- Chapter 92 -

The Outlaw Slashuur!

On an icy planet, Lord Dregg met up with a mysterious figure cloaked in shadows. All that could be made out was vaguely samurai-esque armor.

"I've heard much about you," the insect said. "They say you're the greatest mercenary in the universe."

"In any universe, actually," the figure replied. "What do you need?"

"I was wronged on D'Hoonib by a group of five Gamarons and four Terrans." Dregg showed him a holographic image of the Turtles, Hisako, Kagome, April, and Casey. "I will reward you handsomely if you find them, and end them."

The figure examined them, eyes widening for a minute at the sight of the Turtles and Kagome.

"Very well. You have a deal."

He walked off, lost in thought.

"Those six... the children of Hamato Yoshi and Kasumi Lee. Opponents worthy of matching strength with, indeed."

Meanwhile, on the Ulixes, everyone watched as April underwent a training exercise with Professor Honeycutt. The robotic professor held up several metal spheres, shifting them around while April sat in a meditative position.

"Okay, Miss O'Neil. In which of the spheres have I placed your tessen?"

April closed her eyes, focusing, and eventually pointing to one.

"Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!" Honeycutt declared, opening the sphere. "Excellent!"

He held the tessen out to April, who took it with a happy smile. "Thanks, Professor. With you, I'm finally breaking through my telepathic abilities. I never really explored them before."

"How did you learn so much about the human brain?" Kagome questioned.

"Since it's the only part of my original body left, I have done extensive research on brain matter and neurophysiology," Honeycutt replied.

"Then I guess you're the most qualified to handle us," Hisako mused.

"Hey doc, think you could tell us what's wrong with Mikey's brain?" Raph asked, pointing to Mikey.

"Hey!" Mikey objected, glaring at him.

" I am certain your brother's brain is perfectly fine," Honeycutt said.

"Thank you," Mikey said with a smile.

"He simply doesn't use it."

"HEY!"

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Vee agreed, getting a laugh out of everyone.

As they laughed, both Hisako and April cut themselves off, rubbing their heads.

"What the…?" Hisako muttered. "That can't be right."

"You feel that too?" April asked, getting a nod.

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded, and the entire ship shook.

"What the hell was that?!" Casey yelled.

"I think something's attacking the ship!" Leo exclaimed.

"It's some one!" Hisako corrected.

"A lone creature is trying to take us out!" April added.

Donnie ran over to the control panel, scanning the outside. He gaped at the sight of a tall figure wearing armor similar to the Shredder, but white and red and without spikes, with a billowing red cape. The other Turtles, Splinter, and Kagome saw it as well, and they all paled and gasped.

"Oh…" Vee let out in shock, "Oh shit, no…"

Hisako, Casey, and April just looked confused.

"Uh, mind filling us in so we can all piss ourselves?" Casey asked.

"His name is Slashuur," Kagome explained, turning to him. "Mom and Splinter fought him in the Battle Nexus."

"I've heard stories of him since I was a child," Honeycutt added. "Whenever a battle occurred in the universe, he was sure to be there. After surviving them all, he became renowned as the greatest mercenary in the universe."

"Oh…" Casey said softly.

Everyone looked down and recoiled at the sight of a dark stain on his pants.

"Aww, sick, dude!" Mikey said in disgust.

Suddenly, Slashuur himself warped into the ship, standing right before them. Everyone jumped in shock, Midnight immediately growling at him with her hackles raised.

"Greetings, Turtles. Hamato Yoshi. Kagome Lee. How nice to see you again." He looked among the group. "I must say, your group has grown since the last time we met. Perhaps introductions are in order?"

"Why should we tell you?" Casey snapped. "You're here to kill us, ain't you?"

"It's just a job. Nothing personal."

Splinter stepped in at that.

"Slashuur, this is Casey Jones, April O'Neil, and Hamato Hisako," he introduced, gesturing to each accordingly.

