clad kunoichi yawned as she stretched her arms and legs. She noticed that the sky darkened a bit, as if a rain was approaching. She stood up and brushed off the dirt out of her skirt. She decided to go back to Shredder's lair and wait till twelve midnight there. She was a little, or a lot excited of what was about to happen that very hour.

Meeting someone whom she admired was really exciting at any point. But at the same time, a stain against her honor as a kunoichi who was the best in terms of deceiving. To her, it didn't matter, as long as she would continue to follow what her heart was telling her. This was the most serious, -so far- that she ever felt towards someone. Apparently, she couldn't understand herself. She was obsessed with the enemy, that she already wanted to take him home. She frowned and readied herself to go back to the large dungeon she called.

As she was about to jump on the other rooftop, she captured some figures from the corner of her eyes. She turned her head to her left, and saw the scene much clearer. She felt a sudden strong beat of her heart. She quickly paled and the colors of her face drained. Oh no.

Karai went at the corner and focused her eyes on the figures. She saw Leo, -because of the swords and the shell- fighting a large tiger. She noticed that Leo wasn't in a good shape. He was sluggishly moving and his moves were not as strong as they really were.

At first, she just thought that the turtles had been fighting another mutant in town, so that wasn't in her business. But then, her conscience haunted her. She observed that Leo was obviously overpowered by his opponent and it seemed like he was losing in his battle. A hysterical afterthought entered her mind; what if Shredder sent that mutant to do something really bad? She wasn't sure. She decided to watch for a short while and observe the battle.

She noticed that Leo was constantly squeezing his other arm. She had also praised the way he managed to use three blades. The sky shortly cleared out, so Karai was able to take a better look at the battle. Her eyes captured something red against Leo's other arm. By seeing that red thing, she already knew what it was.

She quickly jumped on the other rooftop and unsheathed her tanto clipped on her side. She was always armed and dangerous, so whatever fight comes, she is all prepared. What is a ninja, if he or she is unarmed?

When she was only a building far from them, she stopped for a while and slid another pink colored handkerchief. She tied it around her mouth to the back of her head to cover some parts of her face. If ever the tiger was summoned by Shredder, she could hide her identity. It was better to be sure at any times. There were no one around to count in when she gets into trouble. Shredder's punishment was always waving at her, and she didn't want to shake hands with it.

After finishing, she held her tanto tight and quickly leapt on the battle ground. She immediately gained the attentions of the two fighters. She stood on her ground with a smirk behind her handkerchief. She swiped a stray hair strand and placed it behind her ear. Karai rolled her eyes to Leo and gave him a wink.

Leo's eyes widen as he felt the heat rising all over him, even though the sky was dark and it started to drizzle. He clipped the shorter katana back to his side and raised a brow. He observed the features of the girl that suddenly appeared. He thought that he already met the girl from somewhere because of the way she stood and the way she stared. He suddenly felt a spark in his mind. Karai?

Karai gestured at the turtle that Tiger Claw was aiming a slash at him by motioning her head at his back. Leo quickly shielded himself using his katanas to block the incoming attack. The force of Tiger Claw's blow was then absorbed by Leo's arms. He grunted as his hands slipped the swords. Tiger Claw used the time to give the turtle another hit. Leo raised his head, as his eyes narrowed.

It was Karai's turn to help. She dashed forward and stretched out her arms which held her tanto and protected Leo from the hit. She raised her arms and pushed the tiger away.

"You okay?" she whispered and offered her hand to Leo. When her and his eyes were fixed onto each other, she suddenly felt that something had been tickling the thin skin of her stomach. She only wished that she didn't blush.

The blue clad turtle stared at her hand and then to her eyes. He mouthed Karai's name as he grabbed her hand and stood up. He still struggled because of the continuous loss of blood and his exhaustion. Karai concluded that he had been in this state for a long period of time. She couldn't stop herself from worrying.

Karai's gaze softened for a short while but when she noticed that Leo almost blurted out her name, she quickly glared at him. Leo shrugged, asking her why. She just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. With that, Leo understood what she meant. She wanted to hide her identity from the tiger.

