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"Down on the Bayou"

It was hot, it was humid, it was not the type of environment for Victor Creed to be dwelling in, but rumors had been circulating of an alleged mutant wandering around the vicinity of New Orleans was enough to attract the mutant to this hotspot in order to investigate.

The sound of the boat's massive fan behind him, pushing the vessel along had been interrupting his thoughts and causing the blond fuzz on top of his head to flutter backwards toward the pulling force behind him. With a growl, he turned his eyes and only his eyes toward the tour guide; a black man in his thirties, who owned the company from which he rented the ship. He was larger than Sabretooth figured on, having a round belly and lower-than-average muscle mass. "How much longer until we're there?" He asked.

"Sorry?" The man answered, looking up from the steering.

Creed growled again. "I said, how long?"

"Oh, the tour is about fifteen minutes. Are you enjoying yourself, mister werewolf?"

"I'm not a werewolf." Victor replied. "But if you don't get this hunk of scrap moving I am gonna throw you to the gators."

The man's eyes widened in terror for a moment, his mouth hung open in shock as he nodded. "Y-yessir, sorry sir!"

"How long until we get to the area where this monster was reported?"

As if there weren't enough expressions, the man's face almost paled at the mention on the monster. "Y-you're going af-after that thing? Do you have a death wish?"

Creed grinned, exposing his razor sharp teeth to the driver. "Maybe I do." He said.

The man swallowed hard and said nothing for a time as the boat buzzed along the waters of the bayou, leaving a wake of green algae behind them as they made their way into the hot, sweaty jungle that made the south so memorable. After a while, Creed pulled out the toothpick he'd been minding and flicked it off into the waters. "So, you don't got an accent. What's the deal with that?"

"M-me sir?" He responded nervously. "Well, my family isn't Cajun if that's what you're referring to. I only moved here a few years ago."

"From where?"

"Chicago." He responded. "My wife wanted to settle here and I'm not much to argue with her."

"Your wife, huh? Got any kids?"

"Expecting our first." He answered.

"Issat so? Well consider yourself lucky."

"Why is that, sir?"

Victor smirked, his grin warily unsure of whether his intentions were serious or not. "Cause if that's the case, I ain't gonna use you as bait for this thing."

Much to his enjoyment, Victor felt the boat suddenly moving along much faster as the man opened up the full throttle on the fan that blew them down the winding river. He sat back and let the air strike his face, but it did little to cool his persistent sweating, even his clothing felt heavy with dampness; this was far from the arctic weather he was used to, and much brighter. He slipped on a pair of sunglasses to try and lower the glare and after fifteen minutes, he noticed the trees and brush around them beginning to grow thicker as the boat came to a slow halt. "This was where the most recent reports came in at, I'm not going no further though."

Sabretooth jutted his nose out and sniffed; a putrid smell of swamp water and mildew penetrated his senses and made him draw back his powers somewhat as he gagged on the overpowering scent. "There are reasons I don't hang out in a place like this normally." He snarled to himself. He glanced at the human. "Stay here a couple hours and I'll double your rate." He said as he hopped over the side and landed in the murky water.

They were close enough to the shoreline that Victor's feet touched the ground, leaving the river at about chest height for him. He waded through, gradually stepping into shallower and shallower water until he was finally standing on somewhat dry land. With a shake to remove the excess moisture he glanced back at the man and then took off into the woods.

"I just don't see why you had to leave New York. I mean from our records, it doesn't even look like you came from Louisiana." Donatello's voice was masked heavily in static over the old-style CB radio that was set up.

Lying on a large blue and white striped hammock, Leatherhead was resting his eyes in comfort under the cool breeze of a fan a few feet above his head. He was dressed in nothing more than a pair of blue pants with tattered cuffs that stopped just above his knees. He took a deep breath and brought the receiver to his face. "I just needed a break Donny." He replied. "Ain't nothin a gator likes more than some time off."

"Yeah, but you're not exactly going to fit in wearing a trenchcoat and sunglasses."