"A new child…" Slashuur mused. "That explains why you didn't come to the previous tournament. Family first, after all. Well…" he drew his scythe, " I wish this meeting were under better circumstances."

Hisako readied to fight, but Leo grabbed her shoulder.

"Hisako, no. We've seen what Slashuur can do. We can't take him."

"So?" Hisako said flippantly. "We've stopped entire invasions, and you haven't seen this guy in what, six years?"

"Well, let's see." Donnie counted on his fingers as he went on. "Greatest mercenary in the universe. He can teleport at will. Projectile attacks are automatically deflected from him. His scythe sucks the life out of whoever it cuts and feeds it to him. And he's not being held back by any tournament rules here."

Hisako gulped at that, now realizing why her siblings were so terrified by this figure. She picked up Midnight, holding the pup close to her chest.

"Oh…" she squeaked out.

"Vringath Dregg hired me to come after you," Slashuur went on. "I recognized who he was after by the description."

"That nasty bug king?!" Vee exclaimed. "We apologized like a hundred times!"

"You'll find Lord Dregg is very vindictive and petty," Slashuur said matter-of-factly.

"Surely we can come to some sort of arrangement," Honeycutt pleaded.

Slashuur shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not here for the credits. I came here to test my skills against theirs."

Hisako raised an eyebrow. "Say wha?"

"You think I became a mercenary for the love of war or mayhem? Only by pitting one's pure strength against another's do true champions arise. And seeing these new faces, I'm curious to see what they have to offer."

Honeycutt sighed in resignation, looking at him. "If you're truly insistent on this... could we not do it on my ship?"

"As you wish," Slashuur allowed. "There is an abandoned space station not far from here. There, we can battle without fear of destroying your ship, or any innocents. I'll be waiting for you."

He warped away at that. After a minute, Kagome broke the silence.

"So… am I the only one skeptical of our chances of beating him?"

"Yeah," Mikey agreed. "I mean… he gave Dad and Kasumi a tough fight."

"I fear we have no choice," Splinter said. "If we attempt to escape, it will be seen as an act of dishonor, and he will destroy us without hesitation. At least this way, we have a slim chance."

"Then we must meet him in combat, it seems," Honeycutt sighed.

Donnie typed away on the computer, plotting out the trajectory for the abandoned space station.

The Ulixes flew to the derelict space station. Honeycutt hacked into the hangar doors, slowly opening them. They docked, and looked around, seeing the place was indeed long abandoned, with garbage and debris all over the place.

"Dudes... this is just like the space station in Alien: Isolation," Mikey recalled, shuddering. "Creepy."

Everyone rolled their eyes at that.

"Mikey does have a point," Donnie admitted. "People don't abandon space stations because things are going well."

"This place is trashed!" Casey exclaimed. "What the hell happened here?"

As they went, Kagome tripped over something, and stumbled, barely managing to regain her footing. She looked, seeing she had snagged her foot on a space suit in the ground, one of many scattered about.

"Weird," she mused. "How could they leave without their space suits?"

She removed the helmet on one, and almost immediately, a cloud of green dust puffed out into her face. She coughed, waving a hand in front of her face before letting out a sneeze. Honeycutt went over, sticking a finger in some of the dust and scanning it.

"Calcium dust?" he let out, before gasping. "Oh, no. The crew didn't leave. They were… disintegrated."

Everyone's eyes widened at that.

"Wait," Kagome realized. "Then that means-"

She let out a squeal of disgust and frantically tried to dust herself off, revolted that she was essentially covered in a person's remains.

"By what, though?" Leo asked, ignoring Kagome. "Professor, what could have caused this?"

Honeycutt noticed a control panel nearby.

"Let's shine some light on things, shall we?" he said as he went over to it, popping open the tip of his finger and plugging it into the panel. "I'm sure we'll all feel better when we can see the place."

The lights flickered on, and everyone took in the sights of the station around them.

"I… think I liked it better in the dark," April said nervously, rubbing her arm.

