- Chapter 105 -

Fresh Meat

After the incident at NextGen Labs, the Hamato Clan had put their ninpo training on hold to focus on Oozesquito-proofing the Canal Street brownstone. As Donnie wired a bug zapper on the front porch, others hung mosquito nets and fly ribbons in every room.

"How's it looking, Donnie?" Leo asked.

"So far so good," Donnie replied. "Not even an ant will be able to get through this."

With the ribbons and nets set up, the group got to putting screens on every window.

"Nice work," Leo said.

Suddenly, there was a scream inside.

"Spider!" Akemi shrieked. "Kill it! KILL IT!"

They ran inside as Akemi grabbed a rolled-up newspaper, preparing to swat a small wolf spider, only for Airi to grab her arm.

"No, Akemi!"

"Airi!" Akemi objected.

"Spiders aren't bad," Airi defended. "They protect homes from bad bugs. Besides, he's not hurting you. He's just sitting there."

She took the newspaper, unrolled it, and used it to scoop up the spider. She then walked it to the window, shaking it out onto a small garden box.

"There you go, little fella." Airi gave the spider a little smile before closing the screen and window.

Akemi shook her head but smiled. "You are way too pure for this world, Airi."

Airi shrugged. "I'm just following the Hamato way. All life is precious and should be respected, right?"

"DIE DIE DIE!"

Across town, the Hamato/Lee siblings had come across a mutant silverfish that was eating laundry hanging out. Vee's entomophobia was in full effect, the female turtle frantically trying to squash them, only to run into a problem. Every time she smashed one, they split into two more.

"Why can't you just die?!" she shrieked.

"Will you forget the smashing thing already?!" Raph snapped. "In case you haven't noticed, you're just making things worse!"

"Well if you have any better ideas, I'm open to suggestions!" Vee shot back.

"How about a taste of Ninpo!" Karai declared.

She held out her hands, only to be blown back as an explosion knocked her off her feet.

"Shit! Not again!"

Raph focused, his serious eyes on as he tried to summon his energy armor, only to get more flickering lights. Mikey ran at the silverfish at full speed, only to flicker orange and suddenly find himself moving too fast to stop. The next thing he knew, he had slammed face-first into a brick wall.

"Ow…" he let out. "My face."

The silverfish all scattered to the wind, one blowing a raspberry as it went.

"Well…" Hisako began, "That was embarrassing."

"We got our buts kicked by bugs…" Raph grumbled.

"If anyone asked, there were thousands of them," Mikey said. "And they were rattlesnakes."

"Hey!" Karai objected.

"I said rattlesnakes. You're not one of those."

"This Ninpo is the problem," Hisako remarked. "Mikey can't control his, Raph's won't work, and Karai's keeps blowing up in her face."

Karai punched the ground in frustration. "This is so stupid! What do we have to do to get these mystic powers to WORK?!"

"You make it look so easy, sis," Mikey sighed.

"I'm not mystic," Hisako pointed out. "Just psychic. And I'm not feeling so much as a tingle of ninpo."

"So what are we doing wrong?" Raph questioned.

Karai sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I wish I knew, man."

All of a sudden, there was the sound of screeching tires.

"What was that?" Mikey asked.

"Trouble, that's what," Raph replied. "C'mon!"

"Wait!" Mikey objected. "I thought Vee was in charge!"

"She stopped being in charge when the silverfish showed up!"

"Hey!" Vee objected.

"Oh, let's just go!" Karai snapped.

They took off running. As they rounded the corner, they saw a figure in heavy clothes rounding up several of the silverfish, throwing them into the back of a truck. Immediately, Mikey pulled out a small camera, zooming in on the license plate and snapping a picture of it.

"Where did you-?" Karai began.

"One of Makoto's spares."

The truck took off as Mikey held up the camera. "Got the license plate."

"Nice work, bro," Raph remarked.

"We should get this to Donnie," Hisako said. "He can tell us who it belongs to."

At the lair, Donnie looked over the photo before typing away on his laptop.

"Alright, I think I got it," he reported. "The truck is registered to a business. A local butcher shop downtown belonging to a Rupert Swaggart."

Mikey perked. "I know that guy! He runs a YouTube cooking channel I watch all the time. He's like Gordon Ramsay, but worse. Though he's gone dark lately."

"He also used to run a gourmet restaurant called Chateau Prétenche uptown, until it was closed down for health violations," Kagome recalled.

"Wait a minute…" Leo perked. "Isn't his butcher shop where Hisako trapped Kieran during his feeding frenzy?"

"I think it is," Hisako replied. "Though I'll be honest, I wasn't paying much attention."

