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Some TMNT stuff really isn't for little kids. |
Ambush at Area 51! part 4 is the first story in Mutant Nation #4.
Solicit[]
Raphael’s diversion turned rescue mission has erupted into a fight for survival! As he rallies to free his friends and forge a safe exit from the restricted stronghold, Metalhead goes deeper and makes a final stride toward his target. Can Raph still stop him from securing the secrets of this dimension, or will Metalhead make a supernatural escape?
Join writer Tom Waltz and artist Vincenzo Federici for their white-knuckle conclusion to “Ambush at Area 51”!
Appearing in Ambush at Area 51! part 4[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
- Baxter Stockman (flashback only)
- Earth Protection Force
- Captain Hendrix
- Louis Braunze
- Ravenwood
- Dr. Yuhasz
- Jonathan Bishop (flashback only)
- Lindsey Baker
- Madame Null
- Man Ray
- Mondo Gecko
- Pepperoni
- Pete
- Sally Pride (flashback only)
- Seymour Gutz
- Slash (clones) (flashback only)
- Wayne Bishop (flashback only)
- Zink (flashback only)
Species[]
- Demon
- Humans
- Mutant gecko
- Mutant hybrid
- Mutant lioness
- Mutant manta ray
- Mutant pigeon
- Mutant turtle
- Mutant turtle clones
- Protoceratops
- Robot
Locations[]
- California
- Mutant Town (flashback only)
- Nevada
- Groom Lake
Objects & vehicles[]
- Auto Defense Bots
- Jonathan Bishop's exo-suit
- Sai
- Teleportation portal
- Triceraton spaceship
Synopsis[]
Area 51, Groom Lake, Nevada. Raphael is seated with his head down inside the chamber where he has been trapped. Pete pats his shoulder to comfort him, but all Raph can think about is how he and Pepperoni were ambushed by Metalhead. How Pepperoni was taken hostage by the freak of a robot, and then how he was taken prisoner by another even freakier bucket of bolts. All this because he was trying to help some of his trapped friends escape. Now he’s stuck here, worried that Pepperoni’s not okay out there. Raph recalls what he thought was a corny line dropped by his brother, Leonardo – “outta the fryin’ pan… into the fire”.
Meanwhile, the fire rages in Hangar 18. Metalhead states his hull integrity is at twenty-three percent and his internal components at risk for malfunction. Inside his body, Pepperoni is clearly frightened. Metalhead initiates fire suppression procedure and begins spraying foam around the room. The foam lands on one of the Auto Defense Bots, dousing the flames on its body and it immediately shoots a laser at Metalhead. The beam hits and cracks the enclosure which is keeping Pepperoni trapped. Metalhead returns fire with his lasers and destroys the A.D.B., announcing that the room is no longer hospitable. Activating the jets in his feet, Metalhead lifts off and crashes through the nearest wall into another room. He finds himself in a lab where he sees a specimen in a stasis tank. With his attention elsewhere, Pepperoni takes the opportunity to use her tail and finish breaking the glass enclosure. She leaps to the floor and runs. Though Metalhead opens fire on her, Pepperoni escapes unscathed. Behind him, someone says that it appears he let his little pet escape. He turns to see Madame Null, herself trapped inside a stasis unit. She says that she can offer him a far greater prize.
Captain Hendrix reports that the insurgent in Hangar 18 is still loose and has reached the Null entity. An exasperated Director Braunze pinches the bridge of his nose and then orders a pair of E.P.F. soldiers to accompany him to Hangar 18. He then tells Hendrix to call Dr. Yuhasz and find out if any troops have reached his lab. Braunze wants eyes on the new mutant, as it’s guaranteed it’s working with the robot.
In the doctor’s lab, Yuhasz announces that it looks like they’ll have company soon. Lots of soldiers are on their way to help keep watch over Raphael. He adds that Raph’s robotic collaborator survived Braunze’s fiery trap. Raph jumps forward and calls out Pepperoni’s name, excited that she’s hopefully still alive. Yuhasz tells him not to get too excited because he won’t be leaving anytime soon. Normally, he’d frown upon soldiers soiling his lab with their jackboots, but he’s fully aware that it was Raph and his fellow mutant terrapins who are responsible for the death of John Bishop. Raphael thinks to himself that he needs to keep Yuhasz talking so he’ll have more time to figure out how to get out of this mess.
Raphael says it figures he knew Agent Bishop and asks if he’s the one who put Yuhasz in that stupid robot. Yuhasz corrects him, saying that he’s responsible for his current configuration, just as it was he who designed the younger Bishop’s exosuit, based on a request from the elder Bishop. He says their collaboration was effective, but sadly, over time, Bishop senior grew old and feeble, suffering from dementia. The younger Bishop became dangerously obsessed with ridding the planet of mutants until his untimely death. Eventually age and sickness had their way with Yuhasz as well. He developed a form of irreversible lung cancer, but unlike the elder Bishop, Yuhasz’s mind remained fully functional. He chose to keep his head and lose his corrupted body, replacing it with something far more robust and durable. Raph says he’s still torturing innocent mutants, just like Bishop. Yuhasz says he doesn’t wish to destroy Raph’s kind; he merely seeks to understand them. Raph replies that he’s heard that garbage before. A trio of soldiers arrive then and Raph realizes he’ll not only need more time to get out, but a miracle, too.
