Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.
Stocktronics Building, Upper-Ward District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula.
February 5th, 2183.
At the hangar, on the 100th floor, a Stocktronics skytruck entered through the field separating the hangar from the outside world, hovered over a free landing spot, and vertically landed and powered down.
Then, a Salarian and a Turian got out of the skytruck's cabin, while two Krogan, got out of the back doors of the skytruck's enclosed rear. One Krogan, was carrying a large black bag, big enough to fit a human in it, over his right shoulder.
The Salarian, then got onto his omni-tool and contacted Doctor Stockman.
"Report".
"We're at Stocktronics, Doctor Stockman. Hangar bay, 100th floor".
"Ah, yes. I was wondering when you were going to get here. Anyways, bring the girl to the conference room on the 188th floor. Don't keep me waiting".
With that, Doctor Stockman ended his line of the transmission, and soon, the Salarian indicated to his compatriots to get a move on.
And they moved to the elevator, where once inside, the Salarian pressed a button for the 188th floor, and the elevator doors shut.
In the office of Stocktronics' CEO, on the 188th floor, Doctor Baxter Stockman was cheerfully musing over how his genius had led to this victory. His victory!
And once he got this O'Neil business behind him, his Mousers would soon continue and be finished. No more would privileged, low-minded idiots look down on the mighty Doctor Baxter Stockman, and his supreme genius! No more sniggering behind his back, no more mis-pronounciation of his surname and more importantly, no more looking down on him!
Oh no, his Mousers would be a success and he'd be established as one of the greatest of the scientific minds on Earth, heck, even the galaxy!
Cheerfully whistling, he had gotten out a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy out of his own personal cabinet, and a set of glasses that he poured the brandy into.
And when he finished, his VI interrupted.
"Doctor Stockman, Jean Tremblay from Terra Commonwealth Bank is here to visit you".
A sigh, and "Very well then. Send her up".
"Of course, Doctor Stockman".
With that, Stockman awaited the arrival of the sole representative of his backers.
Of course, not only would success of the Mousers be bringing him success, but he'd be contributing to the cause of humanity. The real humanity, and not the sniveling, alien-appeasing Alliance. Well, that was at least what Cerberus had stated when they offered to financially back his Mouser project.
And before he could take a drink, the door to his office opened, to reveal Jean Tremblay in her two-piece business suit.
Doctor Stockman stood up, a glass of brandy in hand and came around to face her, as she stopped in front of the desk and faced him.
"Miss Tremblay, what a pleasure to see you. I assume you've heard".
Curtly, she nodded and went straight to business, "I see that your hired help isn't as bad as we feared, Doctor Stockman. They managed to get the girl, and now you've got leverage against Kirby O'Neil".
"Yes, and speaking of Kirby O'Neil, it's about time I get a face to face meeting. It's nearly closing hours".
"Okay then, if there's nothing more, then I'll let you take care of him, Doctor Stockman. And I shall make myself scarce". She then turned and left for the door.
"Oh, wait! Don't you want to stick around and watch him squirm, Miss Tremblay"?
Stopping by the door and twirling around to face him, she stated, "I've seen many people squirm before, Doctor Stockman. Kirby O'Neil won't be the last. And anyway, it's best I make myself scarce. Don't worry. I won't be far away". With this, she gave off a sweet smile and then, walked out of Doctor Stockman's office.
With this, Doctor Stockman soon got to his chair, and asked his VI, "Hooker, is Kirby O'Neil still in the building"?
"Yes, Doctor Stockman".
"Then, send him to my office at once".
"Of course, Doctor Stockman".
"Kirby O'Neil to Doctor Stockman's office. Kirby O'Neil to Doctor Stockman's office".
Darn!
He had hoped to had gotten out of the building once everyone made to leave at closing hours, but now this came along. And soon, Kirby had an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.
Looking amongst his co-workers, he could see that they had turned their eyes away from him and were finding other things very interesting, all of a sudden. And Kirby could have sworn that he heard one of them mutter under his breath, "Dead man walking..."
Due to the fact that he was on the ground floor, he rushed to the elevator and went into it. The doors closing, he pressed the button for the 188th Floor, and the elevator departed.
When the elevator reached the 188th Floor, the doors opened and Kirby took a deep breath and exhaled before walking towards Doctor Stockman's office.
