In the middle of the night, the turtles were on an island filled with garbage on an island far away from New York.
Donatella: Welp. Here's another fine mess that my brothers and I have gotten ourselves into.
As they were sneaking around, Mikey stepped into a puddle of orange food. "Eew!"
Literally.
A light scoured through the area searching for something and the turtles hid behind some garbage. Even trucks were going through the area searching for what it seemed like people who were going to escape.
Believe me, when I say this, it as been one strange night and we're mutant turtles. However, no matter how much it has been weird up until now...
The turtles watched in horror as something was pulled out of the orange slime and many homeless people were being forced to work against their free will.
...We never expected this.
Late at night in the streets of New York, two homeless men are searching the garbage for useful items to sell so they could buy some food. One man with a beard found an intact glass bottle. "Bingo!" He tossed it up in the air and caught it but his friend wanted him to be careful.
"Don't break it, fumble fingers. Every nickel counts."
Fumble fingers told him a bit annoyed, "I never break 'em."
His friend chuckled and said, "Oh, you break them all the time."
Fumble fingers put the bottle in his pocket. "Oh, yeah, I guess I do." Fumble Fingers checked the garbage can once more for any valuables. "Well, that's it for this goldmine. Let's move on." The two proceeded to find another dumpster or garbage can to check for valuables but unbeknownst to them, a truck was following them through the alley.
The two men eventually found a dumpster to search through and the younger man with the goatee heard the truck stop. Fumble Fingers looked as well and both were shocked to see it and a bit nervous as well. "What the...?"
The truck shined its red lights on them and started to chase them. Fumble Fingers and his friend started to run away from the truck in fear. They found themselves at a dead-end in an alleyway. The truck stopped and used its claws to grab the men and put them in the truck.
"No! Stop!"
"No!"
Fumble Fingers dropped the bottle and it broke into several pieces as he was taken. Once the truck had completed its job, it drove off into the distance without a soul watching it.
On the other side of town, the turtles were in the junkyard and Mikey was skating around on his skateboard while the others did work. "All right!" Mikey jumped over a pile of junk while the others were putting items into a shopping cart. "Green, mean, and totally extreme!" He even skateboarded through Donna and Raph.
Raph found a pile of red slime and flinched in disgust. "Hey, Donna. You don't want something so gross you don't want to touch it, right?"
"Just because it's gross, that doesn't mean it isn't useful. If it's going to improve the lair, then we then use it."
Mikey was laughing joyfully as he was skateboarding over piles of junk just behind his brother and sister. Raph, on the other hand, wasn't pleased with Mikey not doing anything. "Why isn't Mikey helping? It's not fair."
"Raph, would you rather have Mikey happy or Mikey bored?"
Mikey laughed happily as he skated past them and Raph knew that his sister was right. "Right."
Mikey stopped once he landed in front of a group of humans by a fire and the others soon joined them. "Hey, thanks for the shopping cart, guys," Donna told them gratefully.
"Hope you found some useful items amid the refuse, my green and amphibious friends," One man told them as he stood up from his seat.
"We sure did, professor," Donna told him.
"Them guys in the big turtle suits are back," One man told his friend.
"Yup."
"Ever wonder why they dress up like that?" He asked.
"Nope."
The Professor walked up to the turtles with a bag and pulled out items for them. "Here are some things we picked up for you, an undamaged circuit board for you, young lady. A near mint condition comic book for you, my green lad. Last time you said you were collecting them." Donna returned her circuit board to the Battle Shell while Mikey thanked the professor for the comic.
"Thanks, Professor."
Donna returned from the Battle Shell with clothes and blankets. "Here, we brought some blanket and warm clothes. They're a little worn but they should help at night." Many people came over to Donna to grab the clothes and blankets they brought.
"One mans refuse is another man's treasure. You know, there is a theory that we are all recycled," The Professor said.
"Another theory. That's the fifth one today."
"Yup."
"The Big Bang Theory says that all has been exploded then imploding then exploding again since the beginning of time. Our very molecules are being recycled." A few people gathered around the Professor to hear his words but most of it flew over people's heads. Raph looked at Mikey confused and he just shrugged his shoulders.
"Did you get any of that?" One man asked.
"Nope." Another answered.
"You know, I just finished a book on the Big Bang. I'll bring it by later," Donna told him.
"Much obliged, Donatella. Much obliged," The Professor said gratefully as he shook her hand and put the other around her shoulder.
Raph then noticed that there weren't as many people in the Junkyard as there usually was. "Hey, are there fewer of you here than usual?"
