Cutting Through the Universe is the ninth issue of the second volume of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures. It is part one of the story arc, The Sword of Eddiku.
Solicit[]
Shredder and Krang have finally succeeded in forging a blade capable of cutting through time and space! Called to action to stop Shredder from committing more continuum crimes, the Teenage Mutant Turtles encounter enemies and allies old and new - or maybe new and old? - as the timeline is threatened.
Appearing in Cutting Through the Universe[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
- April O'Neil (recap only)
- Creepy Eddie
- Grunt
- Eddiku Kai
- Splinter
Species[]
- Dinosaurs
- Humans
- Interdimensional being
- Mutant rat
- Mutant rhinoceros
- Mutant turtles
- Mutant warthog
- Robots
Locations[]
Objects, vehicles, and weapons[]
- Bō
- Forever Sword
- Katana
- Mini-camera
- Nunchaku
- Sai
- Time Scepter
Synopsis[]
With a protective gear-clad Michelangelo as his demonstration opponent, Splinter shows Leonardo a useful technique which involves shattering the opponent's sword with their own. Suddenly, an unfamiliar figure pops into the lair out of thin air. She introduces herself as Renet and has a dire warning about the fate of the universe, but upon realizing that the Turtles don't recognize her, vamooses before she can clutter up the timeline anymore.
At Shredder's hideout, Eddiku Kai delivers the finished Forever Sword personally. Kai is amazed when he sees Krang and offers to paint a portrait of him, but the latter has Bebop and Rocksteady throw him out. He keeps Eddiku's card, however, in case he wants to commission his official portrait for his royal palace.
Krang blasts the sword with his laser to activate it, but warns Shredder that it could be unstable and dangerous. Thus, he has Bebop try the blade out. Bebop opens a cut through space and time to their old hideout back in the past, and a human Grunt steps through. He recognizes Bebop but thinks he's wearing a costume. Bebop tells him that Grunt owes him $20, which Grunt happened to have on-hand from a recent theft. After receiving the bill, he tosses Grunt back through the space-time rip.
Krang tells him that the sword can recharge itself but needs time to do so, and the more it's used, the longer it needs to recharge. Shredder says he knows that the sword feels "tired" so that warning checks out. Shredder cuts a rift into a bank vault and he has Bebop and Rocksteady accompany him to start filling bags with loot. The rift closes before they can go back through, though, and the sword needs to recharge, so the mutants bust the vault door open to escape.
As the villains begin to leave, they encounter the Turtles on rooftops overlooking their escape route. Raphael says they were nearby and heard an explosion and came to investigate. Bebop throws a money bag and hits Mikey in the plastron, but he recovers quick enough to deliver a jump-kick to him. As the Turtles take on the Foot Clan, Leo tells Shredder that they're outnumbered, but he feels four-versus-three aren't much for overwhelming odds. Leo tells him that they tripped the silent alarm and the NYPD are on the way. Shredder realizes the sword has charged enough and decides to overcompensate his odds by slashing a rift big enough to accommodate a vast number of Foot Soldiers.
The Turtles taunt Shredder, trying to goad him into making a mistake. Shredder cuts open a rift and a couple of dinosaurs and Creepy Eddie show up, but before they can exit the rift, Leo proceeds to utilize the move he had just learned from Splinter and shatters the Forever Blade. The resulting explosion clears away for the Turtles to find Shredder, Leonardo, Bebop, and Rocksteady are missing. The Turtles wonder where they went, and Shredder and Leo suddenly find themselves trapped in Feudal Japan.
Trivia[]
- Dan Schoening's cover is an homage to the NES version of the 1989 arcade game.