Monsters, Misfits, and Madmen, part 3

Plot
Raphael and Michelangelo pick up a couple pizzas from Woody on their way to pay a visit to Old Hob. As they make their way to Hob's hideout Mikey asks Raph why he's so upset. Raph doesn't think it's a good idea to continue working with Hob, as he doesn't trust him. Mikey is willing to let bygones be bygones, considering Hob helped them get Leo back from the Foot Clan.

Casey visits his mother's grave as he's feeling pretty down about his whole situation. As he apologizes to his mom for the mess he's made of his life, his father Hun shows up with a bunch of Purple Dragons.

Mikey and Raph knock on the door to Hob's apartment, bearing pizzas as gifts. Slash hears that its Mikey and tears the door open. Hob tells Slash he told him not to open the door for anyone and Raph asks if he has something to hide. To their surprise, they see the former Stockgen employee Lindsey tied to a chair and an unfamiliar pigeon mutant named Pete.

In the graveyard, Hun tells Casey that this was the perfect place for them to meet again, considering what he's going to have to do to Casey. Casey asks if Hun is done with the Mr. Nice Guy act. Hun tells him it was no act, and he really wished Casey had taken him up on his offer and either joined him and the Foot or at least got out of town. Casey tells Hun that he's just a small-time loser drunk pretending to be important. Hun asks if Casey really thinks he can take on him and all the Purple Dragons. Casey points out that he has no choice, and that's the difference between him and his dad&mdash;he's not afraid to die fighting for what's right. The Purple Dragons swarm Casey, but he manages to take out a few of them as they do so.

At Hob's apartment, Raph and Mikey try to make sense of the situation while Slash discovers his newfound love for pizza. Hob explains that he's been thinking about the future. He's been trying to build a mutant army to stand against those who would harm and experiment on animals. Hob tells them that since StockGen is no more, he figured Lindsey could use a job and he was in the process of offering her a job. Mikey tells Hob that what he's doing isn't right; armies aren't for protection, they're for killing. Hob asks Mikey if he thinks what Shredder and Stockman are doing is right, using mutants as pawns in their own chess games. Hob concedes that maybe tying up Lindsey was excessive, but he isn't overly concerned, what with the way she and the other scientists at StockGen treated him, Slash, and even the Turtles while they were experimented on. Hob reveals that he has something he knows will entice Lindsey&mdash;a vial of Splinter's blood.

At the cemetery, Casey has been beaten and bloodied by the Purple Dragons. One of them is about to kill him when Hun stops him, moving in to do it himself. Hun tells Casey that all of this wouldn't have been necessary, if he'd just made the smart choice. Casey tells his father the same thing. Hun is about to kill Casey when Hun is electrocuted and drops him. Angel, wearing the Nobody suit, appears out of thin air and knocks the rest of the Purple Dragons back with the anti-grav gauntlet. Harold radios in and tells her this was just supposed to be a long-rang communications test, nothing more. Hun, enraged, gets up and is ready to attack but Angel uses the suit's laser to cut the obelisk off a gravestone, distracting Hun. When Hun look back, Angel and Casey are gone.

Lindsey is shocked by Hob's possession of Splinter's blood, as is Raphael. Lindsey explains that back at StockGen, the Specimen 6 project (the project responsible for creating Slash) had been hers, but without the psychotropic compound lost during the break-in (see Issue #1), Slash's animal instincts were uncontrollable and the experiment was deemed a failure, hurting her career. But with Splinter's blood, Lindsey can prove her theory right. Hob interrupts her, telling her there is no way he's going to let her inject it into Slash and cause him any more pain. Hob tells her she can test it on Pete, but she explains that it has to be Slash. Slash was given injections of the mutagen in controlled doses, so to preserve the validity of the experiment it has to be Slash. Hob remains adamant. He tells he that he has more than what's in the vial, so they can start fresh. Lindsey agrees, but tells Hob she can't work in his apartment the way it is and that it'll take several months to get it in acceptable condition. Hob is unwilling to wait that long, but Lindsey tells him unless he changes his mind about Slash, that's how it's going to be. Slash suddenly grabs the vial of Splinter's blood and says he's willing to inject himself. He says he wants to be a hero, like Mikey, and do good. Mikey tells him that there's no need for him to change himself to do good. Raph tells Mikey that Lindsey may have a point, and Splinter did want more mutants on their side when they face Shredder.

Before anyone else can move, Slash injects himself. Almost immediately he cries out in pain, exclaiming that his brain hurts. Slash begins thrashing around, destroying things in the process. Mikey attempts to talk him down, but Slash knocks him into the wall. Raph lunges at him, attempting to subdue Slash. Hob asks Lindsey what's happening to Slash and how they can stop him. Lindsey tells him that when Slash would get uncontrollable at StockGen they would electrocute him. Hob picks up a large stun gun and is ready to taser Slash, but before it becomes necessary Slash begins to calm down. Slash becomes capable of more advanced cognition and tells them that he feels different, and that it's alright now.

Casey and Angel talk on a rooftop after escaping from Hun. Angel tells him she figured he'd be at his mom's grave when she didn't find him shooting pucks at the hockey rink. Casey asks Angel where she got the exo-suit; she explains about what happend at Harold's lab and how she convinced him to let her test the suit's radio. Angel urges Casey to move on from the situation with his father, as hard as it may be.

As Leo and Splinter talk in their home, the Rat King looks on from the shadows.

Transcript

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