Ch 22 Into the Fire

Shredder walked into Stockman's lab and watched as the human fly worked on a remote control that would help Shredder to control the mind chip in the turtle's head. He scowled at the thought of this demonic turtle using and controlling him but he, for now anyway, did not have a choice.

He scowled at the memory when his mutant army had seen the turtle dominate over him, humiliate him and demand he do his bidding like a dog forced to obey it's master. His fist clenched when the memories surged through his mind and the rage that boiled within him rose at the thought of that creature taking the power away from him. But with the use of the mind control chip, he was determined to take it back.

One week ago.

From the moment they left Japan, Shredder had a new reason to hate Hamato. He never expected to bow to anyone ever again, let alone a disciple of his most hated enemy. But this enemy was now possessed by a demonic entity who was on a mission to do away with the Hamatos and anyone who stood in his way to bring it's army back from the underworld, and as far as this demon was concerned, Saki was nothing more then a puppet to be used to accomplish just that. And Shredder learned the hard way that if he or any of his foot army did not bow to this creature, he would very quickly dispose of them.

At least he was grateful for one thing. Throughout most of the trip, the demon had stayed in the cargo hold of the ship inside it's sarcophagus surrounded by the rest of the Tengu artifacts. Shredder had known the sarcophagus helped renew the demon's energy and strength, so he knew from the beginning it would be spending most of it's time there. And he was grateful for that.

A week away from New York, the turtle came out and walked onto the bridge of the ship. He addressed Saki. "How much longer till we reach this...New York?" He asked.

"Another week Satsugai-sha." Shredder suddenly found his throat being slowly crushed and he was being forced on his knees.

The turtle looked at him and leered over him. "You will not call me by that name." It told him. "That is his name, a name I gave him when I first took him." The ominous voice told him.

The crushing force was finally released and Shredder was allowed to breath and stand, "And what shall I call you?" He coughed out.

The turtle gave him a cold stare. "Masuta." He told him with an evil laugh.

Shredder narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Masuta? This was master in Japanese. And him calling anyone master did not sit well with him at all. This was not how it was suppose to be. He was suppose to release the demon and in return the demon would give him the power to destroy Hamato and his disciples as well as get the power needed to rise to power. But from what Shredder could see, the demon was not going to give him what he wanted.

Present.

Shredder watched the turtle walk into his lair with contempt. He growled in annoyance when he saw him sit in his throne and stare down at him with a cold dark stare. "I have found them." The demon announced. "They will be here soon. Are you ready for them Saki?"

"Yes...Masuta." He grit his teeth as he said the word.

"Very well." He leaned against the chair. "Soon I will have my revenge on the Hamato clan and will wipe them out completely. And you will finally have a chance to kill your rival." He looked off in the distance as memories began to surface. "ALL of them will be destroyed, is that not correct Saki?"

Shredder looked up at the turtle from his kneeling position. "Yes, Hamato and the three remaining turtles will be destroyed." He answered uncertain.

Masuta looked down at him. A look of knowing on his face. "But there is still another." He told him. "Isn't there...Saki?"

"I...do not know what you mean." Saki told him "There is only Hamato Yoshi and the three turtles."

"And his daughter." He told him.

"She is not his daughter, she is mine!"

"She was his...and you took her." He reminded him in a very cold steady voice. "She is a Hamato, and she..will...DIE!"

"NO!"

Masuta got up from the throne and walked down to where Shredder still knelt. He narrowed his eyes at him and bent down close to his ear. "She WILL die or YOU will take her place." He stood up and started to walk out the room. "But keep in mind, Saki, your death will not save her."

Shredder could feel the heat rising in him. He stood and withdrew his blades. He was not about to let this demon hurt the girl he still considered his, even if she no longer wanted anything to do with him. Feeling a great surge of protectiveness, he quickly ran toward the turtle. But before he could reach him, he was suddenly lifted off the ground, flung across the room and slammed hard into a wall. Panting heavily at the sudden hit, he laid on the floor and groaned in pain.

The demonic turtle turned and smirked at him. "Why would you care about someone who no longer cares about you anyway. It's better that she die. That way, you can be rid of everything that reminds you of him."

He turned and began to walk away, but took one last snarling look at him. "Never forget, Saki, much like Satsugai-sha, you are mine to control." He stared coldly at him. "And speaking of control, the mind control chip you placed in the turtle's head will not help you, I destroyed that while on the ship." Saki watched angrily as the turtle walked out the door and flinched at the sudden loud bang.

At that moment, Tiger Claw and the other mutants came over to him. "Are you alright Master Shredder?" Tiger Claw asked.

Shredder stood and pushed him away, growling as he did so. "Leave me be." He told him in an angry voice and walked away from them and toward Stockman's lab.

Perplexed, they watched him leave in silence. Finally, Bebob turned to the others.

"Someone wanna tell me what the hell is going on here?" He questioned. "One minute we're trying to get this turtle to accept this demon and have him do our bidding and the next, we're bowing down to him." The mutants stared at each other in wonder. "When did this happen?" He asked

"Da, Bebob is right." Rocksteady agreed. "He should be bowing to us, not other way around."

"If you want to make him bow to you, be my guest." Rahzar told him.

"If it were not for those powers, I would have de-shelled him from the start." Fishface chimed in, twirling his butterfly knife.

"Master Shredder will deal with both the demon and the turtle after he gets what he wants." Tiger Claw reminded them. "The death of Hamato Yoshi.