Metalhead stands before Null’s stasis chamber and says he recognizes her from the time he was symbiotically bonded to General Krang. She is Madame Null, chief executive officer of Null Industries. Null corrects him to say formerly CEO, but unfortunately, that business endeavor came to an unexpected end with her incarceration. She asks if he is called Metalhead, and he replies in the affirmative. Null guesses that he’s not there by invitation, which he verifies and states he’s there to procure advanced data from the E.P.F. She asks if he’s procuring or stealing, but he calls that semantics. Null then says that seeing as he’s in flight mode, she believes his procurement efforts are at an end today. He agrees, telling her he was able to download much of the data he sought before he was forced to retreat, but not all.
Null asks if any of the downloaded data included the security codes necessary to unlock her stasis chamber. Metalhead replies in the negative, but says he possesses the universal release code that will disable all custodial chambers in Area 51. Null states their situation – he’s seeking advanced knowledge and she’s seeking freedom. If he is willing to release her, she will take him to a place where he can access knowledge far more cutting edge than anything he can procure on this primitive planet. Metalhead asks what place and how they would travel there. Null says away from this place and that the sky is most definitely not the limit. She also says that all it would require is one of the spacecrafts they both know the E.P.F. is storing in this very hangar. As time is short, she asks for his decision. Metalhead moves to a control panel and agrees to her terms. He initiates the universal release code and Null’s chamber slides open.
Raph is given the miracle he hoped for when his chamber and all the others open as well. Two of the soldiers lift their weapons, but Man Ray slams their heads together. He dodges aside as the third soldier tries to shoot him, and then Mondo Gecko kicks the man across the room. Yuhasz grabs Mondo by the throat, saying he’s not going anywhere. Raph tells him he’s wrong and kicks Yuhasz in the face, dropping him to the floor. Standing over him, Raph says he should have replaced his head with something more durable, too. Raph looks back at the gathered mutants and asks if they are okay. They acknowledge they’re all right and Pete introduces himself. Raph says he knows and that he also knows Pete will be quiet for a little bit until they get out of there.
The mutants move out, with Raph leading the way to an elevator. He says it’s the quickest way up and it will give someone time to tell him how they ended up in this craphole. Mondo begins telling the story, which goes all the way back to Baxter Stockman’s bogus Mutant Town wall. When the humans started building it, Old Hob wanted to make sure they didn’t lose their sweet Triceraton spaceship to the E.P.F. He had Sally program its autopilot to fly it to the mountains outside Los Angeles to hide it. He then sent Mondo, Seymour, and Pete to babysit it. When things got better, Sally met them in L.A. to let them know they could come back. They set the autopilot to take them home, but they barely got out of California before they ran into a bunch of E.P.F. ships coming back to Area 51 from New York. The E.P.F. shot them down, took their ride and locked them up. Raph asks about Man Ray, and Mondo answers that he was already there. Seymour adds that Man Ray can’t talk right now, but as far as they can tell, something really bad happened to him when the Mutant Town wall got destroyed. It’s something he’s not ready to share, but whatever it was, it would have killed him if the E.P.F. soldiers hadn’t found him first.
The elevator dings to announce they have reached their floor. As the door opens, Raph tells everyone to be ready for anything. Then he spots Pepperoni running towards him and catches his pet in his arms. A happy Raph says he knew that stupid robot couldn’t hold her down. Seeing the coast is clear, the mutants race out of the hangar. Raph tells them to make a beeline for the base’s perimeter. Before they can get there, they are stopped by a group of armed soldiers. One of them reports to Braunze that they have the mutants from Hangar 13. Braunze tells them to leave the mutants and get everyone over to Hanger 18 as soon as possible. They have bigger problems than some escape science projects. A loud rumbling sound, accompanied by the ground shaking, startles the group of mutants. Suddenly, the side of the Hangar bursts outwards as the Triceraton ship blasts its way out. Raph looks up, realizing it’s Metalhead. Mondo laments the fact that it’s their ship, but Raph says to forget it and run. As they do so, Raph finds that he is amused by the fact that Metalhead is now the diversion.
Later, Raph uses his phone to contact Angel, who tells him that Harold’s going to open a teleportation portal. He relays this to the other mutants and says that they are finally going home. Mondo is holding Pepperoni and asks if Raph is sure he wants them to take her. Raph says he’s sure and that he’s already dragged her into enough trouble this trip. He tells Pepperoni to be a good dino for Mondo and that he’ll see her soon. Behind them, the portal opens. Raph says their next stop is Mutant Island and asks them to tell that fleabag Hob that he said “yo.” Seymour asks what Raph is going to do. Raph replies that he’s still heading to Vegas and that he didn’t go through all this garbage to not see it now. Mondo suggests he check out Cali afterwards, because it rules. Raph says maybe he will. After today’s insanity, what’s the worst that can happen. Mounted on his recovered motorcycle, Raph continues on his journey.
Epilogue. Braunze and Yuhasz examine the damage. When Braunze comments that it’s a freakin’ snafu, Yuhasz agrees. Braunze tells him that what happens in Area 51 is supposed to stay in Area 51. Now he’s got a bunch of escaped mutants on the loose and Null and Metalhead joyriding in a stolen UAP. He guesses this is going to come back to bite him someday. Captain Hendrix then calls to let him know that Dr. Yuhasz’s new specimen has arrived. Braunze tells Yuhasz that there is no rest for the weary and he’s got another one for him. This time he’s going to make sure he has backup in his lab. No more escapes. He asks the newest arrival if that is understood and Special Agent Ravenwood replies “Sir, yes, sir.”