- Chapter 82 -

Maximum Carnage

Late one night in Manhattan, a man frantically ran through the streets, away from some unseen horror. He stumbled briefly, finding himself in a deserted alley. He began looking around in fear, searching for his pursuer. Seeing nothing, he slowly began to relax… and that was when a monstrous figure suddenly appeared behind him, phasing through the brick wall like a ghost.

"Found you," the figure said, his voice deep and gravelly.

The man barely had time to scream before the figure grabbed him and phased back into the wall, laughing wickedly.

The next morning, the Hamato family watched a Channel 6 report by Robyn.

" ...And in other news, another missing persons report has been issued, making it the seventh one in the past three days . Police are unsure as to who or what is behind these kidnappings, only that the perpetrator never leaves any evidence of forced entry. "

Hisako sighed tiredly. "What is happening to our city, guys? First Krang, then Dracula... now this."

"New York just seems to be a magnet for trouble," Karai mused. "Well, trouble and weird shit."

"Says one of the beings making up that 'weird shit'," Raph reminded.

"Touché," Karai said with a shrug.

"I'm surprised we haven't gotten involved yet," Mikey remarked.

"The police can handle this one," Donnie said flippantly. "We're not the only ones who can fight crime, y'know."

"Don's right," Vee agreed. "If they ask for help, we help. Until then, let them handle it."

As if on cue, Leo's T-Phone went off. He picked it up, seeing the name on the ID.

"It's Kara," he reported. "Sounds like we're getting involved."

"Finally!" Mikey cheered.

They met Kara on top of the precinct, where she had been waiting.

"I'm surprised there's no giant spotlight with a turtle symbol on it up here yet," Hisako quipped.

"Eh, I thought about it," Kara replied. "But I've got Leonardo on speed dial. It's not necessary."

Hisako nodded, conceding her point.

"What made you decide to call us in?" Leo asked.

"There's never any sign of forced entry. They somehow get in and out just like that," Kara explained, punctuating her point with a finger as if listing them off. "No human could've pulled off something like that. The chief's thinking maybe some kinda new mutant, or alien."

"With Krang stuck without his favorite toys, mutant seems out of the question," Raph mused.

"And as for alien, I'm pretty sure we can check with the EPF for any info on that," Donnie offered.

"Of course, there's the recently discovered third option," Leo offered. "Something supernatural."

"After that havoc during Halloween, I'm inclined to believe it," Kara allowed.

"No sign of forced entry... maybe it can walk through walls," Kagome pondered, shuddering. "Like a... g-ghost."

"Seriously?" Vee asked. "I thought you were over that after Ho Chan."

"Like how we thought you'd be over your bug phobia after Spy-Roach?" Kagome said rhetorically.

Vee snarled, but Leo quickly got between the two girls. "Vee, you're the occult expert. What do you think?"

"Ghosts are a possibility, but abductions aren't their M.O. Not unless they have some unfinished business with them." Vee turned to Kara. "Do you know when and where the latest missing guy was last seen?"

Kara wordlessly handed her the case file and they looked it over.

"Okay," Leo said at last. "This latest guy went missing near the Argosy Cinema. Just last night, from the sounds of it."

"With everything going on, we tend to move fast," Kara explained. "Can't let you guys have all the fun."

"Hey, you guys have your job as well," Donnie replied. "That's why we didn't get involved until you called."

"And for that, I thank you," Kara said. "Not that we don't appreciate the help, but we cops gotta earn our living."

"Alright, Kara," Leo told her, handing her the file. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

"Thanks, guys," Kara said gratefully, turning to pocket the file. "I knew I could count on-" As soon as she turned back, they had disappeared. She sighed. "I'm never gonna get used to that."

The Shellraiser pulled up in front of the Argosy and the Hamato siblings and Kagome piled out.

"Okay," Leo ordered. "Everyone spread out and look around."

They all scattered, though Kagome stayed close to Raph. She was jittery, looking everywhere in case something jumped out at them.

