I don't own Star Wars: Rebels or the Shape of Water. (I just love them)
"Some of the greatest minds in Lothal, indeed. Doesn't even know what a trash can is for," Ezra grumbled to himself as he tossed crumbled pieces of paper into the trash.
The young boy was in one of the few labs that he was allowed in. All around the room, useless trash had been carelessly tossed onto the floor, trash was everywhere, except in the very large, very empty, trash can!
For weeks, the scientists of Imperial Industry has been racing from room to room, working on some new "scientific breakthrough" that meant trash was constantly left on the ground, and more work was piled on for Ezra and everyone else who worked in Imperial Industry.
Ezra had always though their work was a little sketchy but he couldn't complain. The pay was good enough for a fifteen-year-old living on his own, and the teen couldn't risks losing that.
Just then, a loud beeping noise filled the empty room, causing Ezra to stop in his work and turn towards the massive metal door.
The large door slide open to reveal Mr. Grint and Aresko, the head leaders of the janitorial staff. Their job was to assign everyone their jobs, and make the crews life a living hell.
As soon as they spotted the young janitor, their eyes narrowed. Ezra gulped.
"I believed that you were given twenty minutes to have this place spotless," Aresko scolded
"It's only been eleven," Ezra huffed before he could stop himself.
"What was that?" Grint snapped. The look from the man made Ezra clunch his dustpan closer to his chest.
"N.. Nothing, sir,"
Just then, another man entered the room, one that Ezra recognized. Unlike the others, he was wearing a lab coat.
"What is he still doing here?" Kallus asked when he spotted Ezra, "He's not suppose to be here,"
"Have no fear, he knows that whatever goes on in here stays in here," Aresko responded, looking at the scientist even as he meant it towards Ezra.
Instead of acknowledging what had been said, Ezra swept up more trash more vigorously. Eagered to get the hell out of there.
It was true though. Everyone who signed up to work here, knew that everything inside was classified. If any secret of what Imperial Industry was doing were to get out to the public, the one who spilled would face horrid consequences.
Ones that Ezra did not want to know about.
Another loud beep echoed across the air, as the door opened once again. Metal echoes of heavy footsteps bounced against the steel walls of the room.
At first Ezra didn't acknowledge the new group, hoping to get his work done early and leave. However, a low moaning sound grabbed his attention.
Glancing up, Ezra saw heavily guarded soldiers enter the massive room. Guns were strapped to their backs, and the leader of the group has a cattle prod against his hip. The soldiers were dragging in a large metal cylinder in the center of the group.
Another low moan filled the air. At first, it sounded like metal being bent, but the more Ezra listened, the more human it sounded.
As the group joined the scientist, they left the container a few feet away from them.
From where he was, Ezra could see murky green water inside the large metal container. The water was waving back and forth
A strange noise came from inside. It sounded like a whale's cry.
Dear God, was there something alive in there?
Immediately rising to his feet, Ezra glanced over at the adults. A few scientists were speaking to the soldiers while the rest was making adjustments to a large tank against the wall.
As silent as possible, Ezra slowly began to approach the container.
The top of the cylinder was pure glass, revealing the murky water inside. As Ezra peered into the container, he swore that he saw something bright green move in the water.
There was something alive trapped inside the dark water.
Without fully thinking about it, Ezra pressed his hand against the cool glass. Another bright blue light flashed across the dark water, almost reacting to the gently gesture upon the small tank.
A large hand suddenly emerged from beneath the water and pressed against the glass where Ezra's hand was resting. The impact startled the boy away from the container.
The hand pressed against the glass almost looked human-like, and was big enough to belong to someone much older than Ezra was.
However, there was something very off about the hand.
While the palm did resembled a human, a teal color could be seen on the skin on the other side of the hand, that had a scaly texture to it, and ended with sharp black nails on the tips of it's fingers. There were five fingers, like a human, except between each finger was a green translucent webbing of some sort, connecting each one together. Similar to the hand of a frog.
As soon as the smaller hand left the glass, another, much louder, groan came from inside the container. Almost like a scream. The cylinder began to rock back and forth as whatever was inside began to bang against the glass again.
Almost as if it was calling out for the hand that it had just seen.
"Hey!"
The loud bark almost made Ezra jump again, as his head snapped over to the voice.
"What're you doing over there? Get Out of Here!"
Gladly! Ezra thought as he gathered his cleaning supplies and quickly rushed out of the room. However, before he left, the boy casted one final glance towards the container.
Before the metal closed, Ezra heard a voice full of authority say:
"Get the asset into the compressor, straight away,"
I decided not to make Ezra mute for the story.
Also, I'm all open ears for any suggestion on who to make Strickland.
Oh, and in case I need to say it, this is not an KanEzra story. Any relationship between the two will be father and son.