The Ookami Among Us: A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle FanFiction

Monster

"We stopped looking for monsters under our bed when we realized that they were inside us."

--Charles Darwin--

Hitomi was desperate for water. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, and her throat was dry as dirt. Dirt that would turn to mud with a some water.... Hell she'd even drink a little mud at this point, just to hydrate her arid body.

It'd been around a week since she'd been snatched away from her simple sewer life with April and they guys. Now, that distant memory seemed to be a luxury. Yeah, living in the sewers wouldn't really be anyone's first choice, but it was the Bahamas compared to this place. She'd lost count of how many needles had been stuck into her body, let alone which ones were pushing stuff in and which ones were sucking stuff out. She looked like a heroin addict at this point, with track marks spanning her arms. Her superhuman healing powers had disappeared after the second day without water. But somehow, she was still alive.

Hitomi looked around the walls of her cell. Claw marks covered the stones, and rocky pebbles surrounded her, all her doing, though she never remembered doing it. Sometimes when the needles came, she would become weak, and other times, she would be filled with sudden anger and energy. Whenever this happened, she blacked out. Everytime she woke up, there were new marks on the wall. Eventually one of Shredder's goons had shackled her wrists and ankles, claiming it was for her own protection. Yeah, right, she scoffed inwardly. She stretched her arms out as far as her chains would allow.

Shredder had yet to show himself, preferring to send his henchmen to do his dirty work. Today however, would be different. A bright blue eye appeared in the small observing window of her cell. It was Rocksteady, the Russian rhino mutant. Hitomi's ears flicked as she heard the lock click open, and he stepped in.

"Is lucky day, wolf girl," he grunted in his thick accent. "Shredder is ready to see handywork." He unlocked her ankles so she could walk, but used the chains around her wrists like a leash to lead her above ground. She'd been in the dark so long, a whimper escaped when the light hit her eyes. Rocksteady just pulled her chains harder. By the time they made it to what she assumed was Shredder's throne room, she was ready to throw up. At this point she didn't even know how she was walking. Sheer will she supposed.

As she looked into Shredder's one good eye, a small, black dot being the only occupant, she thought of Raphael. Then came the rest of the brothers, followed by April and Casey. What were they doing right now? Planning her heroic rescue? Or maybe, they didn't care at all. Maybe they were sitting around the television, eating pizza and watching reruns of Space Heros. She could hear Raph's complaints in her mind.

Shredder unsheathed his steel claws and stalked ever closer. Rocksteady pulled her chains tight, keeping her in place. A growl escaped her throat, allowing her to bare her fangs, enlarged by instinct and the danger looming a few feet in front of her. A laugh escaped his throat. It was a rough, ugly sound that shoved into her ears and grated through her brain.

"You'll be thanking me someday, little girl," he snarled, and raised his blades above his head.

☯

Breaking into the Shredder's lair was becoming old news. The guy really needed to find a new hideout. Spice things up a bit. A flash of white eyes behind a blue mask appeared over the glass ceiling, unnoticed. Behind Leo, Donnie stood with a circular saw and a glass grabber. Neatly, he cut a circle out the window and pulled it back, allowing Raph and April to slip down into the room. Mikey, Donnie, and Leo followed, landing quietly next to the others.

It was quiet. Too quiet, Raph thought, turning in a small circle. It was clear that Shredder wasn't in his throne room. All of the lights were off, and a quick investigation of his chair showed it to be empty.