Episode 4; Hunters and Prey
In old Louisiana, down in the bayou country, they tell a tale...
Many years ago, after the great war, they're lived a young, hotheaded Cajun by the name of Jess Harley. This Harley, he was a bounty hunter, born and raised on the swamp, and taught shootin and knife fightin' by his ol' pappy, an' how ta make a mean gumbo from his momma. But ol' jess, his momma had given him a baby gator as a pet for his tenth birthday, and he named the gator Leatherhead. The gator grew up with his master, and Jess he treasure the gator like he his own offspring. So this Jess, he needed money ta live when he got older, so he formed a posse of bounty hunters, and they were a-going all over the Bayou a-hunting criminals down. They had ol' Leatherhead as their mascot, and there was no better hunter group a hunters in the ol' swamp, you betcha.
But one day, ol' Harley, he decide ta go after the most dangerous bounty in the whole bayou. Mary Bones, an old swamp witch with dwelled out in the wildest part of Cajun country, had been terrorizing the countryside. Old Mary had been striking whole villages with pestilence, causing their crops to wither, and the shrimp harvests the Cajun fishermen relied on to die. Many of the old rich French families claimed Mary had turned their sons and daughters into zombies, enslaving them against their wills. But the old swamp witch, she wasn't using no voodoo. In truth, Mary bones, she drew her power from the turnstone, a mysterious crystal ball filled with a green glowing ooze, some say she stole from some visiting Chinese monks she murdered. Ol' Mary channeled her black magic from the turnstone, and made the whole countryside fear her.
So ol' Jess Harely, he take his posse, an' go a huntin down ol' Mary Bones, eager to collect the bounty the rich folks had put on her head. His crew of ten bounty hunters fought off her army of zombies with knives, shotguns, and fire. But by the time they wiped out all those undead, most of their mercenary crew had been killed; only Harley remained. The lone survivor went after Mary Bones, who tried to make a run for it. But ol' Leatherhead, he met her on the bridge leading away from her hut, and the ol' gator attacked the witch. Leatherhead, he bit Mary Bones in half, finally killing the old witch, and swallowed the Trunstone in one gulp. But even though Jess was able to return with Mary's severed head and collect the bounty, the Cajun hunter mourned the loss of his friends. Harley came to hate any kind of unnatural creature or power, and soon developed an unhealthy obsession with destroying them.
But then, something magical happened to ol' Leatherhead. The power of the turtstone he had eaten began to change him, and he started waking and talking upright like a human being. But Jess, instead of hating his beloved pet, saw a perfect opportunity. He took him to a secluded part of the bayou, and secretly raised him like a son, teaching him to speak, to hunt, and how to be a true Cajun and make gumbo. But he also instilled his hatred of anything unnatural in the world, and made Leatherhead swear he would hunt down and kill all the supernatural freaks of nature he found in the world. After old Harley finally died of old age, old Leatherhead mourned him for a time, and then ol' Leatherhead set out for the distant Empire City, following rumors of weird creatures having been seen there...
...
Raphael was having a really hard day.
Not that it wasn't always hard living in a sewer with four mutant brothers, but today he was feeling particularly rambunctious. He decided to practice with his twin set of tekpi, but where he went ion the lair, he caused trouble. A broken table, two smashed chairs, and even master Splinter's penjing tree he had carefully cultivated, all fell before Raphael's mighty set of weapons. After being chased out of nearly every room in their underground home, Raphael went to the last place he ever wanted to set foot...and still managed to cause destruction.
SMASH!
"Blast it, Raph! Why can't you watch what you're going?!" Donnie yelled angrily at his brother. "You're fighting practice is messing up my lab!"
The turtle in the red mask had rust knocked over a table with a bunson burners and chemical mixtures, whole practicing a move set. His tekpi had accidentally struck one of the table legs, making the table down, and bringing the whole chemistry set smashing top the floor.
"Oh, sorry about that, man. Leo and Mikey are busy sparring in the dojo, so I thought I'd try ta practice in here." Raph replied with a shrug. "Anyway, what was that stuff I knocked over? You trying to make an invisibility potion, or somethin'?"
"No, I was brewing a new recipe of pizza sauce, at Mikey's request. He actually wants to try and make his own pizzas." Donnie shook his head. "Look, Raphael... why don't you try your roughhousing out in the living room?"
"Nah, Master Splinter's meditating in there." Raphael replied. "I guess I'm gonna need ta get out of the lair, an' go try my workout somewhere else."