"Jeez," Raph muttered, rolling his eyes. "And I thought Hisako was jumpy."

"I heard that!" Hisako called from across the street.

Kagome yelped at her exclamation and grabbed Raph's arm, hugging it.

"Okay, seriously," Raph sighed, pulling his arm loose. "Kagome, get a grip."

"This is freaking me out," Kagome replied. "Aliens, I can deal with. Mutants, no problem. But this supernatural stuff? There's no telling what it could be!"

As she was talking, two rocky hands reached out of the wall behind her. Raph's eyes widened, and he backed up.

"Uh, babe?" he let out, pointing behind her.

Kagome sighed. "There's something horrible behind me, isn't there?"

"Yep!" Raph shouted as he grabbed her and yanked her out of the way, just as the hand tried to snatch her. "We found something!"

"More like something found us!" Kagome added.

The others ran in, just in time to see a massive, demonic figure seemingly composed of gray organic rock wearing a blue cape, pull himself out of the wall. The bricks and concrete rippled like water as he emerged before solidifying completely.

"Okay, Option Three," Leo remarked.

"It… it looks like some sort of golem almost," Vee mused aloud. "Or maybe an earth elemental."

The figure laughed. "I am the ultimate evil. The enemy of the natural world. The name is... Complete Carnage."

"Oh-kay," Karai said, raising an eyebrow. "So, is your real name Cletus Kasady?"

"So you're the one behind these disappearances!" Leo accused, ignoring Karai.

"Bingo, Jack!" Carnage boasted.

"Well, you ain't taking anyone else!" Raph declared. "Now where are the rest of your victims?"

"How stupid do you think I am, kid?" Carnage shot back. "Like I'm gonna tell you."

"Then you asked for this!" Raph shouted, running at him.

Carnage smirked before phasing back into the wall. Raph couldn't stop in time and slammed full force into the wall. He winced, holding his shoulder as he stumbled back.

"Pain…" he let out.

Carnage laughed cruelly, slipping back through the wall. "Can't fight what you can't catch."

"Oh, yeah?!" Leo yelled.

The blue turtle ran in quickly, his sword out. Carnage raised his arm in defense and Leo lopped it off. Carnage screamed, holding his stump as his severed arm lay flexing on the ground.

"No!" he shouted. "Not my arm!"

His screams soon became maniacal laughter, and out of the blue, his arm was suddenly sucked through the concrete. The group looked on in shock as the concrete seemingly moved toward Carnage and into his feet, his arm growing back as it did.

"Dude, that is so unfair!" Mikey whined.

"You brats are outta your league," Carnage bragged. "This whole city, the steel and concrete... it gives me power! I am New York!"

Suddenly, he stiffened, sensing something. "It can't be… Her!"

Without warning, he jumped into the concrete and disappeared. Everyone blinked in confusion.

"Okay, that was weird," Donnie said at last.

They went out of the alley, seeing a Native American woman riding a bike down the street. Suddenly, a hand emerged from the pavement and grabbed the front tire, sending the rider head-first over the handlebars - but the woman landed on her feet with acrobatic flair as Carnage emerged from the street.

"Still stalking me, Radical?" he quipped.

The woman, Radical, ripped off her street clothes to reveal a white bodysuit. "Where you go, I go, Carnage."

The Hamato family exchanged confused glances.

"Okay, I'm confused," Vee remarked. "Hisako?"

"Never seen them before in my life," Hisako replied.

Carnage and Radical began fighting, exchanging vicious blows and tearing up the street.

"Whatever's going on, we better help her," Leo decided.

They piled into the Shellraiser at that.

"What's the plan, Leo?" Kagome asked.

"Simple," Leo replied, grinding gears. "We're gonna run that guy's ass over!"