He then reached the office and soon, pressing the holographic panel in front of him, the door chimed.
"Enter".
The doors opened and Kirby went in.
"Sit down, Kirby".
Sitting down on a chair facing the desk of Doctor Baxter Stockman, Kirby awaited for his boss to address him.
And Doctor Stockman broke the silence, "So, Kirby. I remember the last time you were my office. Do you remember also?"
"Yes, I do".
"Yes, and I specifically told you that your investigations were a distraction on your duties to the Mouser project. And furthermore, when you stated that several of your colleagues had disappeared, I also told you that they were none of your business".
Leaning forward, Doctor Stockman continued, "Do you remember that"?
"Yes".
"And then, I told you to stay on task with the Mouser project. And I know for one, that you didn't do as I asked".
Huffing angrily and impatient, Kirby went, "Cut to the chase, please, Doctor Stockman. Why am I here"?
Narrowing his eyes, Stockman stood up and began walking around the room, "Okay then, very well. You are here, because I know that you accessed my office when I was out of the building".
Astonishment was all over Kirby's face. He opened his mouth, as if he was going to say something, but quickly closed it.
"And then, furthermore, you accessed my private terminal. My very private terminal".
Doctor Stockman soon got a wine glass as well as a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy, and poured it into the glass, all the while tutting.
"Oh, Kirby. Do you not know of the old saying? Curiosity killed the cat, Kirby, and your stubborn curiosity, well, I can't let you allow you to continue snooping your nose where it does not belong".
Then Kirby leaned back, crossed his arms and smugly stated, "So, gonna kill me like you and your backers did, 'Doctor' Stockman? Well, I've got proof, that you've been involved in killing my colleagues, and it's all to do with this Cerberus. Any attempt to kill me and you'll be out of business".
An eyebrow raised, Stockman laughed and went, "Oh, no, no, no. You see, you're a valuable part of ensuring the completion of my Mousers' programming and also, making you disappear will raise questions. But in addition, I won't allow the fact that you hold blackmail material against me put me out of business, so to speak, so I've tried a new tack. How's your daughter anyway? Her name is April, I presume"?
Gulping and color draining from his face, Kirby then noticed that he had clenched his fists, at the mere mention of his daughter's name.
He tried to shake off his nerves by trying to be bold and confidently stating, "You leave my April out of this, Stockman!"
And before Doctor Stockman could put in a word, Kirby reckoned that he could rattle Stockman, by stating an old nickname that was passed around by word of mouth, "Or should I say, Stinkman"?
The wine glass smashed as Doctor Stockman squeezed it. Hard. And furthermore, Stockman's eye twitched and he slammed the bottle of brandy on a nearby desk very hard, making datapads slide off the desk onto the floor.
To say that Doctor Stockman was infuriated, was an underestimatement. He was apocalyptic.
His eyes narrowing, Stockman raised his voice, screaming "It's Doctor, Baxter, STOCKMAN"!
But Stockman took several deep breath and calmed himself, a bit ashamed he lost control. After getting medi-gel to heal his bleeding hand, he then remembered his own bargaining chip and gave off a sinister grin as he went, "Oh, Kirby, I wouldn't try and rattle me anymore. After all, you wouldn't want your April to be hurt, would you"?
Ignoring Kirby's question on what he was on about, Stockman got on his omni-tool. Then he displayed a live-video feed to the conference room in the 188th Floor, showing April O'Neil being held by the arms by a Krogan, while a Salarian, a Turian and another Krogan were present in the room.
Kirby's face drained, and he looked in horror at that his daughter, his April, his flesh and blood, was being threatened, all because of his actions.
Shutting the omni-tool, Stockman then said to Kirby, "Well then now, do I have your complete attention"?
"The Lair", the Sewers under Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, the Widow System, Serpent Nebula.
February 6th, 2183.
It was now past midnight and Donnie was still working. He had locked his laboratory/workshop door and put the sign up on the door stating 'DO NOT DISTURB'.
After healing their bruises and their injuries, Master Splinter had then put Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael through sessions of katas and learning how to fight together as a team.
However, the session was interrupted by Donnie shouting, "I'M FINISHED!"
All heads turning, Mikey was the first to rush out to see what Donnie had in store.