"Oh, right." Donnie rolled his eyes. "And where, exactly, is a six foot tall talking turtle going to practice martial arts, without being noticed?"
"Ehhhh, I guess I could try going to April's place." The hotheaded turtle mused. "She has an old junk shop under her apartment. I'm sure it'd be safe to practice fightin' there!"
"Yeah, except, ya know, all of the antiques." Donnie laughed. "Anyway, have a good time, Raph. Make sure you come back in one piece."
"Right, whatever!" Raphael rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm outta here! See ya later, bro!"
"Raph, wait!" Donnie called back, running up to him with a coat and hat. "Here, put these on. We're all wearing them now." Donnie told him, handing Raphael the clothes. "They won't disguise you much, but they'll obscure your form at night."
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me..." Raph groaned, as her put the trench coat and fedora on. "I look like one on those private eyes from the old detective movies."
Waiting until darkness fell, so the trenchcoat and fedora would prevent him standing out, Raphael headed topside. Making his way through the shadows, he stealthily slunk towards the apartment building April owned. Going up the fire escape ladder, he entered her apartment though the window... only to be promptly clocked on the head on the frying pan.
*BOOOONNNNNNG!*
*OUCH!*
"Okay, mister! I don't know what you thought you were gonna steal, but-" Seeing who the intruder was, April put the frying pan down. "Ohmygosh, Raph! Are you all right?"
"Oy, did anybody get the number of that Sherman tank that hit me?" Raph asked, wearily trying to pull himself back to his feet. "Hiya April, thought I'd drop in."
"It's know problem, just next time don't drop in on an Empire city girl in the middle of the night." April laughed. "So, what can I do for you?"
"Ugh, my brothers are being a serious pain in the shell. They won't let me work out in the lair." Raphael groaned. "I was hoping I could work out downstairs, maybe?"
"Wow, that would be great!" April replied, motioning for the turtle to follow her out into the hallway, and down the stairs. "Actually, I've cleaned out the basement in this place to try my own hands at some workouts and martial arts."
"Whoa, I didn't know you knew how to fight." Raph replied, as he followed April out of the apartment. "I mean, you didn't seem to be able do battle before."
"After I met you guys, I decided to try and learn how to defend myself." April explained. "So I converted the basement into a gym, and bought some self-teaching VHS tapes to learn some karate."
"Video tapes? Hah, I could teach you a lot more than those cheesy video trainers ever could." Raph chuckled. "C'mon, let go drown stairs, and I'll show you a few moves."
April and Raphael went down the stairs, and entered her father's old antique store. Looking around at all the old furniture and dusty paintings, Raphael thought he had never seen so much old junk in one place before.
"Wow, nice place you got here." Raph chuckled. "So, you're old man was in the antique business, right?"
"Yep, the antique shop's called 'the 2nd time around', and it was pop's pride and joy." April looked at the ground as they walked past all of the old, dusty treasures. "I wish I would've gotten the chance to know him and mom better."
Finally getting to the basement, Raph found a gym mat, along with a lot of workout equipment. April excused herself for a moment, and returned in a yellow workout outfit with a headband and legwarmers.
"Wow, look at you... the hottest workout chick of 1984." Raph joked. "Say, what's with you and all your clothes being yellow bodysuits?"
"Hey, if something works for you, ya stick with it!" She smiled, taking a fighting stance. "So, think you can teach me some kung fu, Raph?"
"Sure, but I warn you..." Raph smirked. "...I ain't going easy on ya!"
"Try me, turtle boy. My dad was Irish, and my mother was pure Hispanic." April warned, as the two fighters circled each other. "I might turn out to be tougher than I look. And besides, you and your brothers are still recovering from you beating by those rhino and warthog monsters who tore you up a month ago. So I should really go easy on YOU. "
The two opponents began to spar, and Raphael was finally able to work out his frustration though combat practice.
...
Empire city metropark... one of the most peaceful and tranquil places in the entire city, it was one large forest of green, surrounded on all sides by a dull, grey, and drab cityscape. Families would come here on weekends for picnics, and joggers came though on a daily basis for exercise. Listening to their Walkmans through stereo headphones, entirely oblivious to the world around them. it was a tranquil island of calm, amidst the sea of chaos that was Empire city.
Unbeknownst to all of the people enjoying the park, there was a new creature swimming in the park's lake. He watched the humans come and go, his head barely sticking out of the water so he was hardly noticeable. After the sun set and post of the visitors left, he finally emerged from the waters, coming onto the shore to dry off. And the mutant monster who sat there, was a truly terrifying sight.
