A/N: If you're reading this, then I assume you might be interested in this little fic here. Thanks, you won't be disappointed. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT.
He leaned against a brick chimney upon a rooftop and glanced up at the cloudy sky. It was raining. The water pelted his dark form and streamed down his athletic build. His hazel eyes were calm and distant. They held no glow and no mirth. A piece of blue fabric was tied about his wrist. He wore a black trench coat that seemed to shift this way and that.
He stared past the clouds at the stars. One glowed a malevolent purple hue. He slowly dropped his gaze down to a puddle at his feet. He stared at it for a moment before glancing over his shoulder at a suited man. He had been waiting for this man for awhile now. The man was late. The trench coat wearer did not like bad timing. The man had extremely bad timing.
"Where is Acura, Trench?"
"He's dead." Trench said. His coat shifted slightly. The man stared at him for a moment.
Trench sighed. "I didn't kill him. A member of MI6 got him. I'm a contractor. Face it. I wouldn't gain anything from his death."
The man visibly relaxed. He nodded.
"We'll assign another task member to your team, but we need you to take care of a problem in Naples. One of our contractors went rogue. I'm sure you know what to do. Here are her files." The man said, tossing Trench a briefcase. Trench caught it deftly with one hand.
"The Taskforce will expect this to be dealt with soon. Also, take care of the Doll. We have reports that it's been acting awry."
Trench nodded. The man turned on his heel, although a shiver ran down his spine. He hated contractors. Their lack of speech and the way they looked at him gave him the chills.
Trench popped open the brief case and sifted through the folders. His distant hazel gaze scanned over them lazily. His mouth twitched and he turned about abruptly, clenching the files tightly in his grip. Of all the contractors who worked the Taskforce, why did it have to be her that went rogue?
...
Flora raced across the rooftops even as the wailing sirens of police cars drifted from below. She smirked. The police were fools. She was a contractor. Did they think she would be easy to catch like some common criminal?
Her green eyes dropped to the satchel in her left hand. In it were all the files she needed to put the Taskforce out of business. She glanced back up and skidded to a halt at the sight policemen rushing out of a rooftop door to meet her. Their guns were leveled down at her.
"Halt or we will open fire!"
Flora smirked again and lifted her arms above her head. A red glow sparked in the center of her pupils and her body was outlined in a faint blue glow. A flock of ravens dived down between her and the police. The birds cawed angrily and flew for the hapless policemen. Flora turned and sprinted away, leaping into the empty night air. Her arms elongated and black feathers sprouted from them. She glided over a busy street with her feathered limbs and landed in a roll on another rooftop. Her limbs returned to their normal state and she rose to her feet. She reached into a pocket and removed a bag of bird seed. She lifted the bag to her lips and swallowed before placing it back in her pocket. She shuddered and continued on her way, starting to sprint. The cops were too far off and distracted by her birds to be of any threat at the moment.
She was suddenly jerked back by a strange tug. Flora staggered back with a curse. She glanced behind her but nothing was there. She turned her gaze to the ground to see what it was that had dragged her back. Her shadow was strangely elongated and squirming. Her eyes narrowed and her gaze lifted to the red pupils from the shadows of a billboard. Flora's eyes began to glow red but her shadow was yanked back again, making her lose focus.
She growled as the red eyes drew nearer.
A dark and shadowy figure stepped out of the shadows. His form would have been confusing for anyone but Flora. She knew this person very well. They had escaped South America together.
She sighed then and dropped the bag she had been holding.
"I see the Taskforce has sent their little dog on me. Oh, how you have changed, Trench."
Trench was silent as he melted out of the shadows. The shadows clung closely to his form. He held a long and narrow blade in his right hand. It was black as night and a strange dark shimmer wafted from the blade. Flora had seen Trench's contractor ability before, but never had she been on the receiving end of it. Trench had an ability that could terrify anyone. He manipulated shadows. He could bend even the lightest bit of shade to his will and reshape it. He had a habit of making blades out of the shadows themselves, as well as other sharp objects. Flora had never seen him trap someone's shadow before, though. He seemed to always be learning more about his ability.