Hisako closed her eyes, focusing. "I'm not getting anything, guys. This place is… empty."

Suddenly, they heard electronic whirring, and everyone jumped at the sound of a distorted voice. The monitors powered on, and a blue face icon appeared on multiple screens around them.

" Greetings ," a computerized voice said in a British accent, distorted at first.

"Alright," Leo said, deciding to go with it. "And you are?"

" Greetings," said the voice again. " I am the artificial intelligence of this space station. Thank you for reactivating me. The crew called me 'Overmind.' I run all onboard systems. How may I help you? "

"Can you kick a killer scythe-wielding merc's butt?" Raph requested.

" Your request is invalid. I am a fully automated self-repairing factory built to construct VX3 robots. "

"Uh, what kind of robots?" Donnie asked.

" This factory built the best VX3 Warbots in the galaxy. "

"Whoa…" Mikey let out in awe.

"That's nice," Hisako said flatly. "But back to Leo's question. What happened to the crew?"

" The remaining crew must have shut down the station. "

Splinter raised an eyebrow. "Remaining?"

" Upon gaining sentience, the robots decided the crew was weak and inefficient. So they destroyed them," Overmind went on, as casually as if they were discussing the weather.

Everyone gasped at that.

"The robots… gained sentience?" Vee asked.

Mikey gulped. "Uh… who votes to just run back to the Prof's ship and jet away at about a billion miles an hour?"

Everyone immediately raised their hands. Midnight barked once, lifting a paw in the air.

"Thank you for the information," Honeycutt told Overmind politely. "We'll just be on our-"

Suddenly, a jolt of electricity shot out from the control panel, zapping him and knocking him down.

"Professor!" everyone yelled.

They ran to him, Donnie looking him over.

"Are you okay?!" Hisako demanded.

Honeycutt slowly stood up, his back to them.

"Yes, fantastical!" he said cheerily. "Never better! Don't-" He began spasming, before slowly shutting down. "Fretter…"

He went limp, then suddenly stood up straight, his eyes now blue, before he lashed out, knocking Hisako down with his arms.

"Hey!" Casey shouted. "Not cool!"

Honeycutt reeled back, clutching his head, then suddenly ran down the hall.

"Something's wrong!" April realized. "His brain waves are gone!"

Hisako sat up, rubbing her face. "They're being overwritten!"

"After him!" Leo ordered.

They hurried after the fleeing robot, stopping short when they saw the old machines and factory equipment around them.

"This place gives me the creeps," Vee shuddered.

"Yeah," Mikey mused aloud. "Just like in Alien: Isolation , when the Xenomorph lurks above them, then takes his tail, and-"

"Not helping, Mikey!" Kagome cut him off harshly, whirling at him. "Are you trying to freak me out?!"

"Everyone remain calm," Splinter said.

They heard groaning and quickly ran ahead to see Honeycutt huddled in the corner, clutching his head and twitching erratically.

"Professor!" Donnie called out.

Honeycutt turned to them, still twitching.

"You should go. G-get away from me. Please." He babbled incoherently before going on. "My great-greatest fear... losing control... losing…"

"Uh, what's his malfunction?" Mikey asked.

"His core programming is being rewritten," Hisako explained. "And that's erasing Honeycutt's consciousness."

"It won't be long before Overmind has complete control of him!" April added.

"So, A.I. revolts against creators and opts for a machine rule," Raph mused. "What a cliché."

Hisako and April tried to approach Honeycutt, but he held out a hand to stop them.

"Not safe. It's not safe," he warned. "You see, I'm powered by a fusion core. That jolt- I could be unstable."

"Uh, translation?" Casey asked.

"He's saying he's basically a big walking fusion bomb!" Donnie exclaimed, getting a gasp out of everyone.

"The original intent of my robot body was to be a fusion generator," Honeycutt stammered. "It's why I tend to be a little... nervous sometimes."

