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Some TMNT stuff was always meant for grownups. |
Solicit[]
New York has been paralyzed by fear and resentment of its new resident aliens allowing H.A.A.R.M. to seize power in this chaotic time. Unable to fight the tide of growing xenophobic hatred, the alien ambassador has agreed to surrender his life to stop any further attacks against the Utroms! Michelangelo intervenes in a murder attempt.
Appearing in Michelangelo: The Third Kind, part 4[]
Major characters[]
- H.A.A.R.M.
- Jingo
- Klag
- Michelangelo
Minor characters[]
- Ambassador Cesse Mon Zir Te
- Bartholomew Swan
- Detective Clover
- National Guard
Species[]
- Aliens
- Mutant Turtles
- Humans
- Utroms
Locations[]
Summary[]
Open on Times Square. National Guard troops patrol the streets. The energy rings above the city have begun to dissipate, but fear has many citizens remaining inside their homes. Michelangelo is strolling down the center of a street by himself, head down. A member of H.A.A.R.M. hides behind a car and then jumps out, baseball bat in hand. Yelling “Die, alien!” he rushes at Mike, whose only reaction is to punch the man hard enough to knock him out. Mike hasn’t even broken stride, continuing on as though nothing happened. Then he sees another man running towards him and wonders how many of them there are.
Mikey takes a defense stance, but the man quickly explains that he’s actually Klag wearing a “skin suit” to disguise himself as a human. He tracked Mikey by his communicator and asks if the Turtle saw the news. When Mikey says he hasn’t, Klag tells him that H.A.A.R.M. has planted bombs around the city and threaten to blow them up unless the Ambassador turns himself over to them. H.A.A.R.M. also warned that if the aliens try to scan for the bombs, they will set them off. After leading Mikey to his hovercraft, Klag strips off his human disguise. Both climb onto the hovercraft and Klag explains that the hate group left them no time to react other than to meet their demand. The exchange is to take place in five minutes.
As they liftoff, Mikey asks if the Ambassador is turning himself over and Klag says that he feels he has no choice. Klag flies over the river and then brings the hovercraft down among the trees in a park near the docks. Under the terms of the exchange, there are no police here, therefore Klag is going to help provide security. He opens a hatch on the hovercraft, telling Mike to go ahead and he’ll catch up with him later.
In a nearby clearing, a mob of H.A.A.R.M. members stand around a podium where one of their number is making a speech. Mikey recognizes some of them from the previous night in Central Park and can’t believe the police are really going to let this happen. The person on the podium calls for patience, telling the mob that Jingo will be there soon. Mikey checks his weapon stash and finds he only has three throwing stars, which makes him wish his brothers were nearby.
A hover skiff approaches the park. Onboard are Ambassador Cesse Mon Zir Te and his entourage. This skiff lands and the Ambassador walks to the podium as the crowd separates to allow him passage. All around him people are shouting for his death. Mikey glances back towards the tree line and notes that the cops are there. Then a grinning Jingo arrives and approaches the podium as the mob shouts his name. Finally, he waves them to silence and then hangs his head, telling his followers that he has failed.
The speech he delivers is not one the crowd expected to hear. Jingo says that he failed them and is asking for their forgiveness. He says that his failure is also mankind’s, for they have always fears and felt threatened by anything different or that they couldn’t understand. In recognizing this, he’s come to the realization that this situation represents a new age for man. The choices they make will affect the generations to follow. He tells the mob that the circumstances of first contact is not a reason for fear, but rather an opportunity for the people of Earth. He tells the crowd to open their minds, to put aside their preconceptions. He tells them to open their eyes to the truth – to the fact that they are not alone.
Suddenly, a man in the crowd shouts “No!”. It is Barry Swan, who pushes his way through the crowd, yelling that Jingo is wrong and that the aliens have turned him. Barry says that the aliens want to turn everyone, to make them into slaves. Jingo tells him that they are already slaves of their own arrogance. Barry yells for him to shut up and then pulls a gun. He takes aim on the Ambassador, who does not move, but before Barry can pull the trigger, a throwing star hits the gun and knocks it from Barry’s hand. Standing ready with another throwing star, Mikey tells Jingo to finish his speech.
Jingo does so, telling the crowd that they can’t continue to react to new things by wanting to fight them. He says they can’t continue to blame others for their problems because that solves nothing. He wants this to be a new beginning, a chance for them to acknowledge that they have a lot to learn and that they can be grateful to those who would teach them. Then he turns to the Ambassador and shakes his hand. Ambassador Cesse Mon Zir Te thanks Jingo for his words, saying he too has much to learn.
The crowd is silent as everyone stares at the Ambassador and Jingo. Then Detective Clover and uniformed officers arrive to place Barry under arrest. Detective Clover looks over at Mikey but makes no move to pursue as he races off into the woods. As he walks back to the hovercraft, he wonders if the day could get any weirder. When he reaches the hovercraft though, Klag is nowhere to be seen. Thinking Klag had to return to Moon-Island, Mikey hops into the hovercraft and pilots it himself.
Flying out to Moon-Island, Mikey brings the hovercraft down for a landing. He assumes that it’s okay to just leave it there, since he doesn’t know what sort of parking rules the Utroms have. As he starts to walk away, Mikey hears a thumping noise coming from the back hatch and goes back to open it. Much to his surprise, inside he finds a bound and gagged Jingo. Mikey jumps when Klag touches his shoulder. Klag explains that when they went to see Jingo at the garage, he recorded images of him in order to make a skin-suit. He apologizes to Mikey, saying that it seemed the only way. Mikey asks what they are going to do with Jingo. Klag says that after a simple memory wipe he’ll be returned to the streets of his old neighborhood. Mikey asks if he won’t still be a bigoted jerk even after the memory wipe. Klag replies that it would be a mistake to underestimate mankind’s ability for change.
The End.
See also[]
Trivia[]
- This issue also includes a back-up story, Life on Earth.