Tiger Claw quickly regained his composure and prepared another slash. He aimed at Karai, but she was, as expected, prepared. She swiftly turned around and used her weapon to block. This gave Leo some time to pick his weapons on the ground.

Leo and Karai stood alongside each other, both in a fighting stance. Inside both of their minds, they were leaping with joy, that finally, they would fight together.

Tiger Claw raised a brow. He didn't say any word as he charged at the pair. He just thought that Karai was just a team member of the turtles, just like Casey and April. So just then, whether a lady, he wouldn't hesitate to hurt or even bend bones. He gives no mercy to anyone.

Leo and Karai went to separate directions, and left Tiger Claw at the middle of them. They nodded at each other and quickly ran towards the tiger. They both used their weapons to block each of Tiger Claw's attempting shots, as they successfully hit the weakened tiger with fast punches and full powered kicks. They were almost winning.

But Tiger Claw always had a trick hidden behind his sleeves.

With a blink of the eye, he jumped upwards and slid something from his vest. He dropped the small object on the floor, as it released a thick smoke. The two pair from below him coughed and instinctively closed their eyes. Before landing completely on the ground, Tiger Claw located Karai from the smoke. He leapt behind her and grabbed her, making Karai unable to escape.

Karai gasped and tried to escape from Tiger Claw, but it was no use. As the smoke cleared, Karai placed her pride down and called some help from Leo.

The blue clad turned his back and saw Karai, being held by Tiger Claw. His eyes narrowed. "Let her go!" he gritted his teeth and glared at Tiger Claw. The pain in his arm intensified and he felt like spinning. He just wanted to sleep right now, but then again, he couldn't. He had someone to save. A flashback entered his mind; the time when his puppy must be saved, but he failed. His first and last pet died in front of his eyes.

He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. No. This can't be happening!

Karai narrowed her eyes. "Leo! What's wrong?!" she noticed that Leo hesitated from attacking. She didn't know why, but she was sure that something was off. She saw that Leo was trembling, like there was a mini earthquake below him. He was as well, near to falling from his ground and she observed that the wound in his right arm made him a lot weak. He was in no condition in battling, and his skin color was very alarming. It seemed like he had donated blood three times within a week; to make a long story short, Leo couldn't go on.

"Are you afraid of failing again?" Tiger Claw smirked and squeezed his grab tighter, just to hear Karai wince.

Karai stopped herself from wincing. She didn't want Leo to hear her, because she knew that this tiger only wanted to torment the blue clad. She stared at Leo worryingly as she bit her lips behind her handkerchief. She rolled her eyes around, trying to find a hole in Tiger Claw's grasp. An imaginary light bulb shone above her head.

The rain started to fall.

Leo slowly opened his heavy eyes and still managed to glare fiercely at Tiger Claw. He sheathed his weapons back as he frowned. The rain cooled the place, but it didn't help him from recovering. In fact, the coolness only made him weaker. But it was still water. He could be a little hydrated by the rainfall.

Using her stretched hand, she slid a blinding powder from somewhere beneath her blouse and slammed it on Tiger Claw's face. The tiger yelped and harshly rubbed his eyes. Karai swiftly ran beside Leo and stared against his grayish azure eyes. She wondered for a short while on how the color of his eyes changed. She just thought that it was because of the reflection of the clouds above them, but she still couldn't resist wondering. She cracked a reassuring smile at Leo, and then stood in a fighting stance, her back facing Leo.

Leo smiled and grabbed Karai's wrist. "I have something to tell you," He said feebly and softened his gaze.

Karai looked over her shoulder. "I hope that could wait 'til later," she noticed that Leo's hand was trembling, like he was trying to stop something.

"No. It can't," Leo replied as he hung his head down. He took a glance at Tiger Claw, who was already burning mad and was heading towards them. He frowned and bit his bottom lip. He breathed out and let go of her hand.

Karai raised a brow. "It better be," she lowered her body and gripped the hilt of her weapon tightly. She didn't bother to ask, because she knew that their opponent was incoming. The fluffy moments could wait until later. They had scheduled a time for those.

"Please Karai, stay out of the way when...when someone gets out of control," he closed his eyes and clenched his fists tight.