Everyone either buckled in or grabbed onto something stable. Leo floored it and the Shellraiser sped down the street. Carnage slammed Radical onto a car and raised a fist to finish her just as the Shellraiser plowed into him. Leo didn't stop going until they smashed Carnage between the bumper and a nearby wall.

"Aw, man…" Donnie groaned. "I'm gonna be pounding dents out of her for weeks."

Carnage slowly lifted his head, then smirked and suddenly phased into the wall behind him. They piled out, looking around. Hisako closed her eyes, sensing around for his location, and shook her head.

"He's gone," she reported.

With that, they quickly went over to the unconscious Radical, Donnie checking her vitals.

"She's got a good, strong pulse," he reported. "Pretty beaten up, though."

"Let's get her to Erika, just to be sure," Leo decided, pulling out his phone. "I've got some questions for this... Radical."

They quickly got Radical to the Hamato Clan apartments, where Erika examined her.

"She's tough," the young medic reported. "Just a few bruises here and there."

"She scared that Carnage thing," Kagome recalled. "So she's gotta be powerful."

"Extremely so," Hisako agreed. "I can feel this... light within her."

"Light?" Donnie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well... lightning would make more sense," Hisako clarified.

"From the sounds of it, she has a history with that monster," Leo mused. "She's gotta know how we can stop him."

As Erika packed up her medical supplies, Radical let out a soft moan, beginning to stir.

"Well, well, she's waking up," Karai remarked.

Radical opened her eyes, taking in the people around her. "The Ninja Turtles. Your reputation precedes you."

"And you are?" Leo asked.

"Raven Shadowheart, or Radical. Call me whichever."

"Raven, what exactly are you?" Kagome questioned.

"And just how do you know Carnage?" Karai added.

"That… is a very long story," Radical answered. Everyone sat down as she began her tale. "It all started when I was a child. I lived with my grandfather, and Carnage was a local boy named Max Wilsocchi who did chores for him."

"You were friends?" Mikey asked.

"No," Radical said bluntly. "Especially not after he tried to throw rocks at the beavers that lived near our home. In doing so, he placed a curse on himself."

"Curse?" Vee questioned. "For throwing rocks at beavers? That's... a little extreme."

"My grandfather told me that there is a giant totem pole that holds up the world, and at its base is the Great White Grandfather Beaver. The beavers are his children, and the Great Beaver gnaws at the wood of the totem pole whenever he is angered. When Max tried to harm the beavers, he brought about the Great Beaver's wrath."

"So, this Great Beaver turned him into a rock monster?" Mikey asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Radical replied cryptically. "Years later, I was out jogging in Central Park, while Max was a construction worker working on a cement wall. It was raining, and we were both struck by the same bolt of lightning."

"That is scientifically impossible!" Donnie burst out, getting looks.

"Don, it's magic," Raph deadpanned. "Of course it can't be explained by science."

"But… you…" Donnie stammered before letting out a loud wail and putting his head in his hands. Hisako patted his back sympathetically before turning back to Radical.

"So, lightning strikes, and…?"

"We became equals and opposites," Radical revealed. "The evil spirits cursed Max that day and chose him as their avatar, turning him into Complete Carnage. Likewise, the good spirits chose me to fight for the side of right. I wield the power of the great Thunderbirds, while Carnage holds influence over all that is man-made."

"Of course!" Vee exclaimed. "That's why he was able to slip through concrete and brickwork!"

"But how was he able to regenerate his arm?" Kagome questioned. "He just sucked it in through the pavement."

"Carnage can absorb power from artificial substances like steel and concrete. And things that are in contact with or encased in them."

"Guess he wasn't kidding when he said that he was New York itself," Raph remarked.

Donnie's eyes widened as he realized something. "Guys, the missing people! You don't think he…"

"Captured them to encase them in concrete and drain their energy?" Radical offered, nodding. "He's tried such a thing before, the last time I fought him."

"We have to save them!" Vee exclaimed.

"But how do we stop a guy like that?!" Mikey demanded.

"Leave that to me," Radical told them.