"So, what'ya got, Donnie"?
Without a word, Donnie then got some slightly enlarged nunchaku and chucked 2 of them at Mikey, who caught one in his left hand, but was not able to catch the other one. It landed on the floor with a thud and a clutter. Mikey picked it up in his right hand, and started flailing them around, noticing some differences between the old nunchaku and these new nunchaku.
"The shell? One handle seems a bit heavier than the other".
Donnie took the que and went, "Yes, that's all to do with the fact that there's a monomolecular generator in that one, powering up the monomolecular blade in the other handle. To power it up, you need to flail them around until they're fully charged, then you can press the button and out goes the blade. Also, when the blade's deployed, the kusari can extend".
"Yeh, yeh, yeh, you got a goodie for me, brainiac"?
That response could have come from the one and only Raph, and that gruff voice confirmed it, so Donnie went smugly, "Yes, I do".
And he presented two slightly larger Sai, which he chucked over to Raph, who caught them in both hands.
Looking over, Raph gruffly went, "huh, don't look different, even though they are heavy. What did you put in there, concrete"?
Annoyed, Donnie went, "No! I put a monomolecular generator, to power up the monomolecular blade that your Sais have. As I said before, you need kinetic energy to power up the generators, then, with my in-genius designs, you flick a switch and it's on"!
Raph gave off a grunt, and turned away, bored, until Splinter came up from behind and whacked him over the head with his walking stick, stating, "Raphael, give Donatello credit. He has put a lot of hard work into this, so you should be thankful".
Reluctantly, Raphael then whispered, "Urrrr, thanks, Don". But after getting a glare from Splinter, he just simply said, "thanks". And walked off.
Splinter just shrugged.
Then Leo was next, interested to see what he'd got.
And his eyes widened, when Donatello, presented him with 2 curved and shined swords, with a circular guard, and a long grip to accommodate his two hands.
Leo's eyes widened and soon slowly put each hands on the grip of one of Donnie's seemingly modified Katana. Leo looked satisfied as his two hands fit perfectly on the grip of the katana, and said with a smile, "Donnie, it's a perfect fit. And this is great. An actual Katana. Two of them in fact. Great"!
Getting both katanas in each of his hands now, Leo could tell that it was heavy in the hilt, and asked if he had a monomolecular generator installed in the hilt.
Donnie nodded and stated, "Same drill as always. It's powered up by kinetic energy, so you should have no problem powering it up. But I'm not a sword welding Turtle, so if there's something with this you're not satisfied with, in terms with sword functionality, let me know and I'll help make some modifications".
Leo simply patted Donnie on the shoulder, and then asked, "Well, have you got one of your own, Donnie? Last I checked, you had a broken staff somewhere on the wards".
Smugly, he went, "Well, that, Leonardo, is solved. For I have gotten another rokushakubÅ. With the usual modifications, of course. It has a monomolecular generator in the middle, where I hold my hands, to power up the monomolecular blade on one end. Then, on the other end, because most of the weight is one sided, I've added a counter-weight on the other. I am so smart, arn't I"?
Leo then took the que and went, "Okay, then. We all ready"? After looking at Mikey, Raph and Donnie and receiving nodding heads, Leo then said, "Let's go to Stocktronics".
As they rushed for the exit to the sewers, the voice of their Sensei stopped them.
"Wait a moment, my sons".
After groaning, they turned to face their Sensei and awaited what he had to say.
"When I stated that overconfidence was the mere factor in your defeat, I omitted the fact that it was not the only factor. The other factor was that you did not use lethal force in your fight". Putting up a hand before his sons spoke out, he continued, "I do not blame you and I am not saying always use lethal force. But however, I will state that it is to be always considered as a last resort. And if it were a choice between you and your brothers or the enemy, you must not hesitate in doing what is necessary. Do you understand what I am saying my sons"?
A bow and "Yes Sensei".
Then they left.
Well, I had hoped in getting this completed and out by Sunday, but I ran out of time. So today it is.
Anyways, don't forget to leave a review and see you next time. Update (12/9/14): Had to change the numbering of the floors, as I realized that I made a mistake in later chapters and that having the hangar on the 8th Floor didn't make much sense to me. Also, changed the 48th Floor to the 188th Floor. Oops, sorry everyone!