What do you mean? Karai's eyes grew wide. She remembered it; back from the last night. She still didn't know what happened to Leo inside that Kraang laboratory. During the same night, he witnessed how Leo fought with his brothers; she knew that Shredder only controlled him. Then a thought came into her mind like a tidal wave; she remembered the time when Leo suddenly came out of control in the Kraang lab. He almost killed Xever and Bradford that time. She gasped. That's what he meant!

She stood strong on her ground and glared at the incoming foe. She was all wet because of the heavy rain, and the rain didn't seem to stop. Lightnings flashed and created a scar in the sky. Those were accompanied by loud roars of thunders and strong wind blows; there was a storm. She glanced at the once calm Hudson Bay; it was now raging and its waves seemed to come closer to the shore. Weather is really unpredictable. She thought.

She charged at the tiger, her hair and skirt fluttering with the strong wind. She rapidly slashed her sharp tanto at Tiger Claw. Some of her hits were successful, and some were deflected back. As she was swishing the blade, she was also firing several kicks and straight punches. The storm seemed to join with the action because it was getting stronger as the time goes on.

Tiger Claw, on the other hand, was constantly glancing at the turtle. He noticed that he was just standing there, and his eyes were tightly closed. In his instincts, the more idle his target, the easier it can be captured. But when he tries to run towards the blue clad, his female opponent seems to notice it immediately and she quickly blocks his way. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in frustration.

The capture mission already took over an hour and still, Tiger Claw hadn't had anything on his palms. He glared at Karai as he prepared a fist to launch.

Karai twirled her tanto as she jumped upwards. She rested her palm on Tiger Claw's head, as she back flipped and landed at the tiger's back. She kicked his back, as she folded her knees and slid down in between the tiger's legs, by the help of the wet floor. The moment that her back was facing the tiger, she launched herself up and landed a double kick.

Tiger Claw gained several bruises by Karai's well performed katas. He concluded that the girl he was facing was a well trained kunoichi and an expert in ninjutsu. He underestimated his opponent. Now, he would show how good he was as well.

The tiger stretched out his left arm and folded his right. He placed a leg back and folded the other a bit.

The pink clad kunoichi raised a brow. We're not boxers. She scoffed, as a sign of insult to the tiger. She quickly used her tanto to shield herself, as she tried to go nearer.

Tiger Claw smirked and launched countless of punches from his left fist, hitting Karai painfully head on. She quickly backed off, and noticed a track of blood running from her lips. She removed it by using her still- tied handkerchief.

How can I get through it? She rolled her eyes down to Tiger Claw's legs. She didn't see any weak points from there and anytime, the tiger would just be able to counter attack. The bullet punches weren't the only problem. He also had his right arm ready to rise up and his legs ready to swipe her defense once she got nearer. She gritted her teeth and creased her brows.

Leo took several breaths and finally opened his eyes. He saw that Karai was getting a hard time getting to counter attack. Tiger Claw's stance was clearly remarkable. He unsheathed his katanas, which gathered the attention of Karai and Tiger Claw.

Karai's expression brightened, even though Leo couldn't see her smile. She turned her head to Leo, her stare giving the look that she needed some help.

Leo slowly walked towards Karai, with four eyes following his steps. He turned to Karai with a serious look from his face. "You must attack him from below, to crush his defense. I'll attack head on," Leo said, as he grabbed the sword clipped on his side and bit its hilt once more.

Karai's eyes grew large, as she raised a brow. Would that be possible?

The blue clad removed the sword from his mouth. "Trust me," he bit it again, as he stood in his fighting stance.

The pink clad gasped shortly, but then she nodded. She adjusted the knot of her handkerchief, as she stood confidently beside the blue clad. She didn't know that Leo could also read minds; or maybe he was just prepared for follow up questions.

The two of them swiftly dashed towards the strong offense and defense stance of Tiger Claw. Karai bowed down and targeted the tiger's legs. Leo charged forward and using his twin blades, he was able to shield himself from the bullet speeded punches. The sword he was biting wasn't just a decoration. This was his main weapon. The blade of the short katana was towards his left. He would use it to bombard Tiger Claw's offense.

Karai was successful in destroying Tiger Claw's perfect stance, since he was distracted whether he would retain the positions of his arms or his legs. Because of that, he wouldn't be able to launch a good kick.