"Okay," Donnie thought aloud. "If he's encasing people in concrete, the most likely place he'd be keeping them is a cement factory." He pulled out his phone to run a search. "It'll need to be one in a central location to all the abduction sites. As well as somewhere abandoned to avoid detection."

Eventually, he found what he was looking for. "Got it! There's an old factory that fits the bill, just two blocks from the Wolf Hotel."

"Then we need to get there yesterday," Leo announced. "Radical, you good to fight?"

"I am," Radical declared as she stood up.

It wasn't hard to find the factory in question. The Hamato family and Radical slowly entered and looked around in shock and horror. The numerous missing people were bound to the wall, ensnared by tentacles of organic rock.

"Oh, God…" Kagome let out. "They're still alive!"

"Means we still have a chance to save them," Leo said.

Raph ran over, trying to free one of the hostages, and suddenly, a slew of concrete bricks popped out of the wall, flying at him. Hisako was quick on the draw, throwing up a green barrier to block them as Carnage's head and arms emerged from the wall.

"Hands off my power source, brat!" he shouted.

"Better hurry, guys!" Hisako exclaimed. "I'm still new to this force field thing!"

Carnage emerged from the wall completely, scowling.

"Fools!" he snapped. "You think you can just waltz in here and disrupt my plans?!"

"I've done it for years, Carnage," Radical retorted. "What makes tonight any different?"

"And you picked the wrong city to set up shop in, buddy!" Leo added.

"You don't seem to realize how fucked you are, kid," Carnage scoffed. "The city itself gives me power. Here, I make the rules. Here, I make the threats. Here, I… am… God!"

"Ooh, bad choice of words, buddy," Vee quipped. "Sis, what do you think about gods?"

" There's no such thing! " Hisako shouted, glowing wildly.

She swung her tessen at Carnage, but he merely slipped into the floor.

"Shit!" Leo yelled. "Everyone, back to back!"

They all quickly stood back to back in a circle, keeping an eye out for him.

"This guy is slippery," Vee remarked.

"Because we're in his element," Donnie added.

Eventually, Carnage emerged partially from a wall, near one of the hostages. He placed his hands threateningly around her face.

"Hold it, Turtles!" he declared. "One false move and I snap this poor girl's neck!"

Everyone froze at that.

"You slimy son of a bitch," Raph hissed.

"And you're what? Shocked and disappointed?" Carnage retorted. "I'm the ultimate evil, remember?"

"Please!" the woman cried, sobbing in fear. "I have a son!"

Leo very slowly reached into his pocket, discreetly pulling a shuriken out.

"Well, it seems you have us licked, Carnage," he said casually. "You win."

Everyone exchanged glances, no one making a move.

"Excellent," Carnage said with a malicious grin.

He released the hostage and Leo promptly nailed him in the forehead with the throwing star. Carnage bellowed in pain, and Radical took advantage, grabbing him and yanking him out of the wall, floating off the floor to keep him away from the pavement.

"We need to get him away from any buildings!" Donnie shouted. "Take him to Central Park!"

"Take care of the hostages!" Radical ordered. "Meet me at the park!"

She flew off, holding Carnage in her arms as she went.

"You heard the girl," Kagome said. "Let's get them out."

"Anyone got a hammer and chisel?" Karai asked.

Raph used the hilt of his sai, pounding away at the rock little by little.

"Raph, what are you doing?" Hisako asked.

"Uh, freeing the hostages?" Raph shot back.

Hisako held up her hand, the glow coming. "Just stand back."

The entire group obediently moved out of the way as the green glow surrounded the rocks holding the hostages, ripping them free. They all dropped to the ground as she threw the rubble aside.

"Show off," Raph muttered.

The hostages slowly stood up, all of them relieved and a little worse for wear.

"T-Thank you," the woman Carnage threatened told them.

"Go on and get outta here," Leo ordered them. "We'll take care of Carnage."

