Are You Sure I'm Not A Villain?

09

TW: this part contains self-homophobia because of how the character was raised. 

The next day at school was basically the same as the previous and the previous previous and... you see where this is going. It was lunch and he still didn't have any detentions. It was an odd change from the usual.

Casey decided that they were friends now. Because spending two hours scraping gum off every surface of a classroom is the greatest bonding experience.

So now Kai was sitting in the school cafeteria, not eating anything because cafeteria food. And Casey sat across from him, talking about hockey. Apparently he was on the school hockey team. So that was where he got the hockey puck, Kai thought.

"You should come to the next game, dude," Casey was saying, smiling his gap-toothed smile. "They are totally metal!"

Kai nodded. "I don't know. I have a lot of homework and my after school job–"

"YOU HAVE A JOB?!" Casey asked. He looked excited for some reason. "That's so metal, dude! Where do you work at? So I can visit you?"

"Um, well, I–" Kai stuttered. I wish the bell would ring right now to get me out of this situation, he thought.

Just then, the bell rang, signaling lunch was over. Casey blew a strand of hair that came out of his bandana. His gangly form stood up from the lunch table and slung his black backpack over one shoulder. That would cause serious back pain later if he kept wearing it on one shoulder. Backpacks had two straps for a reason, Kai thought. He shook his head as he stood up. Why do I care what this gap-mouth does? We met yesterday!

School proceeded as to be expected. Casey occasionally waved at Kai in the hallways as he was trying to avoid April O' Neil. Kai had no choice but to wave back. If he were to get close to this mysterious Casey Jones, he would have to...*shudder* befriend him.

The idea was foreign to Kai; his mother never let him have friends when he was younger, and the loner habits tended to stick. All he needed to do was act. Yeah, acting. He did plenty of that. Acting like a good son, acting like a good soldier, acting like a good enemy, acting...

Ew, no, Kai thought. That's not even legal. People used to be killed for being... that. What would his father say? But still. He never felt any attraction to girls... whatever. This wasn't something he was going to think about now. 

He walked into the library for last period and went to organizing some books. He heard the clip-clop of Mrs. Thomas' Mary Janes against the linoleum. He placed a Percy Jackson book on one of the shelves marked 'For Some reason You High-Schoolers Actually Like This' and walked back to the rolling cart. It would've been easier just to bring the cart with him, but the cart's wheels had been broken for as long as he had been alive.

Mrs. Thomas was waiting for him. "The bell is about to ring, Kai," she said. Kai shuddered. For some odd reason he did not like when people addressed him by his name. "Take your coffee and brownies and get on your way. I know how your father is."

"Heh heh. Yeah," Kai awkwardly laughed. Mrs. Thomas did not actually know Oroku Saki, but understood that he needed to get home before he got his butt whooped. "Thank you, Mrs. Thomas. I'll see you next week."

"Have a good weekend, Kai!" the elderly woman said, waving.

Kai ran out of the school building. His back ached every time his backpack bounced against it with each step. He knew that his father would probably still be angry at him for not going on patrol the previous night, so he wanted to get going to prove his diligence. Anything not to get another punishment.

He put up his hair again and smudged some black eyeshadow around his eyes. Not only did it look completely badass, but it also helped hide his identity. Somehow. He only had to wait a few minutes for it to become night time.

(cartoon logic, my friends)

He put his mask on and grabbed his scythe, strapping it to his back. Kai was skilled in many varieties of weapons, but the scythe was his favorite by far. He liked to think that he was a messenger of the Grim reaper with every person he killed for the Shredder.

He also pulled on some fingerless gloves for more of a grip on the weapon. He opened his bedroom window and sneaked out onto the roof. He looked around, perched like a gargoyle, looking for the pests named after Italian Renaissance artists. 

He couldn't see them in his general vicinity. Kai jumped from his perch to the next building, on a constant lookout for the turtles and their human friend. He hopped from rooftop to rooftop. The scythe on his back made it more difficult to run, shaft intertwining with his legs with every stride. Kai stopped at a corner. Across the street was the high school. Would the turtles come back to the location in search of the secretive son of Oroku Saki? No, Kai was giving himself too much credit. After all, they had only met once and they got their ass kicked by him.

Kai jumped down off of the fire escape and landed soundlessly next to a dumpster overflowing with garbage. There was a manhole in front of him. He remembered that the turtles went down into the sewers after their fight. Could he go into the tunnels and find their liar, as the mutants had invaded his?

Kai was tempted. His mind flew between the prospects of handing over the turtles to the Shredder and the chance of being outnumbered.

As if by some miracle, Kai heard voices in the distance. Kai rose from his spot on the cracked concrete and darted across the empty street. In a clearing with a playground, the turtles trained and sparred with each other. It was an odd place to be training, Kai thought. Out in the open like this seemed a little dangerous for the mutants.

From his hiding place, Kai watched the sparring, memorizing his enemies' moves and tactics. The red one was not as calculated, swinging his sais every which way.

The blue one was obviously the leader. He had swift, practiced moves with his twin katanas.

The purple one seemed to pause for a second before each blow, almost as if calculating where he should strike next.

The orange one was more of a spontaneous attacker. Using dance moves, his fighting style had a certain quirk that Kai couldn't quite get a read on. It would be difficult to face the orange one again so soon after he had been defeated at the cathedral.

He might need backup for this. He pulled out his phone and sent coordinates to the Foot to let them know where he was. In the meantime, he wanted to study the turtles more.

***

By the time the Foot had arrived, Kai had learned a few important facts about each of the turtles. The red one, Raphael, had a hard time controlling his anger, which Kai could use to his advantage. The blue one, Leonardo, was the eldest. He was appointed the leader of the team, much to the annoyance of the others, especially Raphael. He was passive and kept his emotions in check. A worthy opponent. The purple one, who Kai had previously figured out was called Donatello, was the brainiac. He calculated every move with extreme precision. Kai could also take advantage of this as he paused in between each blow that he gave. The youngest, Michelangelo, was the orange turtle. He was a wild card. He seemed to goof off the most, but still had the adoration of his brothers to keep him safe.

Kai looked around. The Foot should have been there by now. Up on the roof, waiting for Kai, sat the Foot. Kai quietly climbed the fire escape to meet his reinforcements. The Foot stood at attention when they saw him. Kai pointed down to where the turtles were sparring. "On my mark," he said with an open hand.