A/N: So, here it is in all its glory, the final version of Monster. I will never touch this story again. It makes me want to cry and whoop with joy at the same time. I just want to say thank you to everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed my story. Your support has meant the world to me. :) So, kick back, relax and enjoy the complete, edited version of Monster.
I do not own TMNT.
The soft patter of footsteps echoed in the tunnel as a single man walked cautiously through the sewers. Almost his entire outfit was black. He wore a baggy pair of pants that clung to his legs tightly just below the knee, a loose shirt, and a black jumpsuit underneath all his other garments. His entire head was covered by a black mask that had red, filmy cloth covering the eyeholes, giving him an insect-like appearance. A red headband that went around his forehead finished off the strange outfit. He continued on, glancing around nervously, his muscles tense. He flinched as a drop of water landed on his head and then sighed, cursing under his breath.
"Why do I always get stuck with the disgusting jobs?" he muttered, "As if I'd actually find anything interesting down in this rat-infested sewer. Not to mention the turtles will probably show up and beat the crap out of me."
He paused, glancing down one of the passages on the right that led to a small room. Clapping his hands over his mouth to muffle a scream, the man took a large step backwards. A huge, decaying wasp carcass was lying on the ground. Its eyes were glazed and smaller insects were starting to make their way through its yellow and black flesh. He held back vomit as he stared at the creature. Then, his heart racing, he cautiously walked into the room. Definitely not his smartest move, but his natural sense of curiosity wouldn't let him leave until he'd had a closer look.
He circled the dead mutant carefully, making sure to avoid any contact with it whatsoever. As he looked at the dead creature below him, he concluded it must have been a Kraang mutant that had gotten loose. It certainly had been dead for a while. It was starting to rot away and he could see some of its internal organs, much to his disgust. Suddenly a piece of one of the wings fell off with a sharp crack and landed on his foot.
"Gross! Oh, disgusting!" he exclaimed rather loudly as he frantically shook the piece of the rotting bug off his foot, "I don't get paid enough to do this crap-"
"Did you hear that?"
He froze as a voice came from further down the tunnel, definitely not a friendly one. Crud crud crud! He turned around to run but suddenly paused, glancing down at the wasp carcass. Well, I can't go back empty handed, and this is all I've found. Maybe Shredder can find a use for this thing. He grimaced, picking up a leg in each hand. I cannot believe I'm doing this. The voices were growing louder as he dragged the dead mutant out of the room.
"You're always hearing things Mikey."
"Seriously! Don't you hear that scraping noise?"
"Fine fine, we'll check it out."
The man stumbled down the tunnel with the wasp, his breaths becoming shallow and panicked. Glancing around, he spotted a turn up ahead and ran towards it as fast as he could with the dead mutant slowing him down considerably. He could hear footsteps approaching behind him as he whipped around the turn and pressed his back against the wall, trying to make his breaths slow and silent.
Not far down the tunnel, a blue masked turtle-human hybrid was making his way down the sewer tunnel. His blue eyes gleamed in the darkness as his gaze flitted around the area, and he held a katana sword in each hand. Cautiously, another mutant entered, his staff drawn and his muscles tense with apprehension as his deep brown eyes narrowed behind a purple mask. Two more slipped into view, one wearing a red mask and carrying sai and the other wearing an orange mask while carrying a pair of nunchucks.
"There's nothing here," the blue-masked one sighed, turning to the mutant with the orange mask, "Are you happy now Mikey?"
"I could have sworn I heard something Leo!" the orange-masked turtle, apparently called Mikey, protested. His big blue eyes were narrowed in frustration and his freckled cheeks were turning red. Now I'm going to end up looking stupid, he thought to himself.
"Well, there's nothing here," the one with the red mask butted in, rolling his eyes.
"I know that Raph," Mikey said angrily, "I'm not that stupid."
The tallest of the four and the one with a purple mask leaned forward and peered into the empty room where the strangely dressed man and the wasp had been just a minute ago. He frowned, his eyes narrowing in thought. The blue one, also known as Leo, was quick to notice this.
"What is it Donnie? Leo asked.
"Huh?" Donnie, the one in purple, turned around, blinking a few times in surprise, "Oh, nothing…it's just that this is where we fought that parasitica wasp, right?"
"And Leonardo got stung and went all cuckoo over the egg," Mikey added in.
"Yeah. So?" Leo said, crossing his arms and giving Donnie a questioning look.
"Well, we left the dead wasp in here after the fight. Now it's gone," Donnie said.
"What?" the red masked one called Raph growled, shoving Donnie out of the way and peering into the room. It was empty, hardly a trace of the giant wasp hybrid that had lain in the room only moments ago. Raph narrowed his eyes as they flitted around the empty room.
"Maybe it just decayed, or the rats ate it," Leo suggested.
"Animals don't decay that fast, even with the rats eating parts of it," Donnie said, "There should at least be some of its exoskeleton left."
"I wouldn't worry about it Donnie. It's probably not important at all," Leonardo said, "Anyways, we should get back to the lair. It's probably getting late by now." The four brothers turned around and started to head back. Donatello however, hesitated and glanced back into the empty room. He had a bad feeling that something wasn't quite right…A strange noise coming from the turn up ahead caught his attention, and slowly he started to make his way towards the place the sound had come from. He was just about to peer around the corner when his younger brother's voice made him stop.
