Anton Zeck was bored. Plain and simple.

If he wasn't getting paid as much as he was, he would've been at his house, chilling in front of the television maybe drinking some beer. Not out in the cold waiting for some creature that may or may not exist to wander into his trap.

::Friend Zeck, how are you on your end?::

Zeck narrowed his eyes, pouting as he pulled out his binoculars. "Man, are you sure that this thing will be here? I mean, it seems to know we're following it."

::Highly unlikely. We are hunting mutant turtle. I doubt it has human intelligence.::

Zeck scoffed. "I don't know man."

He blew air into his cupped hands, hoping to warm them up before the creature came around. His friend's comment that the mutant turtle not having intelligence was unfounded. Strenko didn't work that first week, setting up carefully-laid traps that any animal would walk right into, only to have them not triggered and highly avoided. His frustration was slowly growing.

He had promised the Hamato Clan a mutant turtle within a couple of days.

It had been one week.

It won't be long before Zeck's eye would start twitching.

This ain't worth it dawg! He blew into his cupped hands again. I swear I'm starting to lose feeling in my fingers.

Then, just as he was about call it quits, something caught his eye. Movement…. just outside of sight of the camera. Zeck couldn't be sure, but it certainly didn't look like a stray cat or dog. It looked like their target.

The hunter's smile deepened.

"YO! I see something." Zeck typed something into his portable computer, a feeling of excitement fueling his body. It was the creature alright, carefully sorting through the dumpster that was outside the Chinese restaurant. Zeck watched as it picked up a bag of something with its hands, stuffing it into his mouth before it wandered off.

::Zeck? Vhat is it, comrade?::

Strenko's voice flittered through his earpiece, startling him out of his thoughts.

"The creature's on the move!" Zeck informed quickly. He picked up his binoculars, peering over the top of the flower shop. He spotted the creature, eagerly munching on its spoils as its eyes scanned the rooftops. For a moment, the bounty hunter feared that it had seen him or the binoculars glinting off the streetlamps but when it gave no indication that it saw him, Zeck relaxed a bit. "Are you in position?"

::Da. Locked and loaded.::

"Fire on my mark." There was a moment of quiet, a veritable calm before the storm. Then, "FIRE!"

The weapon made no sound.

The only indication that the darts found their target was the way that the creature tensed up, slapping its forearm as though slapping a mosquito. Zeck smiled.

The sedative was a potent one. It wouldn't kill the creature but it would go down easier and quicker.

"Alright my man let's go and-WHAT?!"

Zeck stared in amazement as the creature took to the roofs, leaping up and landing on the steep roof of a church in an attempt to make an escape.

"STRENKO!" Zeck shouted.

::One moment::

Two more darts were fired.

Two more darts found their mark.

Zeck started to cheer until he saw that the creature had started to fall from the roof. He began to worry about damage to the package, which the contract they signed specifically stated no injuries or damages to the creature otherwise they wouldn't get their money.

Anton gathered his things and took the streets, finding his way to the alleyway where he was sure the mutant turtle fell. He made a strangled sound when he turned the corner and saw the turtle hit the lid of the dumpster, breaking clean through it. Strenko melted out of the shadows, holding his gun and looking relatively bored and unimpressed.

"Aw, dang, dawg!" Zeck cried. "Look what you did! It ain't damaged is it? The contract specifically said we weren't to damage it."

The man leaned down to examine the package to make sure nothing was too badly damaged. The freak's breathing was quick, probably in reaction to the drugs in its system. Behind him, his partner just grunted in a noncommittal manner. There was some minor damage to the shell.

"Hm. Well, it's still alive, at least. Doesn't look too broken."

Zeck whirled around on his partner, anger spilling through his words. "Ya shouldn't have shot it so close to the edge of the roof, Strenko! You almost cost us the bounty!"

"Bah! Be silent, Zeck. You hunt the freaks and monsters, and sometimes accidents happen. The Hamato Clan is just going to have to understand that." He turned towards the skyline, his face contorting into something thoughtful. "Come on. Let's get him restrained in the truck."

They had slapped cuffs around its ankles and wrists that were held together with long chains, along with a muzzle should it wake in transit. Before they picked up the package to carry it away, Zeck removed the chipped katana blades. With the van being only a couple of blocks form their current position, the two hunters thought it would be prudent to carry the freak to the van instead of wasting gas.

Unfortunately, the mutant turtle was heavier than it looked.

"God dang it! This thing is heavy!"

"Da." Strenko grunted in agreement as he pulled open the van's back door. "Must be its shell."

The two grunted in unison as they tossed the mutant into the back. While Zeck darted to the driver's side door, Strenko locked the mutant into the van. There was some grunting followed by the sounds of clicking. The large Russian shoved the key into his pocket and took his place in the passenger side of the vehicle. The two drove off, following the GPS as it directed them towards the front of the Hamato Castle.

Outside, the current leader of the Clan and the one to commission them was waiting there when they pulled up, along with another Hamato brat.

Zeck groaned as he parked the van and stepped out, greeting the Chewin or whatever with dramatics.

"AH! Mr. Donatello, what a pleasure!"

"Zeck." The bespectacled boy greeted with distain.

"Ya have what we asked for?" His companion, a hot-head by the name of Raphael if he remembered correctly, asked with the same tone.

"As you wish, good sir." Zeck turned towards Strenko. "Get the back."

While the personification of a mountain moved to the back, Zeck chatted with the teens.

"Soooooo, about our payment-"

"You'll get your money when we've confirmed that you did what you were told." The ponytailed boy interrupted.

"Okay. Okay." Zeck crossed his arms. "So touchy. Yeesh!"

Strenko had carried the mutant out and placed it on the little stretcher the Hamato brothers had brought out with them. Zeck noticed, pointedly, that the chains and muzzle were gone.

Good. If they were still be on, I doubt we would still get the bounty.

"Here we are good sirs! One mutant turtle."

The two quickly did a once over, with the ponytailed boy whipping around him angrily. "HIS SHELL IS CRACKED!"

"Oh. Yeah. That. Well, you see there was a complication."

"And what would that be, exactly?"

"It, uh….it fell…." Zeck trailed off, glancing at Strenko for help.

"Creature fell off roof when we shot it."

Donatello growled as he pulled out a wad of cash. Zeck could already imagine what he was going to buy with nine-hudnred-thousand big ones.

Maybe a new surround sound stereo system for the van or a new van all together…..

Or maybe a mansion…

Or maybe-

"Here's four-hundred-and-fifty-thousand."

Zeck sputtered. "But, you said-the contract….eck! The contract said nine hundred thousand dollars. Not four-hundred-thousand-and-fifty."

"The contract also said that you'd bring him in unharmed." The boy in red growled, pointing angrily at the cracked shell and slightly bleeding shoulder. "I don't know how detailed your vocabulary is, but that is the very opposite of unharmed."

Zeck was about to grab these little brats by the shirt collar and shake them until the rest of the money drop out until the leader said, "This is all you're going to get. Otherwise, I'll call the guards. Take it or leave it. Your choice."

"It is better than nothing, Comrade Zeck."

Leave it to Strenko to be the voice of reason.

Zeck growled as he snatched their meager earnings and marched all the way back to the van. Too angry to drive, Zeck strapped himself into the passenger seat while Strenko took the wheel.

Hopefully, if there was a God out there, the two would never see the Hamato Clan again.