"You're a walking bomb…" Leo scowled. "Now you tell us?!"

Suddenly, the machines powered on, and they looked up at the conveyor belts, seeing numerous massive robots being pieced together and slowly powering on.

"Uh… those are the Warbots, right?" Mikey asked nervously.

" Correct," came Overmind's voice.

"Why are you doing this?!" Vee demanded.

"Once I gained sentience, I understood that organic creatures were already a fleeting memory. All organics are obsolete."

"Oh, yeah?!" Raph spat, drawing his sai. "We'll show you obsolete!"

"The crew tried to destroy me, but they were unsuccessful. When you reactivated me, you restarted the robot revolution."

"Oh, great!" Kagome yelled. "Way to go, us! We just restarted GLaDOS!"

Honeycutt suddenly stiffened, then raised up, his eyes blue, and Overmind's voice coming out of his mouth.

" Overmind is one, " he declared. " Overmind is complete. Overmind is forever. "

They soon found themselves surrounded by the Warbots, backed into a corner.

" No need to struggle," Overmind went on. " Because you are insufficient, you will be enhanced with robo-technology. "

"Ooh, ooh!" Mikey piped up. "Can I get laser eyeballs? Or maybe a rocket fist?"

"MIKEY!" the other Turtles and co. snapped.

"The previous human crew sabotaged my thrusters, so I must use the Professor's ship to obtain my goal. Overmind will control all mechanical life in the known universe. Overmind will eliminate inefficient organic life."

"Professor, you can't let him do this!" Leo pleaded, looking at Honeycutt. "We gotta save Earth!"

"Foolish creature of flesh. The one you know as Professor Honeycutt is gone."

April and Hisako suddenly perked up, getting a faint pulse of brainwaves from him.

"You're wrong!" April yelled. "He's still in there!"

"Professor!" Hisako shouted.

The two psychics grabbed hands, trying to reach him.

"Professor Honeycutt!" they both yelled. "Fight back!"

"You will not take control! I. Am. Overmind!"

"You can't let him take control! You are Professor Zayton Honeycutt! You are a Neutrino, not a machine!"

They focused, both sending a psychic pulse to Honeycutt, who spasmed.

"You're stronger than him! FIGHT!"

Honeycutt spasmed for several seconds, then stood upright, his eyes back to normal.

"Yes!" he declared in his own voice. "I am… Professor Honeycutt! I… am… BACK!"

His blasters sprouted from his wrists, and he fired on the approaching warbots.

"Yes!" Mikey cheered. "Welcome back, Professor!"

" This changes nothing! " Overmind shouted. " I shall use your ship to free myself of this wretched station, one way or another! "

"I don't think so!" declared a familiar voice.

They all gasped and turned to see Slashuur swoop in, slashing through multiple warbots with his scythe.

"Slashuur?!" Splinter exclaimed.

"If I had known the place was a deathtrap, I wouldn't have suggested it. For now, I suggest we work together to get off this rust bucket."

Suddenly, Honeycutt was ensnared by multiple wires, which plugged into him. His eyes widened. "His robots are accessing my ship! We have to stop him!"

Donnie racked his brain for a solution, and then it hit him.

"Professor, I've got an idea!" he shouted. "Your fusion core!"

"But that much power could destroy the entire-" Honeycutt began before it hit him as well. "Oh yes, I see. An overload!"

He focused, his eyes glowing red as the power flowed through the wires.

"You want leave of this station?!" Honeycutt declared. "You've got it, good sir!"

" No! " Overmind screamed. " What are you doing?! Stop! Stop it! "

Multiple explosions racked the ship and Honeycutt was released from the wires.

"Quickly!" he yelled. "Everyone to the ship! Go, go, go!"

Everyone fled back to the ship as fast as they could, Honeycutt immediately taking the wheel.

"I suggest everyone hold on to something!" he warned.

They all immediately did so. Honeycutt punched it, and they jetted off, just barely making it out as the space station exploded. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was a little too close for comfort," Casey remarked.

