"The procedure was a success, both Leo and Jonah are both healthy nine-year-olds." A man in a lab coat said as the man who trained both Leo and Jonah stood, a pleased smile on his face.
"Good, thank you Dr. Perceli, you've served your New Confederacy immensely, we will bring the Union down to their knees with these two." Dr. Perceli looked at the red-eyed boy and the blue-eyed boy with a bit of fear, yet skepticism, something the old man didn't miss.
"Oh, these boys are four years in the making of my training. They're not game-changers yet, but they will be in a year or two." Dr. Perceli pushed his glasses up on his face a bit more, a bead of sweat trailing down his cheek as he saw the gazes of both Leo and Jonah seemingly glare at him.
"The war just started, so with these two in two years, I'm sure we can turn the tables." The old man nodded as he slapped the scientist on the shoulder, causing him to jump slightly.
"You get it, good. Come, Leo, Jonah, I wish to test out your abilities." The two boys got up, not paying the scientist any attention as they followed their master out of the room, causing Dr. Petreli to sigh in relief.
A young girl, also in a lab coat walked up to Dr. Petreli, worry on her face at the sight of the doctor lathered in fatigue.
"Are you okay, Dr. Petreli?" He wiped the sweat off of his brow and nodded.
"I'm fine, Skiy," His eyes then looked at the door the three have just used to leave before a shiver crawled down his spine. "It's just that those boys are monsters, and they will only grow under Mr. Alaric." She looked a bit fearful at the doctor before speaking.
"What did you do to the two boys?" He let out a sigh as he took out of glasses, fiddling with the lenses as shame and guilt filled his entire system.
"I've quite possibly quintupled their strength, and they were already strong, to begin with, being able to lift up to two-hundred pounds. They're also faster and can think faster than most humans in the world. They can see in the dark and can hear a twig snap a mile away. I've created two superhumans, and I've indirectly have killed thousands, I am the real monster." He took out a dagger, causing the woman to take a few steps back.
With a crazed look in his eyes, Dr. Petreli quickly killed Skiy by stabbing her five times in the chest, one stab piercing her lung and the other her heart. As blood pooled around her corpse, her lab coat being stained red, Dr. Petreli quickly went down to the basement of the laboratory and began messing with the water boiler. A twisted grin came across his face.
"No one else will touch my research, nor order me to make anymore super-humans, for now on, no more superhumans will be made!" And with that, he twisted a knob as the laboratory was suddenly enveloped in an explosion, killing everyone inside and destroying any evidence of what has been there.
A couple of miles away, Alaric, Jonah, and Leo felt the ground tremble under their feet, and a smirk appeared on Alaric's face.
"Master," Leo began. "Are they dead?" Alaric nodded.
"Of course, we needn't any more of your kind, two is enough." They kept walking in silence before they appeared before two large boulders. Alaric gestured for the boys to go to one boulder each.
The boys did as they were told, standing in front of the boulders, awaiting instructions.
"Jonah, with all your strength, punch that boulder. I wish to see the results of Dr. Petreli's genetic modification." Jonah nodded as he turned around, his blue eyes shining in the dark as his blonde hair waved in the wind before he let out a battle cry as he punched the boulder with all his might, splitting it in half, then into fourths, causing the once large boulder to fall to the ground in four large pieces. Alaric grinned, excited about the prospect of harsher training for Jonah.
"Good. Now Leo, do the same." Leo nodded as he took a deep breath, the nine-year-old's black hair waving in the wind as his red eyes suddenly burned throughout the night before he cocked his arm back and swung, punching the boulder as hard as he could as dust suddenly flew into the air, blocking both Jonah's and Alaric's vision.
"What happened?" Jonah asked as he coughed a bit. As the dust settled, Jonah couldn't help the jealousy that had infiltrated his feelings at the sight of what Leo had done to his boulder.
Leo had shattered his boulder into pebbles.
"Outstanding," Was the breathless reply that Leo had gotten from Alaric, making the boy extremely pleased with himself. "Absolutely outstanding!"
Flashback End
"Tannis," Leo yelled as he eyed the redhead from the corner of his eyes, walking from a tiring day from school. "What're you doing?" Tannis, who was on the opposite side of the sidewalk across the road, looked up and saw Leo giving her an annoyed look.
"Nothing, just trailing you and you're. . .bodyguard." She said that last word with such disgust that it offended Alexis just a bit, but she bit her tongue. This was her employer's friend, or, ex? She didn't know, nor did she really care. She only cared about making some money, so for the sake of that, she was quiet.
Tannis didn't get it. Why would the Red Reaper need a bodyguard? Why was he playing an untrained idiot? Why was he acting like he was the lowest in the school? It was disgusting and even caused her to throw up a little in her mouth at the thought of Leo being reduced to something like that.