"Considering you were being chased by a flesh-eating super zombie at the time, not that surprising," Karai remarked.

"At least we know where to find the guy," Donnie remarked.

"What concerns me is what he's doing with mutant silverfish," Leo remarked.

"You think he's cooking them?" Mikey suggested.

Karai cringed. "I'm hoping not."

"Either way, we should get moving," Hisako insisted.

Sometime later, they arrived outside of the butcher shop, seeing the truck outside. From the truck emerged the covered figure, who removed his hat to reveal a mutant pig. He removed a squirming sack from his truck and headed inside.

"Whoever that guy is, he looks like the Meat Sweats." Mikey quipped.

"You can say that again," Hisako remarked. "He looks like someone I wouldn't want anywhere near my food."

"But what's he doing with Swaggart's truck and shop?" Kagome questioned. "Unless…"

"He is Swaggart!" Mikey realized. "He must have gotten hit with an Oozesquito!"

"Great," Raph sighed. "Just what we need."

"And come to think of it, the last dish he was giving cooking lessons for on his channel was pork risotto," Mikey mused. "It must've happened after that episode. I thought his channel was quiet for a while."

"Well, that explains why he looks like Bebop's cousin," Raph remarked.

"Technically, Bebop is a warthog," Donnie pointed out. "While Meat Sweats here is a domesticated-"

"Technically, I don't care," Raph cut him off.

"How do we want to do this, Leo?" Karai asked.
"Keep it quiet," Leo answered. "Sneak in, find out what he wants with those silverfish."

The others nodded before heading in. They approach one of the windows, seeing Meat Sweats making his way to a locked back room. The number of locks was obscene.

"This could take a minute," Donnie said.

They slowly slipped in, creeping up.

"Let's hurry this up," Vee insisted. "I can't be the only one getting a creepy Texas Chainsaw vibe here."

"No, you're not," Kagome agreed.

"Right then," Hisako held up her hand, all of the locks snapping one by one.

Slowly, Donnie opened the door, allowing them to peer inside. As light filled the black room, rows and rows of cages were revealed, all of them holding various emaciated mutants. There was even what looked to be a skinny, pale man chained to the wall.

"Please…" he wheezed. "No more…"

"Hang on…" Mikey perked. "You're Chin Yao, Rupert's assistant!"

Chin Yao looked up as they came in. "The Turtles... thank God…"

"What the hell is going on here?" Leo demanded.

"It's Swaggart. He's gone insane! He's been capturing any mutants he finds, locking them up and sucking them dry!"

"So he's a vampire too?" Raph questioned.

Chin shuddered. "No... worse… So much worse…"

"Now, now, Chin. You know how I feel about loose tongues."

They spun around, allowing them to get a full look at Rupert Swaggart's mutated form. He was a mutant pig with erect ears, a dark pink nose, jagged teeth, red eyes, pink skin with a light pink torso, purple cloven hooves, a large, muscular figure, and a potbelly. He had dark pink and purple markings on his arms, bumps on his skin, prominent veins, and a curly tail. He wore a light blue waist apron with brown stains, dark blue pants, gray ankle bands, three-fingered gray gauntlets with light gray fingers, and a light gray soda-jerk hat. Immediately, the Hamato/Lee family drew their weapons.

"You're done here, Swaggart," Leo declared. "Let them go!"

Meat Sweats chuckled darkly. "Now why would I do that?"

He pulled off one of his metal gloves, his hand untwisting like tentacles.

"'Cause if you don't you're in for a serious butt-kicking!" Raph declared.

"Then by all means. It's been a long time since I've cooked with turtle."

Raph charged forward and Meat Sweats caught him by the face. his tentacle hands engulfed his head and then began to glow.

"Oh yes! Now THIS is cuisine!"

Kagome immediately drew a kunai, throwing it into Meat Sweats' arm. He squealed, dropping Raph. As the tentacles retracted, they caught a glimpse of small, suction cup-like mouths lining the tips.

"Oh God…" Kagome let out.

"He's got Morbius hands!" Mikey exclaimed.

Vee cringed. "Now that's just wrong."

"Focus!" Leo snapped. "Let's take him down!"

He charged, trying to kick him in the face. However, Meat Sweats dodged, then grabbed Leo and threw him in a move straight out of Raph's playbook.
"Thing about me? When I absorb a mutant, I get their tricks. Including that ninja know-how of yours," Meat Sweats gestured to the mutants and Chin Yao. "With Chin, I regain a human form. And with all of these mutants here... I will be unstoppable."