"A lot of guys gone missing lately, plus it's weird. They don't take their stuff," One guy answered.
"Yup."
"I have a theory about that."
The same guy who complained about his theories earlier whispered to the guy sitting next to him, "Another one?"
"There has been talk of a terrifying figure and takes us away in the dead of night, his name is whispered in fear." The Professor walked closer to the fire which gave his face an ominous look. "They call him... the Garbage Man."
The turtles looked him for a brief moment then laughed. "You almost had me going there. The Garbage Man. Gotta roll, guys." The boys left to get on the Battle Shell but Donna walked to the Professor and told him. "Be sure to let me know if your friends show up or if anyone else disappears."
The turtles left to return to the sewers with Donna and Raph in the front seat and Leo and Mikey watching the radar, but Mikey was reading his new comic. "That was majorly creepy. You think any of it is true?" Mikey said out of nowhere.
"Hey, whatever it is, if the professor is worried, we should take it seriously," Donna told them. She knew that the Professor can be a bit... over exaggerated but she did respect him. After all, he is one of the few humans that she met that immediately knew that she was a girl. Most people think she is a guy when they first meet her, Casey still has a hard time with it, but he has gotten better.
"Seriously, huh? guess that leaves Mikey out," Raph added.
"What?" Mikey asked looking away from his comic after hearing his name.
Back in the Junkyard, everyone was still by the fire trying to staying warm and the Professor was giving his usual theories to the group. "And so we see, in conclusion, that the space-time continuum is..." He heard the sound of an approaching truck and turned around. "...My word."
Red headlights shined on the group and they all covered their faces to shield themselves from the light. Once the truck crashed through the fence, everyone scattered in different directions except for the Professor. Once the trucks destroyed a small shed, everyone tried to escape. "It's the Garbage Man!"
People tried to escape over the fence but only two people were successful and two were put inside the truck. Two more people ran away and then the truck crash through another structure to capture them. They tried to run but one fell to the ground and his friend tried to help him but both were captured. The Professor tried to run away but he as cornered by the fence. He turned to the truck once it stopped in front of him and shouted, "You shall not have me! You behemoth! Leviathan! Monstrosity!" The Professor was wrapped in the fence and put inside the truck along with the others who have been captured. Once it was satisfied with its job, the truck crashed through the fence once more and left.
Donna returned to the junkyard on Raph's bike and was shocked to see the destruction. She removed her helmet and looked around. "What the shell? Professor? Are you okay?" She shined her flashlight around trying to find him or anyone in the junkyard but no one was there. "Professor?! Are you here?!" Donna parked the bike and started to look around for the Professor or anyone in the junkyard. "Professor?" Donna soon came upon a puddle of oil, she normally wasn't bothered by this since she had seen oil in the junkyard before but this was different. It looked very different than the oil she had normally seen. She bent down to the oil, dipped her finger in it, then smelled it. "High-grade hydraulic fluid." Donna walked over the destroyed fence and noticed the tire tracks. "That's one big tire." She continued to look around and knew something was wrong since everyone who normally frequented the junkyard was gone. 'Something is wrong, I have to go get the boys.'
Donna went back to the lair and told her brothers everything she found at the junkyard. They got into the Battle Shell and drove back to the junkyard. Leo observed the tire tracks as Donna told them her story. "I don't know what happened but I do know that something attacked them. It must have been really big and really dangerous."
Mikey, who had taken another look around the junkyard, said as he entered the Battle Shell, "I hope they're okay."
"D, can you run an internet search for police reports?" Leo asked.
"Already checked. Nothing on missing homeless. Nobody's noticed... or cares."
Leo stood up and thought about what they needed to do next. Raph was ready to take action though. "Meanwhile, somebody's snatching our buds."
"We need to hit the streets," Leo told them.
Mikey came out in a trench coat and hat and said as he pointed to the sky, "It's trench coat wearing time!" Donna crossed her arms as she and her brothers looked at their younger brother. Mikey just shrugged his shoulders innocently.
One by one, the turtles split up in their trench coat disguises to talk to the various homeless people on the streets. Leo talked to two in an alley about the Garbage Man and a large mysterious truck, Raph did the same on a street corner, Mikey asked a few guys in the park and Donna talked to a man by a fire.
Back in the lair, Raph and Mikey were sitting on the couch exhausted while Leo and Donna were by her computer. Leo asked her as he put his swords away, "Have you got anything, D?"
