Hello, one and all! Now that Pulse is done, I'm free to create a new story!

It's about Leo, of course. I'm doing other stuff lately not involving him so much, but I just gotta write about my favorite character! Still, it will definitely involve the others, probably more so than in Dead of Night or Suicide.

And I'm aware that it's kinda like a certain batch of episodes we saw in the fourth season, but trust me, its way different. I was originally going to have it set in the FF season, but I didn't have enough info yet to do that.

Anyways, I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT… yet. That'll change when I conquer the world.

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The man moved in almost a drunken haze, a large grin on his face. By no means was he drunk. He abstained from alcohol. But it didn't hurt to live life with the joy of an intoxicated man, so long as he didn't hurt anyone.

Every once in a while, he laughed out loud, finding something so humorous that he forgot it in his laughter seconds later.

"Ice, rice, nice, dice..." The words slipped easily off his tongue, making him smile.

In the darkness, the streets of New York were a sanctuary. No one cared about someone like him. Well, besides the people walking besides him, anyway. Only their concern was to move as far as they could away from him without falling off the sidewalk.

One such person was a young blonde woman, holding the hand of her miniature. Her daughter looked at him sadly, even as her mother pulled her away.

As they were passing, he smiled at her and gently placed his hand atop of her head, tousling her hair up a little.

She smiled slightly, but the mother recoiled in horror, picking the child up and running away, shouting about perverts as she went.

The man watched her go for a bit before shrugging it off. He was no pervert; he just recognized kindness when he saw it. That's why he gave the power to the girl. She'd use it wisely.

Unfortunately, she'd probably give it to her mother. That was a shame. But at least the child would make the best of it.

He continued his walk with a little less enthusiasm. As he looked around, the man noticed how utterly horrible the world was. Homeless people sat on the streets and the ones with money passed them by without a look. No one cared.

If those homeless citizens had jobs, it'd be different. They'd be accepted into society, other members of the working class… who didn't care about anyone outside their realm of existence.

Such a shame.

Once, he'd had a job. Not too long ago really. But he'd made one little mistake and was fired. Upon leaving, he'd driven around for a while, looking for his bank to get some money. Unable to find it, he'd decided to completely forget about it. Parking his car in a fire lane, he got out and started walking.

That had been last week. He'd just kept walking, sleeping when it was night, eating whatever he could find when his stomach growled… and using the power when he needed to.

Hearing a plunk behind him, he turned around to find his wallet had fallen out of his pocket. Lying open on the ground, he could see a picture of his old face. Usually, he was a fairly handsome, clean-shaven man, but now, his chin was a little gruff, his coal black hair messy, and his dark blue eyes glazed.

There was something wrong with him. But he'd never know it.

Sighing, he bent over and picked up his wallet, staring at his driver's license. Beside the picture was the name: Alexander James Royal.

A little lightbulb went off inside his head. Oh yeah. Alex. That's me.

Calmly, Alex flipped through the wallet, ignoring the other information long forgotten, wondering if there was any money in it. Like the last times he'd done so, there wasn't.

He felt like having pizza. Maybe he'd find a place around here tomorrow with leftovers.

Turning to the left, the man stood by a dumpster. He decided he'd make this his home for the night and sat down.

A pain in his chest exploded. Gasping, Alex doubled over and tried to breathe.

Through the ragged puffs of air, he heard something fall and hit the earth.

He didn't care.

Someone above him said, "Crap."

He didn't care.

Then, the person who'd uttered that word jumped down beside whatever had fallen and began gathering it up.

Still, Alex did not care. All that mattered was the pain, if only the power would let him will it away. But it didn't. Slowly, however, it began to fade on its own.

He heard the person speaking to him. "Hey, are you all right?" The voice asked.

Now he cared.

The voice sounded young; he was sure it was male. Opening his eyes, he looked at him. The teenager was hidden in the shadows. Alex wanted to see him. There was so much kindness in that voice…

In the building behind him, a light flicked on. He smiled as the person was revealed. He'd seen him before- the teen was one of the turtle creatures, the one in blue.

Surprised by the light, the ninja shrunk back a little. "Don't worry." Alex told him. "I ain't scared. And I won't tell anyone about ya."

The turtle hesitated. "Are you okay?" He questioned again.

The pain was nearly gone now. "Yeah." He nodded. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

An aroma filled the air. Cheeses, meat, and hot bread- God, it smelled good.

Frowning, the blue-banded mutant looked him over. "You look half-starved." When Alex shrugged, he turned his attention to the thin box he'd picked up. He had three others in his right arm. "You want something to eat?" He asked, concern written over his features.

Alex's mouth watered. "Umm… that'd be nice. Thank you." He said, getting to his feet, taking in the scent again. "Is that pizza?"

"Yeah." The turtle said, walking over. Placing the boxes on the dumpster, he opened one up. Alex saw a pizza loaded with toppings- meats, veggies, and cheeses. The turtle lifted out five large slices. Making sure no one was looking at a giant turtle, he gave them to the man. "Is that enough?"

The dark-haired man nodded again. "It's plenty." Turning back to the ninja, who was gathering the boxes up, Alex cocked his head.

Such kindness… this turtle was, by far, more compassionate than any one else he'd come across on this journey.

He deserved the power… and he'd know what to do with it.

Tears coming to his eyes, ones that he refused to shed, Alex placed a hand on the turtle's arm. "Thank you." He patted it down once more. "Thank you so much."

The green one smiled in return. "You're welcome. Now, are you sure that's all you need?" He asked.

"Positive." Alex told him.

"Okay." The ninja looked him over slowly. "Well, I gotta go. Goodbye- and… take it easy."

"I will." He told him.

Watching him go, Alex decided that he would. In fact, he decided he was done walking journey. He was going to stay in New York.

Sitting down again, a dreamy expression passed over his face. In his ears, a gentle voice, similar, but higher than his whispered soothingly to him, explaining the mysteries of life.

"The power." he said in a soft breath, completely enthralled by it. "The power…"

Savoring each bite, he began to chew on the pizzas.

&&&&&

Three days later.

The two police officers put away their guns, looking at the dead end in the alley. A teen they'd caught selling drugs had gotten away, again.

As his partner turned around, the officer noticed an odd looking lump by a dumpster. Frowning, he drew his gun once more and walked over to it, hoping it was their perp.

Carefully, he pulled back the blanket that was covering it.

No, not the criminal. But still, a person. The cop looked him over; he wasn't a familiar face.

But he certainly was dead. The man was pale, lips almost blue, and it seemed that his bladder had given way at his death.

Shaking his head sadly, he called his partner back. "Hey, Merv! I think we got one for the morgue."

As he waited for his friend to come, he checked out the scene. Nothing appeared to be signs of a crime.

All that was around the man was some trash that had missed the dumpster and five pizza crusts.

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So, how was that? Did you like?

Man, I hope you did! Please review, and I'll try to update as soon as I can!