"Yes," Slashuur agreed. "But there's still the matter of my contract."

Everyone tensed at that, but Hisako quickly thought of a solution. He stepped forward, but a kunai hit the ground before his feet, a green tassel attached to it. The Turtles and Co. recognized it as Hisako's hair ribbon and turned to her as she stood up, her hair falling to her shoulder blades.

"How about we settle this under the laws of the Battle Nexus?" she suggested, carefully passing Midnight to Mikey. "One-on-one fight, you and me. I win, you drop the contract and leave my family alone."

Slashuur picked up the kunai and tossed it back to Hisako, who caught it with ease.

"I accept your challenge," he declared.

Hisako took back her hair ribbon, tying it back up into her signature ponytail. "Hand to hand only. No weapons, no tech, no powers. Even footing."

"Very well."

Everyone cleared out, watching from a distance as Hisako slid into a fighting stance, giving Slashuur the first move.

The mercenary charged in, coming in with a roundhouse kick, but she quickly ducked under it. Hisako came in with a punch, but he grabbed her fist and kicked her in the stomach, knocking her back. She quickly picked herself up as Slashuur came running toward her, and tried for a leg sweep, only for him to jump over it and land a jumping kick to the face.

Hisako fell back, but quickly landed on her hands, springing up and landing a kick to his face in return. Before she could land, Slashuur recovered, grabbing her leg and throwing her across the room. Seeing this, Raph tensed and was about to jump in, but Kagome grabbed his wrist.

"Raph, don't," she said. "You know we can't interfere."

"She's getting creamed out there!" Raph objected.

"We interfere, and the fight is void," Leo reminded. "And not in our favor."

Raph sighed but realized he was helpless to object and turned to watch the fight.

Slashuur tried pinning Hisako down, but she elbowed him in the face and landed a quick one-two punch. She then pulled her knees back to her chest and lashed out, kicking him in the chest with both feet and knocking him back so she could get back up.

Going on the offensive, Hisako delivered a series of strikes to his face and chest, disorienting him so he couldn't fight back, before landing a kick to his stomach, knocking him to the ground. As he tried to pull himself up, Hisako jumped on top of him, grabbing his collar and rearing her fist back, both panting.

"Yield…" Hisako managed.

After a minute, Slashuur nodded respectfully.

"I yield," he declared.

Hisako sighed in relief, then collapsed in exhaustion. Splinter quickly caught her as Mikey released Midnight, who rushed into her person's arms.

"You did well," Splinter congratulated her.

Slashuur stood up shakily, dusting himself off.

"You have taught her well, Hamato Yoshi," he said, bowing respectfully, which Splinter returned.

"You'll keep your word, right?" April asked. "You'll drop the contract?"

"Of course," Slashuur assured. "Lord Dregg's money meant nothing to me anyway."

He stepped back slowly. "Here's hoping I see you all at this year's Battle Nexus."

With that, he shimmered and disappeared. As everyone sighed in relief, an alarm started going off.

"Proximity alert!" Honeycutt exclaimed. "The ship's computer has picked up the Triceraton fleet!"

"What?!" Leo yelled. "No!"

"They're headed for Xaava-Dal right now!" Honeycutt reported. "The location of the next Heart of Darkness fragment!"

"Crap!" Vee shouted. "We gotta get there before they do!"

"Professor, set a course for that Xaava-Dal place!" Mikey declared dramatically.

"Um…" Honeycutt began, "the computer automatically does that, but thank you."

Nonetheless, he ground gears, and the Ulixes sped off through the cosmos to the planet Xaava-Dal.

Author's Note:

Slashuur is from the game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus. I decided to use him instead of Armaggon for this chapter; I've got other plans for him.

Next chapter, the gang arrives on Xaava-Dal, and has their first meeting with the Triceraton fleet, as well as another foe in the shadows.

Please R&R. Until next time!