L'Enigma Dell'Anno Saltato, (The Riddle of the Skipped Year), is a story in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic published by Rizzoli. It appeared in issue 1/2, 1993, of the Italian children's magazine "Corriere dei Piccoli".
Appearing in L'Enigma Dell'Anno Saltato[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
- April O'Neil
- Bebop
- Ninja del clan del piede
- Rocksteady
- Shredder
- Signage employees
Species[]
- Humans
- Mutant rhinoceros
- Mutant turtle
- Mutant warthog
- Robot
Objects and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- New York City
- Restaurant
- Skyscraper
- Control room
- Times Square
Summary[]
Open on April O'Neil, reporting live from Times Square on the last night of 1992. The streets and sidewalks are crowded with revelers, including the disguised Ninja Turtles. Donatello complains that he’s cold and Michelangelo offers him candied pepperoni pizza, telling him it will warm his shell. April points to a huge screen mounted on a skyscraper and says that at midnight, it will light up to announce the beginning of 1993. She begins counting down the seconds, but when she calls out “zero”, the board shows the year to be 1994.
The gathered crowd is puzzled and Leonardo says that he’s never been good at math, but shouldn’t 93 come after 92? Donatello says that they’ve skipped an entire year in an instant. Michelangelo wants to know what happened to 1993 and Raffaello is curious as well. He takes out a calculator to figure out how much potential time energy there is in an unused year. However, his calculator burned out. Donatello reacts to the word energy and guesses that Krang and Shredder are behind this. Raffaello agrees, saying they must have found a way to use the New Year’s Eve to recharge the Tecnodromo’s batteries. Leonardo tells his brothers to keep their eyes peeled, because if Donatello is right, tin-face and his henchmen should be around.
Raffaello quickly spots Bebop and Rocksteady in the crowd and Leonardo says to follow them. Bebop brags that they are too massive and that their plan worked perfectly. The Turtles see the pair reach a door in an alley and enter. They wonder about the plan they mentioned and where they are going. Inside a storage room, Bebop laughs and says that no one noticed that… He is interrupted by Shredder, who says he did and calls them blockheads. Shredder orders them to follow him to the Tecnodromo immediately.
Leonardo taps on Shredder’s helmet with his katana and asks if he’s emerged to wish them a happy new year. Shredder acknowledges the Turtles’ presence and says it must be a reception. Ninja del clan del piede appear and he tells Leonardo to waltz around with his soldiers. As a Foot Ninja open fire with a rifle, Donatello ducks aside and says all they needed was fireworks. Michelangelo knocks down one of the robots and says there’s also the scrap to throw away for the new year. Raffaello asks Shredder if he has anymore, because these broke right away. Shredder growls, answering that he didn’t expect to meet them. Next time, he says, he’ll settle the score.
He flees the scene and the Turtles turn towards Bebop and Rocksteady. Michelangelo tells them it’s their turn to ring in the new year. Rocksteady claims that they don’t know anything. Bebop says that in fact, they would like to thank the Turtles. Raffaello expresses surprise. Bebop says that Shredder was there for them and Rocksteady adds that they were supposed to be on duty at the Tecnodromo tonight. As Bebop pushes open a swinging door, he says they snuck away so as not to miss the New Year’s Eve party. The door leads to a crowded restaurant, filled with people celebrating the new year. Bebop says that if they want, they can join the party. Unhappy at having wasted time, the Turtles quickly beat up the pair of mutants. Raffaello then wonders if those two were innocent, who was it that stole the new year. Leonardo says they should go look at the control unit on the lighted calendar.
In the control room for the lighted calendar on the skyscraper, one employee tells the other he should have written 1993. The second employee claims it wasn’t his fault if the keyboard is broken. He presses “3” and it comes out “4”. Employee one tells him to fix it, but the other man doesn’t know how and apparently, neither does the first man. He wonders where they can find a technician at this time on New Years. The Turtles overhear their conversation and Donatello steps into the room to ask if they need an electronics expert. The employees are happy to see him. Donatello begins working on the machine and says this wasn’t how he expected to save the new year. One of the men comments on how knowledgeable Leonardo’s partner is, but that he doesn’t understand. Leonardo asks what he means, and the man asks why he doesn’t take off his costume to work.
Finally, the display reads “1993” and people can celebrate. April continues her broadcast, announcing that the fault has been fixed and 1993 has officially begun. The Turtles arrive and wish her a happy new year. She returns the wish and says they have good timing because she just ended the live report. April asks if they had fun. The ninjas tell her the story and April remarks to Donatello that he’s too techno-suspicious. Raffaello replies that it was possible, but April says they got themselves a lot of work for nothing. Leonardo disagrees, telling her that they say that what you do in the first minutes of the new year will repeat for the whole year. Raffaello asks if she could imagine a better start… Michelangelo picks up his thought by saying an attack on Shredder and his companions. The Turtles all smile and April agrees that they are right.