- Chapter 66 -

The Manhattan Ghoul, Part 1

WARNING!

This chapter and its ensuing mini-arc contains graphic violence and body horror. Viewer discretion is advised.

It was a dark and stormy night as a mysterious figure stumbled out onto the streets, wandering randomly and clutching his stomach. He wandered into a back alley, leaning against the wall and breathing heavily

"Hungry…" he wheezed. "I'm so… so hungry…"

He perked at the squeak of a rat, looking up to see a small rat scurrying out.

"FOOD!" he screamed before pouncing on it, quickly breaking its neck and greedily devouring it. The noise of his eating attracted the attention of a pedestrian.

"What the heck is that…?" they wondered before heading into the alley, seeing the figure leaned over himself, breathing and growling. "Hey, buddy. You okay?"

The figure perked before turning, giving the man a good look at a horrific sight: the figure hunched over a half-eaten rat, his mouth smeared with blood.

"Wh-what the hell?!" he shrieked.

"Meat!" the figure screamed. "Fresh meat!"

The man stumbled back before turning and running.

"Come back, dinner meat!" the figure screamed, giving chase on all fours.

"No, no, NO! Get away!"

The figure laughed crazily, his arm suddenly stretching out and grabbing him by the ankle before reeling him in. The man screamed and struggled, leaving bloody scratch marks in the pavement as he desperately tried to escape, but it was all for naught as he was dragged into the darkness…

The next morning, Kagome met with April, Casey, and Irma outside of the front door of Roosevelt High.

"Can I just say I'm glad school's finally back open?" Kagome declared. "This was worse than the coronavirus shutdown."

"Tell me about it," Casey remarked.

"Honestly, I'm looking forward to getting the dance club back up. I miss dancing and performing."

"You're telling me," a new voice cut in. "I can't wait to get the fencing club back."

Kagome perked, the group turning to find a girl around their age with black hair and blue eyes walking up.

"Oh, hi!" April greeted. "Ximena, right?"

"What kinda name is-" Casey began before Kagome cut him off with a discreet kick in the shin.

"Again, don't pull a Mikey," she whispered in his ear.

"It's alright," Ximena assured. "I'm used to it. I'm Ximena Fermi, captain of the fencing team.

"Kagome Lee, captain of the dancing team," Kagome replied. "These are my friends Casey Jones, April O'Neil, and Irma Langstein."

"Right. I remember Casey. He broke three sabers during his tryouts."

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Casey objected. "Those swords were thin and flimsy!"

Irma blinked. "You tried out for fencing?"

"It's a sport, isn't it?" Casey pointed out.

"One that doesn't really play to your strengths," Irma said.

"Nope," Ximena agreed. "But I digress. I was hoping I could use the gym this afternoon for tryouts. I'm hoping some new blood will be interested."

Kagome rubbed the back of her head. "Well... I was actually planning to use the gym for my dance team this afternoon. But tomorrow should be good."

Ximena smiled. "Thanks, Kagome. I told the others you were reasonable. I just really don't want any of my people staying out too late, what with the Ghoul and all."

Irma perked. "The what now?"

Ximena blinked. "You… haven't heard of the Ghoul?"

"Think we missed out on that," Casey remarked.

"It's this terrifying creature that's been lurking around for a couple of weeks now. Some say it's a flesh eating monster that those aliens unleashed on the city. Others say it's a wild mutant that went mad. Either way, it's not safe after dark."

"Well…" April gulped, "thanks for letting us know."

"No problem," Ximena waved as she headed off. "Be safe!"

"So…" April began, "what do we think?"

"A flesh-eating monster running amok in New York?" Casey mused. "Yeah, this has Krang written all over it."

"As soon as school heads out, I'm headed for the lair," Kagome decided. "I'll let you know what Donnie digs up. In the meantime, if you have to go out after dark, don't go anywhere alone, okay?"

"Agreed," said Casey. "Better safe than sorry."

That afternoon, at the lair, Kagome sat down, informing them of what she heard at school.

"It's the talk of Roosevelt High. Apparently, since Krang went down, some flesh-eating mutant has been roaming the streets at night. Nobody knows what exactly it is. They're just calling it 'the Ghoul'."

"A ghoul, huh?" Vee closed her book. "Sounds fascinating."

"A crazy, cannibal freakazoid running around eating folks isn't what I'd call fascinating, Vee." Raph deadpanned.