"Well, looks like them humans are gone." The beast growled, as he retrieved his bag of belongings from the place he had hidden them in the bushes. "That's for the best. They woulda been plenty scared if they had seen ol' Leatherhead, you betcha."
Most people had heard of alligators in the sewers, but nobody would have suspected a humanoid alligator had temporarily moved into the park's lake. Leatherhead certainly looked strange; wearing a pair of raggedy blue jeans, wading boots, a red fedora, and a yellow sleeveless jean vest. Opening his bag and gathering a stack of firewood, and Leatherhead started a campfire. Pulling out a pair of crayfish he had caught in the lake, the gator-man tossed them into a metal pot along with some rice, sauce and vegetables.
"Ahhh, good ol' crayfish gumbo, one o' my favorite dishes." Leatherhead grinned, taking a sip of his soup with a ladle. "Perfect dish ta enjoy, before I go a-mutant hunting."
Having originally come up from Louisiana, the Cajun gator had quietly hopped a train north, then swam his way through the rivers towards Empire city. Carrying his personal belongings and weapons in a waterproof sack, Leatherhead was following the rumors of monsters that had appeared in Empire City. The gumbo-eating gator was seeking to destroy the freaks who rumors and urban legends had told him were here. And being the hunter he was, Leather WOULD find them; that, he guaranteed.
As the gator-man ate, a pair of rabbits came hopping out of the bush. Upon seeing Leatherhead, the two hares tried to jump away. But the gator man's tail whipped out like a serpent, wrapping around the first rabbit's neck, and instantly snapping it. The second hare managed to get out of the gator man's reach, but Leatherhead chucked his Bowie knife, impaling the hare with the blade.
"Hm, looks like I caught my lunch for tomorrow, by gumbo." The Cajun gator chuckled, talking aloud to himself as he always did. "But there was no thrill in that hunt, I need to find a bigger challenge, tout suite."
The gator sniffed at the air, and picked up a very odd scent. Slithering over to a nearby bush, Leatherhead looked out to spy a human working in the park, planting shrubs and flowers. The human was signing to himself, as he go his equipment out of his truck.
"Hmmm, that human, he do look mighty tasty." Leatherhead whispered to himself. "I could use some extra meat to go with my two rabbits, I guarantee."
Picking up his knife and shotgun, the Cajun gator moved in for the kill.
...
A short time later, Raph and April had left the antique store, and had decided to go to the park to take a break. Even though it was dangerous there after dark, April really wasn't worried with a giant kung-fu turtle with a bad attitude traveling with her.
"Boy, this was a really awesome idea, April. Comin' to the park after our sparring match." Raphael told her, as the two walked along. "I needed some fresh night air, livin' in a sewer and all."
"Is it really that bad, living down there with the other three turtles?" April asked, putting a hand on his shell. "I mean, they are your brothers, and all."
"Oh, don't get me wrong, my bros and sifu Splinter are totally family. But... they don't really get me, ya know?" Raph explained, shaking his head. "They're all so different than me, and I'm so, so... angry, so sarcastic. And I just don't know why."
"Maybe it's because you see all the things wrong in the world, and you are the only one of your brothers who can see it." April suggested."Maybe you're the only one who is so passionate about solving the world's problems, that you bear the weight of the whole world on your shoulders."
"Yeah, maybe your right. Maybe I do take too many of the world's problems onto myself." The turtle smiled. "Thanks a ton, April, that makes me feel a whole lot better."
As they walked along, Raphael pulled out a small dagger with a metal loop on the end, and began casually spinning it on the end of one of his three fingers.
"Hey, what's that funny little knife you've got there?" April asked curiously. "It looks too small to use as a regular weapon."
"Oh, this?" Raph just shrugged. "It's called a kunai, a martial arts throwing knife. Keno gave us about 50 old ones his dad had, and he's training us how to throw them. Master Splinter says they are not kung-fu weapons, but they could be useful in combat."
The two continued to walk along and talk, until they came upon a strange sight. A truck, parked right in the middle of the metropark, was sitting over by the rose bushes. The truck's door was hanging open, and nobody appeared to be around, anywhere.
"Wow, looks like this truck's been abandoned." Raphael commented. "Who do ya think left it here?"