"Not good…" Leo let out.
"So... how do we stop something like that?" Mikey demanded.

"I'm working on it!" Leo snapped.

Meat Sweats charged forward at them, causing them to scatter.

"Whatever you do, don't let him touch you!" Vee shouted.

"Ah Venus," Meat Sweats began. "You may want to watch where you step."

"What on-" Vee landed on a cage, a silverfish screaming at her. She shrieked, just as Meat Sweats' tentacles lashed out, grabbing the silverfish and draining it. He smiled just as he was hit with Leo's katanas, splitting him into copies.

"Uh-oh…" Leo let out.

One of the copies grabbed Leo while the other went for the still shell-shocked Vee.

"I think I just found my new favorite dish!" Meat Sweats gloated. "Tenderized Turtles! Or perhaps lime turtle tenderloin over a bed of saffron rice!"

"Ooh, that sounds good!" Mikey exclaimed.

Donnie glared at him. "He's talking about eating us, you idiot!"

Mikey shrugged. "Well, excuse me for wanting to be eaten in style."

"MIKEY!" Hisako shrieked.

Mikey narrowly avoided Meat Sweats' grip.

"Ha! You can't catch-!" he began to glow. "Me?!"

He sped up and slammed into the wall. "Again?!"

Meat Sweats immediately grabbed him, reeling him in.

"No, no, no, no no!" He screamed.

"Mikey!" Karai began to spark. "Oh, you are so dead, Meat Sweats!"

She went in for a punch, only for her fist to blow up in her face. "Oh, COME ON!"
Meat Sweats took the opportunity to grab her as well as Donnie and Kagome charged in. As he absorbed Karai, his other arm became a snake, lashing out like a whip.

"Oh I am going to be eating off you lot for months!" he declared.

"Okay, this is getting us nowhere!" Leo yelled. "We need a plan!"

"Half of us are down, Leo!" Kagome pointed out. "He has our skills! We're outmatched!"

"I know I-" Leo perked. "Hey, that's it!"

"You have a plan?" Hisako asked.

Leo nodded. "He has our strengths... but maybe he has our weaknesses too."

Kagome gasped. "Will that even work?"

"If you got a better plan, I'm open to it. But this might be our best chance."

Leo, Kagome, and Hisako all rushed in, splitting up.

"Come on, Meat Sweats!" Kagome taunted. "Can't catch me!"

"I wouldn't bet on that!" He sped up, glowing orange as he did.

"Aha! Now I've-!" He slammed into a wall.

"YES!" Kagome cheered. "It worked!"

"How the-?!"

"Super speed doesn't work if you don't know how to stop!"

"Nice one…" Mikey said weakly.

Meat Sweats growled, his hands sparking. "You will not make a mockery of Rupert-!"

It promptly exploded in his face, sending him into a wall.

"Not fun… is it?" Karai groaned.

"I'm trying really hard to hold back a wee wee wee joke here," Leo remarked.

Meat Sweats picked himself up, then plunged his hands into two other cages.

"Alright, Turtles! The kid gloves are off!"

Large spikes began to sprout from his skin, along with a scorpion tail, and his teeth became sharper.

"I... think we hit a snag." Leo let out.

"Oh gee, ya think?" Kagome said sarcastically before she and Leo were taken down.

Before Hisako could react, Meat Sweats grabbed her, beginning to siphon her energy.

"Yes…" he grinned. "I feel it! The absolute power... it's all mine!"

Hisako's Aeon crystal began to glow, feedback hitting Meat Sweats. He yelped, withdrawing his tentacles... but before he could get them out of reach, Hisako's glowing hands shot out, grabbing onto them.

"You want my power so bad, Swaggart?" Hisako's eyes began to glow. "Then take it!"

She squeezed down on them, green energy mixing with white as it flooded Meat Sweats. Her siblings all slowly looked up, seeing her bring him to his knees.

"No! Stop!" Meat Sweats squealed. "It's too much! That's too much!"

They saw the crystal glowing brightly, and how Meat Sweats looked ready to explode. Even worse, Hisako showed no signs of stopping.

"Stop!" Meat Sweats screamed. "STOP! You win! I surrender!"

Hisako just smirked cruelly, her eyes shifting color from green to white.

"We don't accept your surrender…" Her voice echoed as if some demonic thing was speaking alongside her.

Then, all of a sudden, Midnight ran over, sinking her teeth into Hisako's leg with all her might. She yelped, dropping Meat Sweats. In a panic, Meat Sweats backhanded Hisako, then bolted out of the backroom, squealing the entire way.

A moment passed before Hisako slowly pulled herself up, looking around. She looked slightly dazed and groggy as if coming back from something else controlling her mind.