"What do you know?" Donnie asked his sister.

"Well, ghouls are... some of the most inconsistent creatures in folklore. Some sources claim they're a type of zombie. Others say they're a breed of vampire. I even found one Islamic legend that depicts them as cemetery-dwelling djinn."

"You mean, like a genie?" Leo asked.

"Wish-granting zombie genies!" Mikey chuckled. "Can you imagine if Aladdin found one of those in the lamp?"

"Weird enough to be true," Hisako mused, playing with a tug of war toy with her dog. "Right girl?"

Midnight barked.

"Anyway…" Vee cut in, "The point is, ghouls are vicious, ugly, and downright terrifying. The one consistent thing across most folklore: they have a taste for long pig." At their looks, she clarified, "More or less an antiquated term for human flesh."

"Then why call it long pig?" Raph asked.

"Because pork is the closest in terms of consistency to human flesh," Donnie said. "It's why shows like the Mythbusters use it in their experiments."

Raph gave him a blank look. "Sorry I asked."

"Well then, I think the next step is obvious," Leo decided. "After sundown, we branch out and find this Ghoul. Find out what we're dealing with here."

Mikey gulped. "Or we could just stay in here and be safe. I'm not too keen on winding up turtle soup tonight."

Everyone gave Mikey a flat look.

"Mikey, we just saved the city from a full-on alien invasion," Raph said. "I think we handle one psycho zombie mutant."

"Agreed," said Hisako. "If this thing is bloodthirsty, then innocent people are in danger, and probably getting eaten. We've gotta stop it."

Meanwhile, Kara was with Sterns in their patrol car, going to investigate a dead body report.

"Think this one's another leftover from the invasion?" Kara asked. "Or one from the Ghoul?"

"Honestly, I'm kinda hoping it's the former," Sterns said.

"Yeah… me too."

"Do we have an ID on the victim?"

"Negative. The guy's a John Doe."

The duo arrived at the crime scene. Several other cars were there.

"Move along, people!" one cop shouted to the crowd. "Nothin' to see here!"

Kara and Sterns got out of the car, approaching them.

"What have we got?" Kara questioned.

"Homicide," the cop replied. "It's the Ghoul."

"Shit…" Sterns cursed.

Kara sighed. "I was afraid of that. Let's have a look."

The cop nodded, leading them to the body. "Right. Here it is."

Upon seeing the body, the two both went bug-eyed.

"Jesus Christ…" Kara let out.

Sterns covered his mouth, looking green around the gills. "Okay… that's disgusting…"

"We're gonna need backup for this," Kara decided. "Call the Turtles."

Around the same time, the Hamato/Lee siblings had gone out into the streets in Donnie's revised Shellraiser, this one a street legal vehicle disguised as an ordinary moving van. Printed on it was a green label reading "Tortuga Bros. Moving - Since 1984." As they drove, Leo was speaking to Kara on the phone.

"The Ghoul? Yeah, we just heard about it today. We're already out looking for it."

" It's a real nasty piece of work, " Kara remarked. " We just found one of its victims. It's… oh God… "

"Yeah, we get the general gist," Leo deadpanned. "Please don't describe it. I'm planning on eating again."

" I'll say this much. Whatever this thing is, it's big, it's fast, and it's strong. REALLY strong. Watch your back. "

"We'll be careful," Leo promised. "Thanks for the heads up, Kara."

He hung up. Donnie typed away on his computer, researching the Ghoul's victims and attacks. "Hmm… something doesn't add up."

"What do you mean?" Vee asked.

"According to all the witnesses, the Ghoul is extremely tall and thin, easily breaking the eight feet mark."

"Yeah, so?" Raph questioned.

"Yet somehow, it's able to move around the city completely undetected until it strikes."

"Uh, so do we," Mikey pointed out. "Kinda?"

"Yeah…" Kagome began. "An eight-foot man-eating monster? Unless it's a ninja too, I don't see it."

"And given how savage it is, I doubt that." Leo remarked.

"So how is it getting around?" Donnie questioned.

Hisako winced, clutching her forehead. "What the hell? What is this?"

" Help… me… "

"What…?"

" Someone…help…me… "

"Who… what the…?" Suddenly, Hisako saw nothing but worms. Black, slimy, wriggling worms, everywhere around her. "No, no, no! Get back! Stay away!"