"It appears to belong to the park's groundskeeper. Look at all the plants and tools in the back." April replied, looking around at the truck curiously. "But what do you think happened to the gardener?"
"I happened to the groundskeeper, mademoiselle." A large, grinning crocodile announced, stepping out from behind the shrubbery. "He took a one look at me, and then he started to scream like a little child. I had to use my jaws, and cut him in half at quiet him down a bit. Made a very tasty dessert, by Gumbo!"
"Oh my word, it's a talking alligator!" April cried out in horror. "It-it must be another mutant, like you!"
"Did I hear you say you KILLED that groundskeeper?!" Raph snarled, pulling out his tekpi. "You actually Ohhh, you're gonna pay for that!"
"You think you gonna tech ol' Leatherhead a lesson?! Boy, I'll tan your turtle hide, by gumbo!" Leatherhead held up his shotgun. "You're just the kind 'o freakish scum ol' Leatherhead came here to hunt!"
"Raphael, wait!" April cautioned. "He looks really dangerous, and you're still recovering from your last battle!"
"Sorry, April! I can't let this creep turn anybody else into an appetizer!" He motioned for her to run. "You get yerself outta here, before Leatherhead here decides to have a reporter as a second dessert!"
The two opponents lunged at each other, grappling for several minutes before the gator man forced the turtle back. Raph stabbed twice with his twin tekpi, but Leatherhead drew his Bowie knife and blocked both strikes with his blade.
"Hah! You gonna attack my with those gardening tools, boy?" Leatherhead mocked him, twirling his knife in his claw. "It's gonna take more than that ta beat me, by Gumbo!"
Leatherhead swung the knife, and Raph dodged by leaping backwards. The gator man swung a second time, and the turtle caught it with his tekpi, tossing the knife aside.
"Not bad for a gardening tool, eh?" Raph smirked, as he headbutted Leatherhead, knocking him backward. "Got any better weapons than that toothpick, Wally Gator?"
Leatherhead growled, swinging his tail, and knocking the turtle back to the ground. Kicking his blade up off the ground with his boot, he caught the Bowie knife with his tail, and threw it straight at the turtle. Raph tried to dodge, but the knife speared him, right in the back of his shell.
"Arragh!" The turtle cried, pulling himself back to his feet. "How... how the hell do you move that fast?" Raphael asked, pulling the blade out of his shell. "You aren't a martial artist!"
"No boy, I ain't no Kung-fu fighter." Leatherhead explained, cracking his neck. "My mentor was a bounty hunter, he taught me knife and tomahawk fighting, how ta shoot, and savate kickboxing." He reached to his belt. "You ain't gonna have an easy time with me, kung-fu boy. I guarantee."
Running across the courtyard, Raph tossed several kunai at the gator man. Leatherhead deflected each throwing star with a tomahawk, then threw the Apache weapon at Raph, The turtle ducked his head into his shell to avoid the deadly axe, which almost took his noggin clean off.
"Okay, that does it!" Raphael declared in anger, pulling out both of his tekpi. "No more mister nice turtle!"
"Boy, I'm gonna tear your shell open, and have your gizzard for breakfast!" Leatherhead took another tomahawk from his belt in his left hand, and took his Bowie knife in his right. "Let's do this thing, tout suite!"
The two opponents smashed into each other, tekpi colliding with tomahawk and knife again and again. Sometimes Leatherhead would try a tail swipe, or a bite with his powerful jaws, but the turtle would always manage to stay just out of the gator man's reach. Likewise, the Cajun always managed to bat away the the turtle'S thrown kunai.
"This isn't getting us anywhere!" Raph told the gator man. "We're too evenly matched!"
"That be true, by gumbo." Leatherhead agreed. "At least until moi gets the higher ground!"
The Cajun ran up the hill in the park, then jumped down, slashing both of his weapons simultaneously. The turtle managed to catch the blows with his two tekpi, and the two pushed up against each other in a test of power.
"It no use, tortue!" Leatherhead growled. "I be stronger than you!"
"Yeah, maybe so." Raphael replied. "But my weapons are stronger than yours!"
Raph pushed up against the gator's knife and tomahawk hard, breaking both of them off at the handle. But before he could strike the finishing blow, Leatherhead had jumped out from underneath him.
"Why, you no good pile of putain! Those were family heirlooms!" The gator man was so angry, he snorted steam from his nose. "I'm gonna beat you like a drum, boy!"
