Yes, I will agree with you, that having 'Breath' precede chapter one would have given too much away and ruin the suspense of what 'it' is. Still, even if you had tagged the beginning with this, your story would still remain a classic; your writing style is so solid. But thanks for sharing this very poetic prologue. As always, wonderful writing. :0)

Glad you haven't forgotten about FanFiction, either! :0) Hope life has been treating you well.

Be blessed,

Rene'

I only have one word to describe my feelings on this story:

WOW! Incredible! Fantastic! Totally AWESOME!

Hehehe, oops, five words! ;)

Seriously, that was the most awesome story ever. Great job!

Very awesome story! I'm a big Mikey fan and I loved how you didn't make him act like an idiot. I mean, you actually gave him some kind of brain function other than jokes and food. Very well written, this is a story I'll most likely read again one day. )

OMG! This fic was pure genius. GENIUS i tell you! Tremendously awesome job- and now it is going in my favorites.

I am a HUGE fan of horror movies. They usually don't scare me anymore...but this story scared the holy high hell outta me! This was a GREAT story! Stephen King...eat your heart out!

More people need to read your story...IDIOTS COME READ THIS AWSOME FIC!

Title: Something Wicked

Author: AJ

Genre: Horror

Canon: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Rating: R (for extreme violence, gore and an increasingly unsettling nature amongst other things)

Budget- Independent

Format- Widescreen (the words fill the entire screen, not just half)

Running Time- Approx. 150 min.

Mini-Review: Alien meets the sewer levels from Silent Hill- The dwindling forces of good face off against an unstoppable evil (in a fic written at an unstoppable pace) set in a single environment, one very familiar to horror fans; a sewer system. The result is one of the scariest, most violent and haunting stories I've ever read.

Full Review:

Raw instict, animalistic rage, the pure need for survival; a fundamental part of human beings. If you break down the human spirit far enough, just before or perhaps long after hopelessness has set in, you'll find it. It's in even the most pacifistic of people. When it'll show up depends on the person.

That's the point of AJ's Something Wicked. Only it isn't about humans; rather it surrounds the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Sounds ridiculous? Maybe you've been watching Secret of the OOze and the cartoon series too much. The comics and the first film had a darker, murkier edge. Which is exactly what SW represents to the nth degree.

The tension grips you from the very beginning with young Mark stepping into the sewers on a dare to find a box. In fact, the entire story (disregarding one flashback) is set entirely in the sewers and never, ever stops. In the beginning we're at the manhole leading up outside. We're almost safe. Mark's journey through the sewers pulls us further and further away from the light, even if it isn't really his story.

He is the cork that unleashes the flow, the Jenga block that topples the tower, the Myrna Fahey that fell the House of Usher. He finds something near that manhole, and he runs. Bring in the turtle power. Unfortunately, turtle power in this story means very little. There aren't hordes of Shredder's minions to plow through, Bepop and Rocksteady are nowhere in sight and not a word is whispered of April O' Niel. There are only the turtles, the rat, Mark and...it.

At times 'it' may seem like Alice's Cheshire Cat, with its glowing white eyes and large, abrasive teeth menacing the characters, but before long you'll be too balled up inside to make smarmy Lewis Carrol references to yourself. Then again, maybe that's just me that does that in the first place.

Something Wicked is the ultimate cat and mouse game. Michaelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael sneak through the dark passages and long tunnels of their home, looking for and running from their shadow-stalking nemesis, who always seems to be one step ahead of them. They are captured, toyed with, tortured, beaten...and worse. The story is told in such amazingly graphic detail that I kept telling myself, "if she goes one step further it's gonna be an NC-17." And she goes that extra step, time and again, but somehow keeps her hard 'R'. Really, folks, be warned. You get to hear the torn flesh slap against the water and then she'll make you watch the puddle turn red. This story is really, really bloody.

...the thing dug its claws deep into his arm, slicing through the skin again. It bent over and smelled the blood as it flowed from (his) fresh wound.

The metal sunk in and Donatello pushed against it, listening to the rip of flesh. Blood spurted onto the ninja's face, past his lips and gritted teeth.

and one of my personal favorites,

(It) stared ahead with its one intact eye and reached up, brushing its hand against the other one as it hung limply against its cheek. The (thing) wrapped its long, skeletal fingers around the reddened orb and...

But perhaps worse than the blood is the tone. This is a four-star mood piece alone, with a dismal, gut-wrenching atmosphere that continues growing until it weighs so heavily on you you'll feel like you just shot all of the wolves' cubs in 'Metal Gear Solid'. Now I'm asking myself how many of you have actually done that...there has to be at least one of you out there. No, the mood is incredible. If you've ever watched any of the Davids' movies (David Cronenberg, David Lynch, David Fincher), you'll know what I mean. Somehow, AJ manages to continue tightening the noose around the reader's nervous system until the nail-biting, pulse-pounding climax, when she kicks you off the balcony. You'll feel that noose long after the story is finished.