"Are you coming Donnie?" Michelangelo shouted.
"Yeah yeah, I'm coming," Donnie said, waving his hand absently. With one last glance into the room, he turned around and joined his brothers as they headed back to the lair, unaware that a lone ninja was bringing their most dangerous enemy perhaps his most deadly weapon yet.
….._….._...
"You are a sorry excuse for a Foot Clan ninja!"
A tall man adorned in metal armor towered above the man previously lurking in the sewers. The blades of armored man's hand gauntlet were extended and he held them dangerously close to the soldiers neck. The ninja trembled, fear clouding his mind.
"I'm sorry Master Shredder," he stammered, sweating beneath his black suit, "But I did bring back the mutant wasp."
"You brought me back a disgusting, rotting mutant insect. What do you expect me to do with it?" The armored man, known as Shredder, growled. His voice echoed beneath his metal plated helmet. It was a terrifying piece of armor, forged from the relics of his enemies and stronger than steel. The only exposed part of his face was his two narrowed eyes that flashed with fury.
"Please, don't hurt me!" The ninja pleaded desperately. He was dying in his black uniform, the heat overwhelming him. But he didn't dare to take off the outfit, or even the mask, in his leader's presence. Perhaps it made him feel protected when he had a mask between him and his terrifying master; he didn't exactly know why, but he knew that taking off his mask would make things much much worse.
Shredder was about to speak when another man entered the room. He was obviously African American, his black afro was somewhat tussled, and his eyes looked tired as he trudged along, his body slouched and submissive. A huge mutant dog was close behind him, his small black eyes shooting glares at the man as he growled in annoyance. His tan and white fur was mussed up and large spikes protruded from his shoulder, giving him a dominant and terrifying appearance. Shredder however, didn't seem to be the least bit fazed by his presence.
"What is this Bradford?" Shredder demanded, turning to the mutant dog, "I did not wish to be interrupted."
"This Baxter Stockman guy claims he may be able to do something with the giant wasp that ninja brought in," The moment the dog began to speak, it was obvious that his voice was altered from his mutation. It came out low and gravelly, and growls or pants often worked their way in between words.
"I did some research and I think I know what kind of wasp it is," the man named Baxter said, his eyes lighting up a bit, "It's a parasitica wasp. It has a special type of poison. The wasp is actually more like a bee. It can only sting once before it dies, but the poison has a unique effect on the victim. There are chemicals in it that cause people to go crazy over protecting the wasp's egg."
"Interesting. Perhaps that dead horror has a use after all. So what do you think you can do with this...parasitica wasp?" Shredder asked, narrowing his eyes. The blades of his gauntlet slid back, becoming hidden once again.
"Well, with the right equipment, I could alter the chemicals. I could change the obsession of the victim," Baxter said with a cold smirk, "This could be an opportunity to wipe out the turtles. With my brains and your muscle, they won't stand a chance."
"How much poison is left in the dead wasp?" Shredder asked coldly as the Foot ninja silently slunk away. The ninja had avoided punishment, at least for the time being. In the Foot, punishment was expected for most everything.
"Well, the stinger is gone, and that contained most of the poison. So...I'd say about just enough for one person," Baxter estimated, studying the wasp a bit closer and pushing up his round glasses.
"Then we will keep this simple. We will make one of the turtles kill the others. After we destroy Hamato Yoshi's pupils, he will come for revenge, and our feud will finally be settled," Shredder growled, "He will not be able to run away from me this time, because there will be no life for him to run back to."
"Which turtle should we poison?" Bradford asked, curling his lip back with pleasure and showing off rows of sharp canine teeth.
"Perhaps their leader," Shredder said, narrowing his eyes. Suddenly a large fish mutant appeared, slinking out of one of the shadows in the corner of the room. His magenta scales glinted and reflected off light, and a pair of robotic legs made soft noises as he stepped forwards. Large packs strapped to his back pumped water into his gills, allowing him to breathe out of water.
"Xever!" Dogpound growled, "Who invited him?"
"Nobody," Xever hissed, "I figured you may need my particular help with this predicament."
"Well we don't, so get out of here before I make you into sushi!" Bradford growled, raising a fist threateningly. His claws weren't sharp or polished; they were rough around the edges, causing more painful wounds, like a blunt knife cutting into your skin. Xever knew exactly how those claws felt when they dug into your skin. He had found out more than once. Xever flinched a bit, taking a tentative step backwards.
"Bradford! Let him speak," Shredder said icily. Xever smirked with pleasure, showing off a large pair of fangs as Dogpound shot him a glare and curled his lip. Who's top dog now, Stinkbreath? Xever thought coldly.
"You want to know which turtle you should poison, right?" he said, still smirking and sending Bradford occasional cocky looks, "Their leader wasn't a bad idea, but there's a better option. You want one who is strong and skilled, true, but also unlikely to cause suspicion if he goes rogue. Well then you're in luck my friend." Shredder narrowed his eyes thoughtfully and Xever gave a short laugh.
"Because I know exactly which turtle you're looking for."