Trench stood in front of her, his form was hidden by shifting shadows that whipped to and fro. Flora sighed, she would not survive this. Trench was known for being cold and focused on his task, however, Flora was going to try to save her skin any way possible.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it, Leo?"
The shadowy contractor stood still for a moment.
"Why did you do this, Flora?" He said in that always calm and rational voice.
"The Taskforce is a dangerous organization for us contractors. They mean ill means for us."
Trench snorted at that. "Everyone means ill to contractors. We scare people."
Flora shrugged. "Believe what you want, Trench. The Taskforce is dangerous for all contractors."
Trench was suddenly in front of her, only inches away, his blade pressed up against her throat while his red pupils stared into her eyes. She breathed in small gasps, lest the blade of shadows cut her skin. "They will go after your own, soon, Trench. They want more pet soldiers like you."
His blade sliced through flesh and bone as if it were paper. Her head struck the ground before her body did. He flicked the blood from his blade and turned his gaze to the sky. A single star fell from overhead. Trench stared for a moment before releasing his hold on the shadows around him. His sword dissipated as he reached into his trench coat. He pulled a pocket watch out and pressed it to the side of his head. He listened quietly.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
He placed it back in his coat before sprinting off. Flora's words resounded in his head.
"They will go after your own, soon, Trench."
...
The tardy man stood in an alley, waiting. He had Trench's next job ready. He checked his watch and muttered a curse. Trench was late. The man folded his arms and continued waiting.
Something sharp entered his back, stabbing through his chest cavity. The man gurgled as blood streamed from his mouth. His eyes rolled back and he slid off the blade, dropping onto his front. His attacker flicked blood off the blade and retreated back into the shadows.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
...
"It doesn't add up. Why would you do this? You're supposed to rational, not blinded by human emotion." A man snarled angrily as the rain patterned against their bodies on the rooftop.
Trench stood in the midst of a circle of men and women. He was heavily outnumbered by at least twenty to one. He allowed the shadows that usually covered his body to peel back. His hazel gaze pierced through the form of the man who had addressed him. Thick blue ink circled his eyes while small blue inked dotted the corners of his almond shaped eyes. His skin was a dark emerald green and covered in small and large silvery scars. His mouth was set into a thin line.
"I have my own reasons." He spoke in a rich baritone voice that was no longer muffled by the shadows that clung to his body. "The Taskforce no longer benefits me. I have gleaned all that I can from your organization and require nothing else from you. I have other more important things to do. I suggest you get out of my way. I will not hesitate to kill any of you to get what I want."
"I don't want to get in a fight with you. Come back to the Taskforce and we'll figure something out."
"Forget it. He won't listen to reason anymore. He's too far gone. He's got the madness from his Doll." Another of the men spoke sharply.
The first speaker sighed. "Trench..."
"He's right. I'm not of the mind to bargain with any of you." Trench spoke again. His pupils glowed red again and his form became outlined in a faint blue.
Shadows swarmed onto his body, swallowing his colorful skin, leaving not even an inch of his body uncovered. Even the faint blue glow was gone from his body.
The men around him all took on the faint blue glow and their pupils registered red. Flames and shards of ice and crackling bolts of energy struck his shadowy form, coming from the hands and bodies of each contractor around him. Dust and smoke billowed up from the extreme onslaught and the contractors halted their attack.
The dust cleared, revealing a lump of physical shadow on the ground. The contractors stared. "Is he dead?" One asked.
A swift moving darkness phased through the ground, rising with red glowing hazel eyes. Small sharp shards of shadow flew from its hands, striking the gathering of contractors. Blood went flying as the shards made contact with their targets. Throats were slit open and bodies were impaled.
Trench stood on solid ground, his form materialized. Still some contractors stood, though only through their abilities to dodge the shadow shards.
