Connor: Adventures Of The Leopard: The Origin of The Leopard

It started years ago.  At the time I was just a blond boy of about six.  I remember everything, the screaming, the blood, my own bitter tears as I realized my parents were dead.  For days I cried and wished that this hadn't happened to me, that my parents hadn't been murdered by some lowlife criminal.  I recall his face, he had black hair, blue eyes, and yellow teeth.  He wore a brown cloak and a mask, probably nothing more than a mugger who got a lucky shot.  His eyes were cold, but not unfeeling, he seemed to fear that the cops were after him.  His yellow teeth showed in an ugly frown as he ran into the night.

   After that event, I ended up in an orphanage, it was a nice enough place.  I made some friends in this place, the three girls who became my friends and later allies.  Ashley was fifteen, making her the oldest among us, her red flowing hair was shoulder length, no shorter.  Ashley had brown eyes and was always willing to listen to our problems.  Beth was the second oldest, about thirteen, she had green eyes and black hair.  Beth was an orphan for as long as she could remember, having taken out her frustration on buildings around her.  She was an artist, and a brilliant one at that, she drew designs on our shirts, each design matching our personalities.  Cindy, the youngest of the three, was only three years older than me.  Cindy spent her time going on adventures and exploring the area around our orphanage.  Her long golden hair was always down, unlike Ashley who wore her hair in a pony tail.  She had amber eyes and almost always smiled.

   Eventually she walked in, a rich woman with green hair.  This woman, known as Linda Rogers, was the richest woman in the city.  This was the first time one of my friends left the orphanage, and it would not be the last.  Ashley was the first to be adopted, then after a few years Beth was adopted by Linda.  I heard from Ashley often, as she kept in touch with Cindy and I, but I later found out the fate that met Beth.  Cindy was next to be adopted, and I became lonely as Linda had taken all my friends.  I felt like I would never be adopted, but eventually Linda took me in as well.  After a ride to her mansion in her limo, she took me to a hidden location on her property.  Here she handed me a costume and instructed me to go change into it.  The outfit was of an orange color, to offset her grey outfit.  Mine had a giant letter C emblazoned on the chest, the C stood for Cub.  She called herself Madame Aye Aye and explained what happened to the previous Cubs.  Ashley went on to become Dark Claw, Beth died before her work with Linda was over, and Cindy was hospitalized, but lived unable to fight crime.

    I spent the next ten years training with Madame Aye Aye.  We fought crime and took down many villains, all were pretty pathetic.  Eventually I left the duo and was subsequently replaced by a new cub.  When I left I went to work with Ashley, doing the exact same thing.  This worked out quite well, although I went by a new name, Ocelot.  As Ocelot I had fought alongside Ashley for years, later she told me she worked best alone.  I was now solo, and desperate to join a team of heroes.  The team I joined was called the Band of Sidekicks, and most of my new allies weren't solo.  I left after two years due to differences from the group, I was completely solo now and I embraced it.  I became a hero know only as Leopard Man.  I wore only orange with black dots as my super costume and had inherited my parent's wealth which equaled Linda's exactly.  I looked at my family tree, a piece of paper my parents left in a safe with the money in our mansion.  I looked at the family tree and set a picture down next to it.  I would never forget the start of my superhero career, working with my aunt Linda.