"That's stalkerish," Leo yelled again, causing Tannis to cross the street, glaring at Leo with her sparkling blue eyes.
"Shut the hell up, I wanna see where you live!"
"Is she attempting to harm you?" Alexis asked, causing Leo to shake his head.
"Nope, she is attempting to annoy me though. But words can be ignored." Alexis nodded but kept her eyes on the annoyance before her.
Tannis followed closely next to Leo before he stopped at a gated residence, a huge house inviting him.
"Thank you, Alex, I'll see you tomorrow." Alex nodded before she began walking off, but Leo quickly stopped her by grabbing on her sleeve. She whirled around, her eyes narrowed at the boy, causing him to instantly let go and take a few good steps back.
"Yes?" Leo began sputtering before he suddenly spoke after a good knock to the head by Tannis.
"Do you need a taxi or something? I can pay for you to ride home or something," A look of relief crossed Alexis' face before shaking her head.
"I appreciate the offer, but I only live a block and a half away, I can walk." She gave him a small wave before turning around again and walking away. Leo shuddered.
"She creeps me out," He spoke before opening the gate to his property, and to his disdain, Tannis followed.
"Every girl creeps you out in the beginning, even me remember?" Leo rolled his eyes before the door to his house opened and out came Hayden, running towards the teen, laughing at the same time. Patricia stood at the door, a warm smile on her old withered face.
"Hey, Hayden," Leo greeted as he picked Hayden up, a genuine grin on his face, shocking Tannis. She hadn't seen the boy ever smile like that, since, ever really. "Did you have fun with Patricia?" The blonde-headed four-year-old nodded vigorously.
"Yep, she taught me how to spread butter on my own toast now!" He said, excited that he could do something on his own. Leo's eyes widened as he gave Hayden a kiss on the head, causing the boy to squirm in Leo's embrace.
"That's a good skill to have, you're becoming a big boy!" Leo said, grinning at his little brother who had a smile worth a million dollars.
"Yeppie yep!" Tannis poked Leo on the shoulder, gaining his attention.
"Who're you?" Hayden asked. Leo gave Hayden a small light bump on the head with his own.
"Mind your manners, Hayden." Hayden nodded. He put out his hand.
"My names Hayden, what's yours?" Tannis took the boy's tiny hand into her own as she gave the boy a forced smile, not that Hayden noticed.
"I'm Tannis, nice to meet you." Hayden, satisfied with the information, proceeded to poke his brother's cheek over and over again as Leo turned his attention to Tannis.
"Yes?" He asked Tannis.
She nodded towards Hayden. "I have to report this to him," Leo's face stopped smiling, but he looked at Hayden.
"Do what you must," He replied easily. Tannis looked distressed but spoke.
"He wasn't bluffing. He fully intends on keeping his promise. He will destroy everything you love." She gestured to Hayden once again, but this time, Leo's face was completely blank before he set Hayden down.
"Go back inside, I'll be there in a few minutes," Hayden nodded, oblivious to the tension in the air as he ran back inside. As soon as the door closed, Leo wiped his eyes, a pair of contacts in his hands before he threw them to the ground, his bright red eyes glaring at Tannis, who took a step back.
"The group listens to him?" She nodded, fear being the only thing she felt at the moment. "You listen to him?" She nodded once again.
"He's our Commander, I have to." Leo's face twisted into one of anger as he suddenly implanted his fist into Tannis' stomach, causing her to spit up loose saliva as she hurled over.
"If you come near my house," He grabbed her head and kneed her in the face, breaking her nose before grabbing her hair. "If you come near me," He quickly punched her in the face, blood leaking from her nose and lips. "If you come near Hayden!" He shouted in anger as he let go of her hair and kicked her through the metal gate, causing a large hole to form where the metal once was.
"I will kill every single last one of you and Jonah without hesitation, report that to him!" Tannis, who could only see out of one eye currently, saw Leo's blood-red eyes glaring at her with such intensity and hatred couldn't help but think she was going to die.
She was no match.
Even if he was rusty, she was no match for the Red Reaper, only Jonah was.
And even then she had doubts.
She got up, her ankle was obviously broken as she winced in pain. She nodded at Leo one last time before she hurried off. Leo let out a loud sigh as he inhaled an exhaled plenty of times before he calmed down, his eyes no longer holding that intensity they had moments before.
"Good," He took out a small white case from his pocket and opened it before placing his contacts on, his eyes once again hazel brown before walking inside, making a note to let Phineas know there was a hole in the fence.
Unknowingly to him though, a pair of eyes was watching him the entire time, and like that, the mysterious figure disappeared.