"His...ko...Hisa...Hisako!"

"Hisako!" Kagome's voice cut in, snapping her back to reality with a yelp. She clutched her chest, panting.

"Hisako, are you okay?" Kagome asked in concern.

"What... I... Something…" Hisako babbled. "What was that?!"

"Was it the Ghoul?" Vee questioned.

"Not... I don't know… it was... worms."

Raph raised an eyebrow. "Worms?"

"Yeah... a massive hoard of big, black worms."

"You mean like the worms those Shredder clones were made out of?" Mikey asked.

Hisako shook her head. "No... these were different. And that wasn't even the worst part. Someone was-"

A panicked scream reached their ears. They all looked out, seeing a panicked man run out into the streets right in their path.

"Leo, hit the brakes!" Donnie shrieked.

Leo immediately slammed on the brakes. The man looked in horror at the oncoming truck, but barely avoided getting run over.

"Whoa…" Mikey let out. "Déjà vu."

"Help!" the man screamed. "Open the door! Open the door!" He ran around, frantically trying to open it himself. "Goddamn you, open up! The Ghoul is-!"

Suddenly, a pair of clawed hands reach out to grab the man.

"What the…?!" Leo exclaimed.

The man frantically squirmed, but his efforts were futile as he was pulled into a nearby alley, disappearing into the dark. The Hamato teens immediately came out, weapons at the ready. A feral roar sounded, followed by a terrified scream as a sickening chomping noise echoed through the night.

"Oh boy…" Mikey gulped.

A few tense moments passed before ominous footsteps reached their ears. They quickly got into combat stances, the Turtles putting their serious eyes on as what could only be the Ghoul emerged from the shadows. His skin was a deathly pale blue, and his body was stretched so thin they could see a glimpse of the muscles underneath. His black hair was long, thready, and ratty, his cheeks were sunken in, as were his eyes, which were red, and his nose was nearly flat, a long, blackish-blue tongue snaking out and licking his lips. His clothing, a tattered pair of black jeans and a black T-shirt - the sleeves ripped off - were ratty, dirty, and covered in bloodstains and chunks of…meat. All in all, the Ghoul was very gaunt, corpse-like, and clearly not anywhere close to human.

"What the hell…" Raph managed.

The creature looked at the group as if it were assessing them.

"I thought I smelled something repulsive," it growled. "You're those sewer mutants everyone won't stop gushing about."

"Holy crap, it talks!" Vee gasped.

"It's… like nothing I've ever seen before," Hisako managed.

"You freak…" Leo pointed a sword at him. "How many lives have you taken? How many innocent people did you eat?!"

The Ghoul scoffed. "I don't know. How many pizzas have you eaten? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? The only thing I care about is whether or not they taste good." It grinned. "And they were delicious!"

"Those people had lives! Friends! Families!"

"I know." The Ghoul raised his hand. "Don't worry..." His nails suddenly shifted into a set of razor-sharp, sickle-like claws. "I'll be eating them soon. Just as soon as I snack on YOU!"

It jumped forward with a horrifying scream, tackling Leo to the ground. "No more games! It's time for the Ghoul to FEAST !"

It lunged forward for a bite, Leo retracting his head into his shell to avoid it before grabbing the creature by the jaw, holding it back.

"Yeah?! Eat THIS!" He slammed his forehead into the Ghoul's nose, knocking it off of him. The creature screamed in agony, recoiling with a bloody nose as Leo jumped to his feet. The beast panted, regaining its composure.

"Meat that fights back…" it smiled wickedly. "This'll be interesting!"

As it shifted the nails of the other hand into claws, Raph came running in, swinging with his sai. As the Ghoul leapt back, Raph brought one leg up with a roundhouse kick, catching it in the side of the head. A loud crunch sounded as Raph's kick snapped its neck, leaving its head bent to the side. Much to their shock, it didn't fall over, instead hissing as its neck popped back into place. The Ghoul sighed, cracking its neck left and right.

"What the fuck?!" Raph exclaimed.

"Ow," the Ghoul grumbled as Raph stared at it in shock.

"What the hell are you?"

The Ghoul grinned, looking down at him. "Weren't you listening, little green man? I am the Ghoul, and this city is my dinner!"

It swung at Raph, who dodged, causing the Ghoul to carve deep trenches in the concrete.

"H-hey, no need to be eating people," Mikey stammered. "Why don't we just take you to a pizza place?"

