Chapter 176: The Irish Jig is Up


On the flight to Ireland, Raph had dozed off in his chair. Mikey smirked mischievously, sneaking over to him with a can of shaving cream as the others watched.

"Should we... do something?" Kagome asked.

"Nah, let him have his fun," Donnie shrugged. "Whatever Raph does, he brought on himself."

"Oh this should be good," Leo mused.

Mikey sprayed a healthy amount of cream onto Raph's hand. He then used the tip of his mask to tickle Raph's face. As expected, Raph's hand went to his face, splattering the cream all over. Mikey took off, laughing as Raph snapped to with a scowl.

"MIKEY!"

He launched himself over the seat, tackling Mikey to the ground. Splinter, who was meditating off to the side, just sighed and shook his head.

"Kids…" he muttered.

"Don't make me come back there!" Kasumi called from the cockpit.

"Yeah, well he started it!" Raph defended as he throttled Mikey.

"I don't care who started it! I'll finish it!"


The plane eventually docked in Dublin Airport. Mikey looked out.

"Hey, what gives?" he asked. "We were just in Scotland."

"We're in Ireland, dumbass," Donnie informed him.

"Oh, my bad," Mikey continued examining the outside. "Quite a country, Ireland. They say it has more drunks per capita than people."

Vee sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Okay, Mikey. First, drunks are people too. And second, that's just a stereotype. Like the claim that Japanese people can't tell Ls and Rs apart, or that all Asians have buck teeth and wear straw hats."

"So what exactly are we looking for here, Donnie?" Leo asked.

Donnie examined the map and files.

"It's vague," he reported. "Only says something about driving the human populace out so they can take over the island."

"I hate it when things get vague," Vee sighed.

"Then I suppose we just keep our eyes out for anything suspicious," Kagome decided.

"We'll search the area, then regroup at the hotel," Kasumi said. "We can discuss what we found there."

-X-

They dispersed to do so, looking around and asking questions. Later, they regrouped at the hotel.

"What've we got?" Leo asked.

"A lot of people mentioned some scientist type named Liam Murphy." Karai offered.

"Same here," said Donnie. "He's been around town and the countryside a lot, and here's the strange part. Wherever he's been, the livestock and critters suddenly turn rabid and crazy."

"Sounds like HAVOC alright," Leo noted. "We need a point of origin so we can figure out how this started."


Meanwhile, in an open field outside of Dublin, an old building had been turned into a makeshift laboratory. Within, an older man with a graying red beard looked over a sizable raygun-like device with a smirk.

"Just a few more adjustments," he noted. "Then it will be ready."

He tweaked it a bit before snapping the panel closed.

"The Transmodulator is complete. It's only a matter of time before Ireland will be HAVOC country."


The next day, the Hamato family was relaxing near a sheep pasture, taking in the air. Hisako and Midnight were near one sheep in particular, which allowed Hisako to pet it.

"Hey there, little guy," she greeted with a smile, scratching behind the sheep's ear.

The sheep enjoyed the attention before pulling away, its eyes clouding over. Midnight's hackles immediately raised, before the sheep let out a loud scream that had everyone jumping. Mikey sprang out of his seat, latching onto Vee.

"What the hell was that?!" he exclaimed.

Hisako stared at the sheep as it suddenly grew and contorted. It let out another cry before rushing forward and headbutting Hisako. She went flying.

"Holy-!" Leo managed.

Hisako hit the ground, skidding through the grass as the rest of the flock began to change.

I think we figured out what was going on with the sheep," she winced. "Ow…"

Vee pried Mikey off, pushing him away as the flock all began to advance.

"Leo, you have a plan?" she demanded.

"Honestly... not really," Leo admitted.

"Look! That lab!" Donnie pointed, and they saw the lab in the distance. "Whatever's happening to the sheep, it's gotta be coming from there!"

"All we need to do is survive the sheep to get there!" Raph deadpanned.

"I'll keep them busy," Hisako said. "You guys make for the lab."

She got up, facing the sheep with Midnight as the group hurried off. Donnie picked the lock on the lab door, and they stormed in, looking around.

"Well, well," came a man's voice. "The infamous Hamato Clan. Falco warned me you'd be coming along sooner or later."

"Show yourself, you sheep monster maker!" Mikey ordered.

Raph blinked. "Seriously? That's the best you could come up with?"

Mikey shrugged. "It sounded better in my head."

"If you insist." The man emerged from higher up the stairs, the raygun in hand. "Dr. Liam Murphy, at your service."

"What did you do to the sheep outside?" Vee demanded. "And why?"

"You see here the Transmodulator, my mutant ray," Murphy explained, displaying the gun. "With just one pull of the trigger, an innocuous little animal becomes a ravening mutant. All the better for we at HAVOC to chase out the human pestilence and take the island for ourselves."

"Reverse the effects now!" Leo ordered.

Murphy scoffed. "Not a chance. The work of HAVOC will not be undermined!"

They began to advance on Murphy, but he leveled the raygun at them.

"Stay back!" he ordered. "You don't know what this gun does to humans or mutants!"

They stopped in their tracks before Murphy grinned evilly

"Come to think of it, neither do I. Let's find out!"

He started firing on them, forcing them to scatter.

"Don't let that thing hit you!" Donnie warned.

"Why?" Mikey asked. "What will happen?!"

"I don't know, but I'd rather not find out!"