Leo finally saw the opportunity to strike. He went directly towards the right punch. As fast as lightning, he slid his upper body towards his right side, making the powerful punch to hit the blade of the katana. Leo was forced to step back because of the blow. He took a glance at the edges of his blade; it was dripping with blood, but it was quickly washed away because of the rain.

Tiger Claw's knuckle almost broke, but he was grateful it wasn't. He just got a deep cut that created some cracks within his bones. He looked at it with narrowed eyes. He couldn't believe on what he saw; he was getting defeated by the turtle, and he got nothing to do. But a thought entered into his mind; there was still a way.

"I know that you already gave all of your strength, turtle and I know that you won't be able to stand this!" The pair didn't know that he would still be able to attack, even if they had found the weak points of the tiger's stance. He quickly took a step forward towards Leo and successfully hit his chest with a solid blow from both of his fists, even though the other one wasn't too good.

Leo's eyes narrowed, as he flew backwards because of the force. The impact made his heart to skip some beats. His brain didn't receive the enough amount of oxygen; resulting to unconsciousness. He crashed to the ground, as his weapons cluttered beside him.

"No! Leo!" Karai rushed towards the blue clad and sat beside his lying body. She placed a finger on his carotid pulse, located somewhere in his neck, to know if he was still alive. She felt a weak and slow beat, but at least, there was. She sighed and turned at Tiger Claw with a very fierce glare.

"How dare you to do that?!" she dashed towards the tiger and rapidly shot kicks and punches, all of those weren't a product of her ninjutsu training. She was just firing blows based on her instinct, and based on her fiery rage. She knew that the hit given by Tiger Claw was very fatal. It pushes the rib cage down to the heart, which may cause the pumping organ to stop temporarily or permanently. That blow was used by ninjas over a thousand years for assassination.

Tiger Claw was constantly dodging the attacks, but because he was already weakened during the previous battles, he couldn't counter attack. He just stood there like a punching bag or a dummy. This time, he knew he lost. If he would wake up soon from some hit, he would depart back to Japan and wait for Shredder's new plans for him.

Karai finally out balanced Tiger Claw. She flipped him with her leg and gave him one, last punch, just to finally put him into deep sleep. After that very strong enough punch, she panted, as her handkerchief fell down to her neck.

She quickly turned her back and went towards Leo. She held his uninjured arm, as she tried to wake him up. "Leo? Wake up now," she tried to stop her tears from falling down. Again, she didn't want to be vulnerable like this, and she didn't want to cry.

The storm was still strong and apparently it wouldn't stop at that time. Both of them were all wet because of the rainwater and Karai found herself and even Leo, shivering because of the cold. The temperature was lowered more by the wind.

"Come on, I can't carry you," she said softly. She held his cheek and cuddled it with her fingers. Her hands were trembling because of mixed fatigue, nervousness and cold. She just wanted to sit beside a fireplace and drink warm chocolate, but she couldn't do it. She didn't want to leave Leo there.

To make both of them warm, she leaned on Leo and laid her chest against his plastron. She rested her head on Leo's arm, as she wrapped her arms around him. She slowly closed her eyes and hoped that the blue clad would wake up, or there would be someone to help.

A/N: Finally... Leorai moments! Those may not be so romantic or sweet, (And gosh... Those were tragic) but if you'll wait, you'll get what you want!

(*) Is there somebody among you that knows the anime, One Piece? If you do, you also know who among the Straw Hat Pirates has the triple sword. I don't necessarily need to tell you.

And you know what? The dog 'Thunder' here was really a name of my late pet dog. He died brutally by the hands of our oh-so-cruel and was drunk-that-night neighbor and had been thrown in the nearest brook from us. I still couldn't get over with that.

And! The idea of Leo having the puppy was because I realized, (and I bet you also realized. It's obvious) that he hasn't got any pet. Raph got Spike/Slash, Donnie got his Spy Roaches and Mikey got Ice Cream Kitty.

AND! I was REALLY heartbroken because of the episode, "The Pig and the Rhino". Why did Karai need to say goodbye?! Where is justice? jshelton010, Your, Casey and my idea about the "Comet, comet," thingy wasn't right. But well...

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!