"What… ugh…" She passed out, exhausted.

Sometime later, they came to at the sound of sirens and ambulances echoing around them. Raph was the first to awaken, finding EMTs over him.

"Breathing steady, blood pressure stabilizing…" Raph winced as they shined a light in his face. "He's waking up. Detective! This one's waking up!"

Kara Lewis immediately came running over.

"He's out of the danger zone, but he's still weak," the EMT reported.

"Raphael, do you know where you are?" Kara asked.

"Rupert Swaggart's butcher shop. But why are you…" Raph looked around, finding his siblings on stretchers and police cordoning off the area.

"Local Good Samaritan heard all the commotion and called it in," Kara explained. "Said he heard fighting, then screaming, then there was a light show, and a pig monster that looked like it was running for its life. So I came in, found you and your family half-dead, and called for medical."

There was a groan from Leo's stretcher. He stirred, opening his eyes.

"Take it easy," the EMT beside him cautioned.

At that moment, they heard a commotion, turning to see Splinter and Kasumi pushing their way through the crowd to get to them.

"Out of the way!" Kasumi ordered. "Family coming through!"

"My children!" Splinter yelled.

The cops tried to stop them, but they jumped over them.

"Hey!" one cop shouted.

"It's alright," Kara assured. "They're family."

With that, the cops parted, giving Kasumi and Splinter a clear path to their kids.

"Kasumi... Dad...?" Leo managed.

"Detective Lewis called us," Splinter explained.

"What happened?" Kasumi asked. "Who did this?"

Leo smiled weakly. "Would you believe it was a life-sucking pig mutant with a taste for mutant DNA?"

Splinter nodded. "After everything we've seen, yes."

He then heard barking. He looked to the side, seeing Animal Control attempting to wrestle a muzzle on Midnight.

"What do you think you're doing to that dog?" Kasumi snapped.

"The NYPD called us to aid the mutants Swaggart had imprisoned here," one of the control officers said. "And the blonde girl has a bite mark on her leg that matches this dog's mouth."

That made Kasumi pause. "Wait… Midnight... bit Hisako?"

"The only time that dog has ever bitten anyone was in defense," Splinter spoke up, even as he tried to rationalize it in his mind.

"It was that Aeon crystal…" Leo explained, wincing in pain. "Something happened, and she went haywire. She would've overloaded Swaggart and killed him if Midnight didn't do that."

Midnight whined, shaking her head as if trying to nod. Hearing this, Splinter reached out and reclaimed the pup, removing the muzzle and the control leash. Immediately, Midnight burrowed her face in his arms as if trying to hide.

"I will take her, thank you." He then turned back to Kara. "And what of my children?"

"Your kids are stable, so you can take them home to rest at any time." The detective then turned to Leo. "Once you're feeling up to it, Chief Vincent is gonna wanna hear about this."

"I'll be there…" Leo replied before leaning back on his stretcher.

-X-

From a nearby rooftop, Kieran Taylor perched like a gargoyle, pocketing a cell phone as he watched the Hamato/Lee family pile into the Party Wagon.

"Well... I'm gonna need to find a new feeding ground," he muttered. "At least the Turtles and the others got out safe."

His eyes then drifted to the butcher shop and the damage that had been done in the resulting fight. He couldn't help but wince, his worms curling in fear.

"Still... what happened with Hisako… that's definitely gonna go badly." He stood up, adjusting his coat. "I better let Mr. Mortu know about this."

And with that, he hopped off the roof Predator-style, vanishing into the night.

At the lair, the Turtles and Kagome sat around the kitchen table. Hisako was asleep on the couch, her right calf wrapped in bandages as Midnight curled up beside her.

"The Aeon crystal…" Kagome whispered. "Tell me you saw that too."

"Yeah…" Raph muttered, shuddering at the memory. "We all did."

"It's like it possessed her, dudes," Mikey insisted.

"And then there's what she said," Leo recalled. "She said 'we' don't accept your surrender."

"Yeah, if she was referring to us, I'll eat my mask," Vee declared.

"We…" Donnie swallowed hard. "Anyone else getting Venom vibes here?"

"Oh yeah," Mikey agreed with a nod.

"And if it's happening to Hisako…" Leo's fists clenched. "It's happening to April too."

"We'll need to keep a close eye on them," Donnie insisted, "and be prepared to deal with any... problems."

Hisako fidgeted in her sleep, her crystal glowing weakly, yet ominously...

Author's Note:

The consequences of the Aeon crystals are becoming apparent. What will happen next?

Please R&R. Until next time!