She turned to her brother and said, "Virtually, everyone we talked to knew someone who had disappeared." She turned back to her computer and started to put in a few calculations. "I programmed in a marker for each one."
Several blips appeared on her computer map but they were most prominent by the docks. Mikey and Raph approached their siblings and Mikey said, "Whoa. Looks like all the actions down by the docks."
"Then that's our next stop," Leo said determinedly as he turned to Mikey and Raph.
Down on the docks Mikey is seen staying warm by the fire but he was also bait for whatever has been capturing the homeless of New York. "Can someone explain to me why I'm always the bait? Especially when we are hunting shark," Mikey asked as he turned to the Battle Shell hiding in the alley.
"Jeez, what a whiner. Almost wish he would get grabbed," Raph said as he turned to Leo and Donna.
"Nothing's happening. Let's call it a night."
Donna nodded in agreement. She wanted to save their friends but they can't stay out all night. "Come back, Mikey. We're outta here."
"Sure... thing..." Mikey turned around and saw a truck with red headlights heading straight for him. "Hey, guys! The shark is here, and he's humming the theme from Jaws!"
Raph put the Battle Shell in high gear and smashed into the truck causing it to steer away from Mikey. The truck started to chase the Battle Shell while jabbing its claws at it. "It's a garbage truck!" Raph shouted as he was driving away from the truck. "A stinkin' garbage truck!"
Mikey, who had gotten on the truck before it drove too far said, "Garbage man, garbage truck, what's the problem, Raph?" Mikey fell over due to the claws from the garbage truck hitting them trying to make them crash.
Raph eventually got out of the way of the garbage truck and it drove away from them as fast as possible. "Boys, he's making a run for it!"
"Hit it, Raph!"
Raph put the pushed down the gas pedal and began their pursuit of the garbage truck. The truck tried to stop them with a flamethrower in the back. Mikey screamed in fright as he covered his face and fire engulfed the Battle Shell. Once they escaped the fire with no issues, Mikey put his hands down and said, "Sorry about the girly scream."
Soon, The Battle Shell and the garbage truck were neck and neck, but the garbage truck had more tricks up its sleeve. From the side of the garbage truck, a saw came out and began to cut into the Battle Shell where Donna was sitting. She jumped out of the way to avoid getting cut. Raph had to move away from the truck before it did any more damage but the truck started to get away. "I don't know about you guys, but I've had enough of this!" Raph slammed down on a button causing the front bumper to get bigger and the end sides to come out. This caused the rockets to turn on and they started to catch up with the garbage truck. The Battle Shell crashed into the truck and it started to swivel. Everyone cheered at their victory. "You like that, you're gonna love this."
"May I, Raph?"
"Be my guest, sis."
Donna pushed a green button opening a rocket launcher and launching three rockets at the truck. They all smiled at the apparent victory. "Yeah! Got it!" Mikey's words were spoken too soon as they all gasped in shock as the truck appeared to be unharmed. "We need bigger missiles."
The truck had one final trick up its sleeve is it started spilling oil on the ground causing the Battle Shell to swivel badly. "If you guys forgot what we had for dinner, I think I'm about to remind you." Mikey left to throw up since he was starting to have motion-sickness. The truck crashed a fence and got away but Raph was trying and failing to stop the Battle Shell from swivel.
"Boys, you better hold on to something!" Donna pushed a button that ejected a claw from the back and grabbed onto a wooden pole on the docks and they stopped just moments before crashing into the Hudson. The front bumper was in the water.
They opened the back of the Battle Shell and jumped out. Mikey spotted the truck and they tried to follow it but it drove into the water. They all run to the end of the docks and cheered at the defeat of the garbage truck. "T-M-N-T! What you get is what you see!"
"You know seriously, you're only embarrassing yourself," Raph told him after he finished his dance.
The truck sunk underwater and Leo said, "Now, let's see who crawls out of this thing."
Raph took out his sais and said as he twirled them in his hands, "I've got a few things to discuss with him."
The red headlights shined underwater and the truck started to drive away. "What the shell?" Leo said voicing everyone's thoughts. The truck drove to the island in the middle of the Hudson. The island had a red glow coming from the center and smoke coming from it as well.
Back at the lair, Donna was showing the boys a commercial about this island in the middle of the Hudson. "So, turns out this is the best run landfill operation, not just in the city but in the entire country."
Leo rolled his eyes at the logic of that and said, "Best run doesn't mean best. It just means most profitable."
"Come on, Leo. What could they really be up to out there? They're right in the middle of the city harbor," Raph told him.