"Why not? You guys do it all the time." There was a pause before the gator sighed. "Look I just needed a vacation." He explained. "You turtles have ninja and zen and all that crap, me? I got a rage that goes unchecked long enough I tend to go ballistic."

"I understand that, but couldn't you have brought one of us along?"

Leatherhead smirked. "I promise, next time I get an itch to scratch, you'll be the first one I call."

"Alright L.H." Donatello's voice crackled back. "You just be safe out there. Okay?"

"I'll be back after the Mardis Gras celebration, alright?" Leatherhead answered. "You don't gotta worry about me, I've always wanted to check out these parties anyway."

"Roger." Donatello responded. "See you in a few days then. Let us know if you need anything."

"I will, Donny. L.H. out."

Leatherhead hung the receiver back up onto the radio and gave a long drawn sigh as he rested his head back; he'd found an old leather hat when he stepped into the place and it fit the crown of his head rather nicely, he closed his eyes and pulled it down over them as he placed his hands on his large chest and started to drift off to sleep.

*CLUNK*

The sound alerted Leatherhead upright with so much motion that the hammock swivelled out from under him and sent him crashing to the floor "AUGH! OOMPH!" He grunted as he hit the ground. "The hell was that?" He asked himself as he got up and brushed himself off.

Evening had fallen already, he must have really been conked out for the day to have dispersed into night so quickly; a bright orange light was already filtering in through the windows. Unnerved by the sound he'd heard, the gator made his way to the window and glanced out at it. He looked over the vast swamplands that surrounded the cabin and didn't see much out of place, the glow of the setting sun sending reflections of trees across the water, but it didn't even look like the water had been disturbed. Sticking his nose out he sniffed the air; still smelling the swamp's atmosphere, he stepped back, confused to where the sound had come from.

Suddenly, the sound of something moving alerted Leatherhead's attention to the door and before he could react a beastial man exploded through the wooden door. The gator reacted quickly as the man tackled him and both flew hard through the back wall, creating another hole in the cabin as they crashed into the ground and rolled down the hill. L.H. grappled the stranger's arms and slapped his tail into the ground under them to roll them so that he would land on top, but the man twisted his weight and a spin ended up sending the two of them rolling down and splashing into the water of the bayou. Immediately the gator's instincts kicked in and he kicked his legs and tail to elude the man's grasp, using his extension to give his attacker a good slap to the head as he swam. In the water, his body acted like a torpedo, flying through the environment like he was born to it. Eventually he felt the bottom under his hands and feet and emerged from the water on all fours. He stood and made his way onto land, looking back at the cabin in the distance with a new fresh hole now in its side.

"Aw crap. I hope that doesn't come out of my security deposit." He lamented before a movement caught his eye. He looked at the man who glared at him like an animal. His hair was wet and droopy, his eyes almost glowing white against the setting sun backdrop behind him. His talons clicked impatiently at his side as he lumbered toward the gator. "Hey now." He said, noticing the sharp fangs in the man's mouth. "I thought cats hated the water."

"I'm not a cat." Sabretooth said. "And you're coming with me."

"The fuck kind of mutant are you then?" Leatherhead said confused. "You ain't part animal?"

"No. I'm the normal kind of mutant, not the result of forced-genetic mutation." He said. "Name's Victor Creed."

"Victor Creed. I know that name, don't you go by the name ahh... Cubbytooth?" He said with a smirk.

"Sabretooth." Creed answered with a scowl. "I'm here to bring you in."

"Ahh... I don't think so."

With that, Leatherhead turned and wrapped his massive claws around a nearby tree, with a fierce growl he managed to rip the trunk out of the ground part way before the rest of the tree's base snapped and he was able to swing it toward Sabretooth. The mutant ducked under the first swing, but the tree managed to slam into him the second time around, knocking him flat to the ground. Slamming the tree down on Victor's back, Leatherhead saluted the mutant with a pair of large clawed fingers. "Time for me to get out of here, see ya later Sabre." He said as he dove into the water and swam off.