Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutanimals issue 3

Plot
Slash finished the details of his plan to rescue Hob, Pete, and Herman, as well as any other mutants being held by Null. Mondo Gecko finishes hot wiring a truck so that they can follow the train and uncouple the car containing the Mutanimals when the time is right in order to minimize any potential for violence. Inside the train, Hob explains to Sally and Ray that he and the Mutanimals were planning on rescuing them from the Null Group. Sally states that she could have rescued everyone if she could only get to the front car and take control of the train. Hob asks Herman for a status report; Herman tells him that all the Mutanimals are uninjured. Sally tells Hob why Seymour is so scared. She tells him that Seymour is headed back to the lab where the testing is done, most of it extremely traumatic. She and Ray are to be sold to the Foot Clan. Hob, realizing that Slash and Mondo were not captured, retains hope that they will all be rescued.

On a road alongside the train track, Mondo drives the stolen pickup and wonders how they’re going to get from the truck to the train. Slash grabs Mondo, climbs on top of the moving truck, and leaps onto the train. Slash opens the door to the train car and he and Mondo head inside. Hob greets Slash and Mondo thanks them for coming. Ray tells the others that there are footsteps on the roof of the car and two Null guards drop through the roof hatch, followed by ten more through the side door. Mondo tells Slash that they may have to abandon their plan for minimal violence as they are quickly overwhelmed by guards. The Null guards begin to back Slash into a cage, triggering memories of his early life at Stockgen. Slash goes into a berserk rage, reminiscent of his animal nature before he received the psychotropic serum. Slash easily tears the cage apart and knocks aside the guards. “No more pain! No more cage!” cries Slash. He punches guards with so much force that they are thrown through the walls of the train car. Slash tosses the last of the guards from the moving train and then seizes the bars of the others’ cages, tearing them out of the wall and ripping the train car itself apart while the others look on in fear. The force of the train car being torn apart causes the train to derail, crashing and coming to a stop. As the mutants climb out of the wreckage of the train car, Slash calmly tells the others that they have little time to complete their escape. Slash approaches Mondo but Mondo backs away in fear, asking Slash if he remembers hulking out. Slash states that of course he does, and that due to the unstable nature of the psychotropic serum, his animal nature must have temporarily overridden his superior intelligence. He assures the others that he’s fine now.

Null arrives at her office building by helicopter. She is frustrated by the financial hit she is taking as a result of the Mutanimals’ escape, but begrudgingly impressed by their skills which just makes her want them all the more. Lindsey and Jillian, supervised by two guards, wait next to the helicopter landing pad. Null begins telling them that she wants hybrid mutants in production by the next fiscal quarter when Lindsey tells Null that she does not want to work for her. Null attempts to seduce Lindsey to her way of thinking, stating that the unethical acts done by them would only be done by others if they didn’t do them, so they might as well commit the acts themselves and profit from it. Null also reminds Lindsey that they are standing on the edge of a sixty-story building should she continue to refuse. Lindsey doubles down, saying that she isn’t persuaded by Null’s tough act and that she thinks Null’s skin and horns are a facade. Null picks up one of her guards by the neck and holds him above her head, telling Lindsey that despite how smart she is she still doesn’t understand the situation that she’s in. As Null talks, the guard is drained of his life force, becoming a shriveled corpse and then nothing more than a skeleton in a matter of moments. Null tells Lindsey that if she ever decides that Lindsey is no longer useful to her, she’ll kill her. Null tells Lindsey and Jillian to get to work in the lab. In the elevator Lindsey asks Jillian what she’s gotten her into and Jillian tells her to stop the elevator and get out. Jillian pulls Lindsey into a stairwell where there are no security cameras. Lindsey demands to know the truth about what is going on. Jillian admits that she wanted Lindsey to be drawn into the situation too so that she could get help her get away from Null. Some Null guards arrive on the landing and state that they’ve been tasked with escorting the women back to the lab.

Back at Mutanimal headquarters, Slash and Hob catch up with one another. Slash asks why all of the others were now afraid of him. Hob tells him that they were afraid that he was out of control and that they were just as likely to be hurt as their enemies. Slash tells Hob that despite how it appeared, he had still been in control, that he had simply let his rage overtake him. Slash fears that he is just as morally corrupt as their enemies. Hob reassures Slash, telling him that despite their disagreements in tactics, they are both on the same side, the side of right. Upstairs, Pete finishes giving Sally and Ray the tour of the building. Seymour asks Sally and Ray if Null is going to create more mutants who will be subject to the awful things Null put them through. Sally and Ray both agree that until she is no longer able to, Null will create mutants to experiment on. Hob states that getting into the lab to destroy it may be difficult. Ray counters that if they destroy the lab, Null will simply build another one, so if they really want to eliminate the problem they need to eliminate Null. While the others talk strategy, Seymour leaves and heads to his room.

In his bathroom, Seymour examines himself in the mirror. He overhears Pete coming into his room to place a night light, as he himself suffered from nightmares and had benefitted from getting one. Seymour asks Pete what his nightmares are about. Pete tells him trolleys, weddings, or anything with rice. Seymour removes a panel and examines the inside of his suit’s casing and tells Pete that his nightmares are different. Outside, Mondo practices skate tricks while Herman works on the van. Mondo asks Herman if he could make him a sick ass laser to put on his skateboard. Suddenly Mondo and Herman see Seymour leaving the building and running off into the night. They call out to him but he doesn’t answer.

At Null’s lab, a guard escorts Lindsey and Jillian to where Seymour is being held. He explains that Seymour returned, claiming that his suit was damaged and in need of repair to keep him from dying. Lindsey is surprised to see that the subject of the experiments is conscious and not brain-dead as Jillian had lead her to believe. Jillian tells her that she lied to Lindsey so she wouldn’t feel bad for him. Jillian approaches Seymour to ask him what’s wrong and he tells her that he is in great pain. She assures him that no one knows his suit better than her so she will definitely be able to fix it. He tells her that he knows his suit better than her, and informs her that he tampered with the wiring, causing it to begin to overheat and explode in a few minutes time. He tells her that they will never hurt another mutant again.

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