The hostages quickly fled, while the Hamato family hurried out as well.

They made it to Central Park just in time to see Radical and Carnage plow through a tree.

"You ruin EVERYTHING!" Carnage shouted as they traded punches.

"You brought this on yourself, Carnage!" Radical shot back, kicking him off.

Carnage skidded across the ground, scowling. "We may not be around any buildings, Radical, but I'm still strong enough to kill you!"

"Then we better even the odds!" Leo declared as they ran in, weapons at the ready.

"End of the line, Carnage!" Mikey swore.

They all charged him at once, fighting him furiously. Leo's sword pierced his arm, while Mikey's kusarigama chain ensnared his throat, yanking him to the ground. As he stood up, Donnie slammed his staff into the back of his head.

"Hah!" Kagome declared, slashing him across the chest. "Not so tough now, are ya?!"

Carnage scowled, grabbing her by the face and lifting her up.

"What do you think, you little bitch?" he growled.

Raph scowled, kicking him in the head and making him drop Kagome.

"I think you need to be careful about who you call a bitch!" he yelled.

Carnage had just enough time to turn around before Hisako's tessen embedded themselves in his chest.

"Not so high and mighty now, are you?" Hisako boasted.

"You're no god," Vee hissed at him. "You're just a lowlife animal beater who got lucky. You were given great power, and you used it to hurt people, you freak."

Carnage scowled at that. "It's a damn curse. I was made to be evil! Think I had a choice in the matter?"

Carnage then lunged at them, knocking Hisako and Vee aside. Raph ran up towards him and kicked him in the face, knocking him back slightly, while Leo stabbed him clean through the chest.

"There's always a choice!" he yelled as he jumped back.

"And you made yours the day you threw rocks at that beaver dam, Max!" Radical shouted.

Her body began to glow white as she raised her hand. The Hamato Clan all scattered as she fired an energy beam at Carnage, blowing him to pieces. The ninjas stood up, in awe at what happened.

"What did you do?" Leo asked.

"Particle beam," Radical explained, before looking at Carnage's remains. "He can still pull himself back together. We need to keep his body parts separate."

Mikey gagged. "Did you have to word it like that?"

Leo began gathering up the pieces of Carnage's body. "We'll mail him all over the country. He can't regenerate if his pieces are literally everywhere."

Radical picked up Carnage's head, an expression of shock frozen on his face. "I'll keep this piece with me. It will make me feel safer, knowing I hold one."

"Just... be sure you wash your hands," Vee suggested, gagging a bit herself.

"Hey Radical," Hisako spoke up. "Isn't there a way to undo his curse?"

"To the best of my knowledge, no," she answered.

"Maybe you should look into it," Hisako suggested. "Find a way to get rid of Carnage and bring back Max."

"That's not a bad idea," Radical mused before looking at them with a smile. "Thanks for your help. I have a feeling we'll meet again someday."

"See you around then," Leo said with a wave.

Radical nodded and then flew off. The others watched her go.

"Man, I wish we could fly," Mikey mused. "It would be so cool"

"Well, that's it. I'd say this case is closed," Leo decided, chuckling. "Can't wait to see the look on Kara's face when we tell her."

With that, they began gathering Carnage's pieces, intent on keeping the evil monster from returning.

Author's Note:

Complete Carnage and Radical are from the original Mirage comics, just FYI.

Well, another one down.

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Radical - Amber Midthunder (Naru in Prey, Rosalinda "Rosa" Ortecho from Roswell, New Mexico, Kerry Loudermilk from Legion, Princess Yue in the upcoming live action Avatar: The Last Airbender series)

* Carnage - Dan Woren (Jagi from Fist of the North Star, Byakuya Kuchiki from Bleach, Saito Hajime from Rurouni Kenshin's Samurai X version, Ibiki Morino during Naruto's Akatsuki Suppression Mission arc, Roy Fokker in Robotech)

Please R&R. Until next time!