Karai narrowly dodged one shot, recoiling. Seeing this, Leo acted on instinct as Murphy aimed again.

"NO!"

He jumped in front of the shot, taking a solid hit to the plastron.

"Leo!" everyone screamed.

Leo cried in pain as his shell became jagged, the edges sharpening and spikes forming across it. His entire body became bulkier and more muscular, and there was a layer of animalistic fury in his eyes.

"Well…" Murphy said in interest, "now I have my answer."

He quickly slipped out as the group was focusing on the mutated Leo, who snarled at them.

"Leonardo, don't give into the effects!" Kasumi urged. "You're stronger than that!"

"You have to fight it!" Splinter shouted.

"Relax, guys," Leo managed, his voice gruffer. "I'm still me… Just… wilder…"

He was panting hard, fists clenching and unclenching. Eventually, he composed himself, hands still shaking slightly.

"C'mon. We gotta get Murphy and make him fix this."

They got outside, where they found Hisako had trapped the mutated sheep in a large pen made from what looked like various pieces of scrap metal.

"Sheep contained and-" her jaw dropped. "Holy shit! Leo!"

"Yeah, I know," Leo chuckled awkwardly. "Think it'll ruin my career as a swimsuit model?"

She let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Bushido. You're still you."

"We need to find Murphy," Raph insisted. "He's got some kinda mutant raygun that turned the sheep and Leo into these... things."

"Midnight, think you can sniff him out?" Mikey asked.

Midnight put her nose to the ground, sniffing around for a bit.

"If we can get the gun, I can find out how to reverse the effects," Donnie noted.

"What about retro-mutagen?" Kagome suggested.

Donnie shook his head. "That may work for the sheep, but I'd rather not risk demutating Leo completely."

"Then we need the raygun," Karai agreed. "It's our only chance."

Midnight perked, barking before motioning for the group to follow her.

"Leo, are you sure you're okay?" Karai asked as they went.

"I will be, I promise," Leo assured.

"Why'd you do that?"

"We almost lost you to a feral snake once," Leo said simply. "We're not losing you again."

He shuddered for a minute before shaking his head.

"Yeah, I've got these baser instincts, and they're pounding in my brain. But unlike those poor sheep and any other critters he's changed, I'm sentient. I can think and feel. They'll only control me if I let them."

"Of the ones to get hit, I'm glad it was you," Raph remarked. "You can fight it. Mikey and I would lose in an instant, and we need Donnie's big brain in one piece."

Leo nodded. "Agreed."


Midnight eventually led them to a zoo. The crowd was in a panic, mutated rabbits and chickens running rampant.

"Of course he'd come to the zoo…" Vee sighed. "Not good."

They hurried along, seeing Murphy walking along, the gun slung over his shoulder with a smile.

"Hey, Murphy!" Leo shouted.

Murphy scowled, looking at them.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you? Well, no matter." He looked at each of them in turn, his eyes falling on Hisako. "Count yourself lucky, Hamato Hisako. You're about to become the first human test subject of my ray."

As he took aim, Midnight growled before running forward at full speed. She aimed right between his legs and bit hard. He screamed and the shot went wide, hitting one of the chickens flying around. It reverted back to a normal chicken upon being hit. In between wincing at Murphy's predicament, they looked, seeing the chicken's reversion.

"That's it?" Donnie asked. "A second shot acts as an antidote? I was expecting something less anticlimactic."

"Believe me…" Murphy let out, his voice a pained falsetto. "It's just as much a shock to me."

"Get that gun!" Karai shouted.

They all charged at Murphy, aiming for the gun as the doctor began hobbling away as fast as he could. He was nowhere near fast enough and ended up at the bottom of a turtle pile.

"I got it!" Mikey declared. "I got it!"

He held up the gun triumphantly.

"No!" Murphy shouted. "Give that back!"

He tried to get it, but that was when Karai kicked him in his already injured groin.

"That's for shooting Leo!" she shouted.

As he slumped to the ground, Donnie took the gun, aiming at each mutant in turn and shooting them. One by one, they all reverted to normal.

"Alright, Leo. Your turn."

He turned to Leo, shooting him. The spikes and muscles slowly disappeared, reverting the blue turtle to his normal proportions. He felt his plastron and jaw, sighing.

"Much better."

Everyone quickly hugged him in relief. Murphy attempted to crawl away, but a green halo surrounded him.

"And where are you going?" she asked.

"You and your dog have practically castrated me," Murphy wheezed. "Haven't I suffered enough?"

"Not until you're behind bars." Kasumi spat.


Sometime later, the local police arrested Murphy as the lab was completely shut down. Donnie had dismantled the gun, rendering it useless.

"And that's that," he said, clapping his hands together.

"Man, that was easier than expected," Mikey remarked.

"That was easy for you?" Leo questioned.

"Well, yeah," Mikey replied. "I mean, last time we had to fight mutant bats."

"At least you didn't undergo a double mutation into a half-feral Hulk," Leo muttered.

"You were hardly feral, Leo," Raph pointed out. "You had it under control."

"It was a near-thing, though," Leo said as they headed back to the hotel. "Let's enjoy the sights of the country for a bit. After that, I need a break."

"No argument here," Vee agreed. "I'm kinda hungry honestly."

"How about lamb chops?" Mikey suggested, getting a smack from Raph.


Author's Note:

Yeah, I know this is a bit short, but whatever. Also, this has been done for months; I just kept forgetting to post.

Please R&R. Until next time!