Trench opened his hands and shadow katanas formed. He wrapped his hands around the hilt and sprinted forward.
He cut down the stunned contractors, spilling blood over the rooftop. Stars fell from the sky in large numbers, brilliantly glinting even as they fell.
Liquid flame spattered against Trench's right arm just as his shadow blade cut through another throat. He hissed in pain and turned to spot a single woman flinging molten pieces of the rooftop. Trench easily dodged another, his shadowy form made it hard to target him. He shifted his shadows to lighten his body and create the illusion that his body was a foot away from where he actually was. He sprinted at the woman as he did so, shifting ever so slightly with each step. A molten fragment struck his mirrored shadow and it dissipated, returning to his true body and encasing him in a protective layer.
The woman uttered a sound of disbelief and hurled more molten fragments just as she turned to flee. Trench flung one of his swords after her. It spun end over end before burying itself in the center of her back with a fleshy impact. She uttered a sound of pain before falling onto her front. The blade dissipated and the shadow returned to Trench's wavering form. He turned his hazel gaze to the only other contractor still standing.
It was the one who had been trying to talk to Trench before. His eyes were glowing red and his body was outlined in blue.
"Dammit, Leonardo. Why are you doing this? Why can't you follow anything through to the end?" He growled at Trench. He was an older man, in his early forties with short salt and pepper stubble. His hair was short as well, cropped to a military crew, the same salt and pepper as his stubble. His face was scarred and weather worn. His figure was slim but muscular. He wore a dark trench coat over a thin muscle shirt and cargo pants tucked into his combat boots. Black ink circled his green eyes and dotted their corners.
Trench allowed the shadows to peel back from his face and only his face.
"I'm sorry, Viktor, you've treated me well. I don't want to kill you." Trench responded as sincerely as a contractor could.
Viktor gave him a dubious look. "I know you don't think I can do that. I can't just go back to them and say I lost you."
"Then tell them I'm dead."
"Don't be an idiot. They have specters watching us. As much as I like you, I'm not going to kill myself for you."
Trench nodded. "So be it then."
Shadows swarmed towards Viktor, who willingly encased his body in shadows until nothing was left visible except for his green eyes. Trench's own shadows dived over his body again, covering him in a protective layer of shifting black.
"You've learned a lot of new tricks with your ability. Tricks I could never do. How is that, Leonardo?"
Trench ignored him, sprinting forward as his shadows whipped about.
The two met in a silent clash of shadows. They broke apart quickly, Trench dodging a flying shadow-dagger and Viktor dodging a shadow-katana that was thrust at his abdomen. Their shadows flicked wildly as they shifted most of their ability into their weapons. Trench rolled aside as a flurry of small daggers flew at him. He smirked under his mask of shadows and sprinted forward again, meeting Viktor with a soundless clash of their weapons. A shadow katana against a European longsword. They separated with a shove of their weapons and continued their battle. Trench glanced over his shoulder as he spun free from a stab. He could spot the tell-tale shapes of other contractors headed his way. He didn't have the time to duel Viktor.
His right arm still throbbed a little painfully from the liquid fire that had struck him. He knew it was burned, and from the pain, he knew it was a second degree burn. Another reason for him to quickly end the fight.
Trench turned back to Viktor. He raised his katana, blocking a stab for his solar plexus. His katana shattered and the longsword sank into his form.
His hazel gaze met Viktor's surprised green one. Trench grabbed the blade with both hands and drew it into his body even further.
"You fool." Viktor sighed, dropping his gaze to the rooftop.
The sword suddenly dissipated. Viktor stumbled back, but his shadows were torn away from him, absorbed into Trench's body. Trench surged forward, a short staff materialized in his hand. He struck the side of Viktor's neck and the other contractor struck the ground hard.
Trench released his hold on the staff and rushed to the edge of the rooftop. He reached the edge and dived off the rooftop.
A single star fell from the sky.