Leatherhead roared, jumping feet first at the turtle, and hitting Raph with several strong savate kicks. He pummeled the turtle with several blows, knocking the tekpis from his hands, before lunging at Raphael with his powerful jaws wide open.
"Oh no, you're not taking a bite out of me!" The mutant yelled, struggling to hold the upper and lower halves of his jaw open. Raphael barely managed to jump out of the way, as the mutant gator's powerful jaws snapped shut.
"Well, if I can't be you in a fair fight, I just have to blow your head off!" Leatherhead pulled his shotgun off of his back, and proceeded to open fire on the turtle.
click-click, BANG! click-click, BANG! click-click, BANG!
The Cajun fired again and again, stopping only to reload, as Raph ducked behind some playground equipment to avoid the shots. Leatherhead unleashed a spray of bullets on the entire surrounding area, not leaving any spot for a turtle to hide.
"Come out out, you shelled freak!" The gator man growled, reloading his weapon. "There be no escaping ol' Leatherhead, you betcha!"
April, who had been watching the two fight, desperately looked for a way to help her mutant turtle friend. Seeing the abandoned maintenance truck from earlier, April climbed in, and turned the key.
VROOM!
Suddenly, the parked maintenance truck behind him roared to life, and it raced forward towards the gator man. Leatherhead opened fire on the speeding vehicle... just as it plowed into him, then smashed into a nearby temple wall.
KABOOM!
What happened next, Raph really couldn't tell; wither Leatherhead's bullets had hit the gas tank and made it explode, or wither the shells in the gator man's shotgun had exploded upon impact with the vehicle. April had leapt out of the driver's seat as soon as the truck hit Leatherhead, and the reporter hit the dirt and rolled as the whole thing exploded. When he looked out from where he was hiding, all Raph saw was the flaming wreckage of the vehicle, with Leatherhead's scorched legs and tail sticking out from beneath the wreckage.
"Raph, are you okay?!" April called out, picking herself up off the ground, and running over to the exhausted turtle. "Speak to me!"
"Naw, I'm okay, April." Raphael said, before turning to the defeated Leatherhead. "Now who's a pile of gumbo, ya Cajun handbag?" Raph asked, before passing out on the ground, unconscious, from total exhaustion.
...
It was several hours later, when the hotheaded turtle woke up on April's couch. His eyes flickered open, and Raph wondered where he was... until it all came back in a rush.
"Wait, where am I?!" He called out, sitting up quick. "What's going on? Leatherhead... the fight...!"
Whoa, , whoa there! Calm down, Raph!" April replied, rushing out of the kitchen, and kneeling by where he had been sleeping. "You won that fight, it's all over."
"Yeah, I won it, all right... thanks to your help." Raph stood up, still feeling a little groggy. "I can't believe how badly that gator kicked my butt, I must really suck at Kung-fu."
"Hey, you and your brother have only just been in your first few fights, of course your going to get knocked around by bigger and stronger mutants." April helped him to his feet. "Bedsides, you did pretty well against that Leatherhead. You probably even would've won if he hadn't pulled out that stupid shotgun."
"Still, I shoulda been able to take him, even without my brothers." Raphael sighed. "And I get this strange feeling, that we haven't seen the last of that gator man."
"There you go, taking the weight of the world on your shoulders again." April chastised him, as she helped him over to the window, so he could make his way home. "I wouldn't worry about it; I don't think even a mutant gator could survive getting run over by an exploding truck."
"Yeah, I guess you're right... I just wish there had been some kind of evidence proving Leatherhead got blown up, like when the cops found pieces of Oroku Nagi's body in the foot dojo ruins; that at least told told us that battle was finished." Raph sighed, heading out the window. But as the turtle rooftop ran his way home, Raphael had a strange feeling that this whole thing was far from over...
...
That blasted human, she had ruined everything!
As the police sifted through the wreckage of the truck, the wounded Leatherhead watched them from the shadows. He had been doing just fine against that turtle, until the human woman got in the way! Still, he knew the turtle was still out there, and there were probably more mutant freaks like him. All Leatherhead had to do was bide his time, and the hunt would be on again. Some kind of sixth sense had told him he'd find the turtle in that park; a mutation enhancement of his natural hunting instincts, no doubt. And he could use those abilities to hunt the turtle down, along with whatever other unnatural monsters were out there.
"Mmmm this gonna be a very good huntin' ground." The Cajun gator mused. "Don't worry, Jess Harley, ol' Leatherhead will kill all of the evil, unnatural creatures. This, I guarantee..."