The Ghoul's jaws became unhinged, letting out a powerful, inhuman roar and revealing its serrated, razor-sharp fangs. After a moment, Mikey spoke up again.

"...Could you say that again? I couldn't hear you over the sound of me shitting myself."

The Ghoul turned to Mikey, lunging at him. "Dinner meat!"

"Okay, thanks. Now let me offer this as a rebuttal." Mikey promptly let out a high-pitched scream, dodging out of the way. Donnie and Vee leapt at the Ghoul while its guard was down, only for the Ghoul to spot them, stretching out its arms to grab them.

"Nice try!"

Vee grabbed a kunai off of her belt, stabbing it clean through the arm holding her. The Ghoul screamed, dropping Vee as Kagome ran in, severing the arm holding Donnie. Hisako came in as well, throwing her tessens into his back.

"Leave her alone!" she screamed as she made the tessens spin, shredding the Ghoul's flesh and getting a roar of agony.

After a minute, he slowly stood up, laughing wickedly. The group could only watch in horror as the laugh built in intensity, becoming high-pitched, screechy, and wild as black worms sprouted from his stump, attaching to his severed arm and reeling it back in place.

"Jesus Christ…" Raph let out.

"The worms…" Hisako realized. "The ones from my vision…"

"Alright...that actually hurt." The Ghoul tore off his shirt, allowing the Turtles to see the wounds Hisako left. The wounds were rapidly healing as black blood dripped from them.

"Worm that walks…" Mikey gasped. "He's a freaking worm that walks! D&D come to life!"

" DING-DING! Congratulations, little turtle! You just won this evening's grand prize! "

"A luxury cruise?"

Suddenly, something started writhing and wriggling under the Ghoul's skin.

"Yes!" Suddenly, two massive, black tentacles burst from the Ghoul's back and lunged at Mikey. "An all expenses paid trip to my stomach!"

The tentacles draw closer with alarming speed. As they drew nearer, it quickly became apparent that the tentacles were large worms, each with drooling maws of dagger-like teeth. Mikey quickly extended his kusarigama blade and hacked at the worms. Suddenly, Leo's swords came swinging down, severing the worms. The Ghoul shrieked in pain as they fell off.

"Keep. Away. From my brother," he hissed.

The Ghoul roared, charging at Leo. He managed to kick it back, after which the Ghoul's neck suddenly extended, fangs protruding and eyes rolling back in his head like a shark's. Leo narrowly brought his arm up in time to save his face, screaming as the Ghoul sank its teeth into his forearm.

"Leo!" Donnie shrieked.

"Gotcha, dinner me...!" Suddenly, the Ghoul froze, gagging before releasing Leo. Leo watched as the Ghoul flailed around wildly.

"What the…?"

"My… my mouth! It burns! It burrrrrrrrns! "

The Ghoul screamed again before fleeing into the night.

"I… I hurt it," Leo realized. "But how?"

"Not sure," Donnie knelt down, collecting samples of the Ghoul's spilled blood and flesh into a plastic baggie. "I need to run some tests back at the lab. Then maybe we can find out what this thing is."

"Good idea," said Kagome. "For now, let's get back."

They went to leave, Hisako glancing back at where the Ghoul had disappeared as a voice sounded in her head.

" Help me… Please, help me… I'm scared… "

"That voice… I wonder…"

"Hisako!" Leo's voice came. "Come on!"

"Coming!" She quickly ran to catch up to her family.

Author's Note:

The idea for this arc, and the Ghoul character in general, comes from the delightfully twisted mind of WindstarOsprey, used with his permission and oversight. Ximena belongs to Author of the Insane; more of her to be revealed later.

Next chapter, the Hamato Clan discover more of who and/or what the Ghoul is, and how to stop it

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Ghoul - Griffin Burns (Vinegar Doppio from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Akira Fudo from Devilman Crybaby, Colt Grice from Attack on Titan, Shalnark from Hunter × Hunter, Nate Adams from Yo-kai Watch)

* Ximena - Lizzie Freeman (Meggy Spletzer in SMG4/Sunset Paradise, Trish Una from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Labilia Christy from Edens Zero, Chisato Nishikigi from Lycoris Recoil, Cardinal in Sword Art Online: Alicization, Sabrina in Pokémon Masters EX)

Please R&R. Until next time!