Truth Hurts is the comic in the eighteenth issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Appearing in Truth Hurts[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
Locations[]
Objects and vehicles[]
Synopsis[]
The Turtles are running rooftops against the backdrop of a full moon. Donatello is aggravated that someone ate the slice of pizza that was supposed to be saved for him and he’s sure it was Michelangelo. However, Mikey swears it wasn’t him and Leonardo tells Don they did save him a slice. Raphael finds it ridiculous that they are arguing over one slice of pizza. While they argue, some small object keeps hitting the walls quite near them.
Unseen by them are Fishface and Rahzar. Fishface has been trying to hit the Turtles with a dart from a blowgun but complains they keep moving. Rahzar says he can do better and takes the blowgun, which he uses to shoot a dart into Raph’s neck.
His shout brings the Turtles to a stop and Raph says that it felt like something bit him. They are all about to start arguing again when a flurry of shuriken fly at them. Looking down from the rooftop, they see a contingent of Footbots on the next rooftop just below them.
Raph is excited about the chance to fight and though Leo cautions him that it could be a trap, Raph leaps anyway. The other Turtles have no choice but to join the fight. Leo asks Raph why he always ignores his orders and Raph suddenly blurts out that he’s jealous of him.
As he slaps his hands over his mouth, the other Turtles turn to stare and Mikey asks if Raph is feeling all right. Once again Raph starts blabbing what’s on his mind: he’s embarrassed for what he just said, feels undervalued by the team, he’s angry and angry that he’s angry, and finally feels guilty because he’s the one who ate Donnie’s slice of pizza.
Nearby, Rahzar tells Fishface that it just kicked in. Don walks over to Raph and says something’s not right. Raph tells him it was weird, that he couldn’t NOT say that. At that moment, Fishface and Rahzar announce their arrival. Before Raph can race off to fight, Don sees something in his neck and quickly removes it. Leo goes to follow Raph, telling Don and Mikey to take on the bots. Don calls Leo over and shows him the dart, explaining that he thinks Raph’s been injected with some kind of truth serum.
Raph confronts Fishface and Rahzar, who say they don’t want to fight him, they just want to ask him a question. Leo and Don hear that and start racing for Raph, smacking aside Footbots as they go. Leo yells for Raph to run. Before Raph can move though, Rahzar asks where his lair is. Unable to help himself, Raph answers that it’s on the Eastern side of… Before he finishes the sentence, Mikey snags the top of his carapace with his nunchaku blade and yanks Raph back. Mikey and Leo pounce on Raph can cover his mouth because he’s continuing to talk.
Rahzar is frustrated because they almost had the answer and Fishface says they need to get the Turtle alone. Raph apologizes to his brothers, saying it was like he had no choice and Leo displays the dart. He explains that Raph was hit with truth serum and that he needs to get out of there. Angry, Raph yells there’s no way he’s running from a fight, but Leo says he has to because he’ll give away the location of the lair- - of Splinter. Raph finally agrees that he has to leave.
The other three Turtles get between Raph and their enemies. They tell Rahzar and Fishface that to have a chat with their brother, they’ll have to go through them first. Rahzar says that’s no problem and he and Fishface leap off the roof onto motorcycles driven by Foot Soldiers.
Raph is on the street, running towards home and complaining aloud about being forced to run from a fight. Suddenly Fishface comes to a screeching halt in front of him and tells him he doesn’t have to run now. Raph turns to get away from him, but his path is quickly blocked by Foot Soldiers and Rahzar.
Rahzar begins to ask the question again, but Raph plugs his hear and starts singing. He calls out that he can’t hear them, but Fishface holds up a piece of paper with the question written on it. Unable to stop himself, Raph starts to answer but then does the only thing he can think of – he punches himself in the face.
Raph drops to the ground, out cold. Rahzar is aggravated, but Fishface says it doesn’t matter because now they can get him back to base without a fight. Before they can haul him away, the other Turtles arrive on motorcycles they’ve swiped from Foot Soldiers. Mikey and Don bat aside the Foot Soldiers in their path as Leo zooms over to Raph and grabs him. As he’s speeding away, Leo tells Don he’s up, which is Don’s cue to use a blowgun to hit Fishface with his own truth serum dart.
Back at the lair, Raph is awake but still suffering the effects of the truth serum. Mikey asks him what he really thinks about his jokes and Raph has to admit that they’re okay and some are actually pretty funny. Raph covers his face with both hands, pleading for them to stop. Don arrives with an analysis of the serum and says the good news is that it’s wear off, but the bad news is it’ll take a few more hours. Leo thinks that’s awesome and prepares to take his turn at asking Raph an embarrassing question.
Meanwhile, Fishface and Rahzar have returned to Foot headquarters to inform Tiger Claw of their failure. Tiger Claw rants at them and asks the rhetorical question of why they even bother hiring them. Unfortunately for Fishface, he’s unable to keep his thoughts to himself and blurts out that Tiger Claw is a coward and then insults his neck scarf. An infuriated Tiger Claw immediately pitches him out of the window.