Action is another thing the author is truly wonderful at. Every movement in the fight scenes has been choreographed wonderfully, to the point that it feels as though you're watching them happen in front of you instead of in the back of your mind. Every punch, kick, twirl and scrabble can be seen, heard and felt as the reader hangs just over the turtles' shoulders as they desperately struggle against an increasingly deadly enemy.

A dark form leaped out of the shadows, landing on Michaelangelo and pounding him into the concrete floor. It jumped off and stepped its foot down on his chest, pushing him harder into the sludge. Mike fought for breath and grabbed hold of the foot, twisting and sending the creature spinning away. It splashed down in the water and the other three turtles were immediately upon it, grabbing furiously for the flailing limbs. It slipped easily away from their assault and broke again for Mike, who was struggling to his feet.

"Mikey, look out!"

and

The thing moved quickly, grabbing (him) by the throat. This time it didn't squeeze, it lifted him, slamming his head into the corner of the concrete ledge. It did it again, harder, breaking the skin on the turtle's forehead and sending a stream of blood down between his eyes; then again, and (he) went limp.

Because of fantastic writing, Something Wicked is more than worth the hard time you might have getting through it. AJ covers all of the bases, making each character three dimensional, surpassing the cardboard cut-out personalities that so heavily populate the fanfic world. You can automatically tell the turtles apart, and it hurts to see them go through what they do.

Leonardo reached behind his back and drew his katanas, staring at them and the blood-covered face that reflected in their metal. He still saw the humanity behind his eyes, but on the outside it was more obvious that he was a creature... a thing meant to live by instinct. But he still felt it - he still had his honor, his strategy, his logical mind. Those things he had fought for every day since the time when he and his brothers had begun this life.

Michaelangelo let his hand slip to his side and walked up behind the other turtle, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just... I'm scared."

Don turned. "So am I... and that's why we need to stay together."

It turns out, beyond the gore and the violence and the mood, that the best thing about this story is its characters. People who become stronger as the story progresses, at the same time as their weaknesses grow. The story may not end happily, but it isn't overly depressing either. It simply has to be experienced, from beginning to end.

Something Wicked is like nothing else on the Turtle section of . It is an award-winning, four-star classic that needs to be on every action, suspense and gore fan's hard drive. If, on the other hand, you are a Ninja Turtle fan, you may want to consider how you see the turtles, and whether or not you want that image to change. My sister Sadie, for instance, refuses to read the fic. So choose carefully.

And for those of you who can take it, bring an extra pair of skivvie's with you.

FIC RATING: 4 out of 4 *'s

SOUNDTRACK: This is an odd one. Start off with Siouxsie and the Banshees' Something Wicked This Way Comes. Next, see if you can find the soundtrack to Silent Hill. That would work very well with this. If you have a DVD player and a copy of Final Destination (starring Devon Sawa and the lovely Ali Larter) on DVD, play the isolated music score and forward through Shirley Walkers' commentary. The film's score works perfectly with SW. After Siouxsie, though, don't listen to anything else with words being sung. You're going to want to give this your full attention.

This is one of my favorites! Wow what a trip!

I just came upon fanfic recently and, this is one of the first I read. Have also read and enjoyed others that you have done. Ramie and Scent of Violets but this one it is a wild ride.

Have you ever thought of doing a story on how Raph deals with his situation now? After reading this for about the third time I started my own what if for Raph. For my own sake no one else's good work.

OH!

NO, I need more. This story rocks. Ah. Need ending. C'mon. you can't leave me here. I, ah, finish it! Please!

Doors are evil.

OH!

NO, I need more. This story rocks. Ah. Need ending. C'mon. you can't leave me here. I, ah, finish it! Please!

Doors are evil.

This has got to be one of my all time favourite fanfictions, and was one of the first fanfictions I ever read after rediscovering the turtles six months ago. It's just amazing, there is no other word for it, it's a masterpiece.

I think one of the things that make it stand out above other fics is that it just deals with the turtles; no girls, no relationships, no children, no shredder, no april. don't get me wrong, I like those kinds of fics, in fact I like all types of fics but it's just so rare to find a fic that is purely about them and with so much action, it's so unique. you'd think with the turtles being ninjas that people would write more fight scenes and more action.

God this story was so intense, I was on an adrenaline high the first time I read it, I was actually quite scared, I got really worked up. It's the only fanfiction I have read seven times, I just love it.

Keep up the great work AJ, your a fantastic author and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Damn. I mean...DAMN! That is one intense trip! Here I am at 1AM, late November in New England in a building with no heat, and I'm *sweating*. Without a doubt, one of the best fics I've ever read.

WOW! That was a masterpiece of a fic! Very suspenseful the whole way through. I do feel pretty sorry for Raph, though... how's he going to react to being told that he'll never fight again? Is there a sequel to this? Anyway, I LOVED this fic! Michelle

SEQUEL! WRITE A SEQUEL! PLEASE?

No matter how many times I read this story, it still kicks me in the gut every time. Masterful work indeed, and the poem and song you used were perfect, gave it that extra bit of horror. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.