"If business is as good as D says, anything they want to. A few payoffs in the right hands can go a long way. We need to check this place out," Leo said as he ran out of the lair with Donna following him.
"Something stinks on that island and it ain't the garbage," Mikey said impersonating the Terminator.
Raph came behind Mikey and told him, "Yeah, keep trying, Mikey. Someday you'll get a winner." Then he left to follow Leo and Donna.
Mikey rubbed the back of his head and said, "Hey, come on, that was pretty good."
From the sewer line, the turtles were watching the landfill with a plan to get onto the island. "It looks harmless enough," Donna told them.
"Yeah, it's quiet." Leo watched the landfill and couldn't shake the bad feeling in his gut. "Maybe too quiet."
"Now see, why does Leo make that line work?" Mikey asked since his Terminator line didn't go over well.
"Enough!" Leo told him. "Let's go!" The four jumped into the water and proceeded to swim towards the landfill. Mikey, as usual, was goofing off by swimming backward while the others were swimming forward. Leo gestured for them to follow him and they got out of the water and began their search for their friends.
They ran through the junk and Mikey stepped in a puddle of orange goo. Needless to say, he was pretty grossed out, "Ew! I don't want to know what just I stepped in."
"Mikey, focus!" Raph forcefully whispered to him. Mikey and Raph noticed a light shining on the ground prompting them all to hide. A truck even passed by and was also shining lights around the area.
The turtles continued their journey as they climbed the trash hill while dodging lights. When they arrived at the top of the trash hill, they were shocked by what they saw. "Unbelievable," Leo said shocked. It was all the missing homeless working their butts off for no reason. They were chained and even if they were tired as it is seen with Fumble Fingers who tripped on the ground, was electrocuted.
"This is makin' me sick," Raph said getting angrier and angrier by the second as he got his sai out. He was ready to beat up all the humans who were enslaving all the homeless people. Leo had to stop him. He knew that if Raph went storming in without a plan, things wouldn't be pretty.
The humans forced the homeless to gather around a pit of orange goo and a garbage truck emerge from it. It drove up a ramp then backed up against another one as it dropped more homeless people down into the trash.
"That's it!" Raph was about to go down and fight for the homeless but Leo stopped him. "Hold on, Raph. Look."
They watched as a much larger truck came out and it opened like a can as a tank cam out holding a very large human who had metal tubes on his body, was drooling, and was obviously the bad guy. He was wearing a dirty tank top and his entire tank had weapons and claws in the back."That is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen," Mikey told them as he pointed at the human.
"Just this once, I totally agree with ya," Raph told him.
"Greetings... filth." The Garbageman turned on his sound system and staring at the homeless with his red crazy eyes he said, "Garbage... is... power."
"If that's true, then this guy's super mad," Mikey added.
"Before I brought you to this island, you were nothing but human garbage. No home, no purpose, no... value." As the Garbageman talk, the homeless were electrocuted by the guards, forcing them to bow to him. "But now, I have recycled you. Given you work, sifting through the refuse that the city's stupidly squandered to build my fortune." Not being able to take it anymore, the turtles stood up and drew their weapons as they waited for the perfect moment to attack. "Behold, the birth of my empire. Invisible to the outside world until it is too late."
The Professor stood up and bravely said, "I'd rather be a free man living on the streets, than a slave in your stinking empire!"
Angered at the man standing up at him, the Garbageman shouted, "Guards! Silence him! Get these ungrateful beasts back to work! NOW!" A guard electrocuted the Professor causing him to fall down.
Not being able to take it anymore, the turtles were ready to fight. "That's it! Time to take out the trash!" Donna, Leo, and Mikey jumped off the hill and screamed a battle cry as the went to fight for their friends. Mikey, on the other hand, found a better way to get down the trash hill. He grabbed a wheelless skateboard and went down the trash hill. "New concept guys! Garbage boarding! YEAH-HOO!"
Once the turtles landed on the ground, the humans tried to attack them but failed as Donna, Leo, and Raph kicked at least three of them down to the ground together. "COWABUNGA!" Mikey shouted as he knocked out two humans with his board.
The turtles then proceeded to free all the homeless trapped in chains. They then grabbed pipes and proceeded to charge after the humans who captured them and forced them to work against their free will.
"This is just like a big action movie, ain't it?"
"Yup."
Donna ran to the Professor and helped him stand up. "Professor, are you alright?" She asked concerned.
"Oh, never felt better, Donatella," He told her after rubbing his neck.
"Well, it looks like your buddies have the guards pretty much under control." The guards tried to escape but were unable to. Some tried to escape up the trash hills but were dragged back down and were attacked.
"And may I take this opportunity to encourage you to kick that so-called Garbageman's stinking derriere!" The turtles jumped in the air, ready to attack the Garbageman.
"What's this? Attending freaks against me?! I'll dispose of this genetic refuse!"
The turtles stood their ground against the Garbageman and Mikey said, "It's garbage day, Fatman! Time to take your can out to the curb!"
"What?!"
"Uh... how about time to dump you in the dumpster, smelly boy?"
"SHUT UP!" Garbageman shouted then tried to kill Mikey with his claws but Mikey was able to dodge it. Leo forced the Garbageman back with his swords and soon he jumped on the tank the Garbageman was in. Leo spun his swords in hands and about to attack but the Garbageman scooted backward knocking Leo's off. The Garbageman moved back up the ramp and shot missiles at the turtles but they all missed them but it did destroy the dock they were standing on.
Raph jumped in the air and ran up the ramp along with the others. The Garbageman used a hose from his tank and shot green goo at them. Raph found himself unable to dodge it but Donna used her staff to stop it by throwing it and clogging the hole. "What?" The pressure in the hose grew and it broke spraying green goo all over the Garbageman. Donna caught her staff once it came back to her.
"You freaks." The Garbageman used his dual flamethrower on Mikey but he dodged all the flames. Mikey did slide down the green goo and got closer to his siblings.
"Can we finish this?" Raph asked clearly trying to not lose his temper since he was covered in green goo.
"Hey, dude. You gotta hit the showers."
"I will recycle every one of you into the ground!"
"Hey garbage brain! If you fight as bad as you smell, we are in trouble!" Mikey told him as he walked towards him but the Garbageman went backward.
"I told you to shut up!" The Garbageman shouted as he used his claws to grab Mikey but he jumped over him. The Garbageman roared in anger and started to chase Mikey. "COME BACK HERE!"
Leo and Raph joined Mikey and they soon arrived at a cliff and the Garbageman was so distracted that he didn't even notice that a fourth turtle was missing. Donna came from behind and started to mess with the mechanics behind. "There's no place to run!" She started to mess with a few buttons and wires while her brothers fought the Garbageman. "Now I've got you."
Leo jumped to attack the Garbageman but he used his claws to hit Leo and he landed on Donna. Raph tried to attack him but he was hit with his claws as well. Now Mikey was cornered and the Garbageman grabbed Mikey's arms with his claws. He drove to the edge and was ready to drop him off the cliff. "Prepare to be... recycled."
"Put him down, Garbagefreak!" Raph shouted. Donna then threw her staff at the open panel which caused the tank to malfunction. The Garbageman dropped Mikey but he caught himself by grabbing the edge of the cliff. Mikey jumped over the Garbageman who turned to the turtles as he tried to get his tank to work. He failed to make his tank work as he continued to back up and he fell into the Hudson River.
The turtles ran to the edge, waiting to see if he would pop back up but Donna said, "For sure he can't swim."
"We gotta do something," Leo told his siblings.
"I knew you were gonna say that," Raph told him.
The turtles jumped into the water and began their search for the Garbageman. They mostly found wreaked cars and his tank but no sign of him. The returned to the surface and Leo said, "No sign of him here."
"Somehow, he's gone," Donna said shocked that a human that big could swim that fast.
Later that evening after another failed search, the turtles returned to the landfill to check on the other homeless and the Professor. The guards got on a boat and returned to New York but the homeless stayed behind.
"What's up, Professor?" Donna asked a bit confused why he and the others didn't go onto the boat.
"We voted to stay here. There's food and shelter. The Garbageman was right about one thing people do throw away a lot of valuable items," He told them.
"Watch out for him. Something that evil, always comes back," Raph told him.
Mikey kicked the dust in frustration. "Now see, that worked. How do you come up with those?"
"When recycling the old ones, Mikey, keep looking for somethin' new." The turtles then left the landfill and returned home. It had been a long night and they were ready to get some sleep.
So a few fun facts, The Garbageman was originally going to be in another episode called Nightmares Recycled where it is revealed that he was once the conjoined twin of Hun. Basically, a weird episode with a dark premise. It was going to be made but the producers of the network that TMNT 2003 originally aired on decided that idea was too dark. Especially since Hun was going to kill his brother or the conjoined part or something.
Anyway, I hope Y'all are staying safe during these times.
#BLACKLIVESMATTER!
Don't forget to fav, follow, and review, please. Bye! :)