|
Some TMNT stuff really isn't for little kids. |
Michelangelo is living in Tokyo, where he’s become a big TV star. It’s a pretty cool life, full of fame and fortune, but if he’s being honest, Mikey misses his brothers and the sense of purpose they had together. Well, in a classic case of “be careful what you wish for,” that old life looks like it’s coming to find him when ninjas show up in his apartment armed to the teeth! Continuing the all-new ongoing series from writer Jason Aaron (Action Comics, Thor), this time joined by Detective Comics and American Vampire artist Rafael Albuquerque, this spotlight story on everyone’s favorite jokester puts the second piece of the puzzle together for the future of TMNT.
Appearing in Super Mutant Turtle Power Go![]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
Species[]
Locations[]
Objects and vehicles[]
Synopsis[]
Open on Michelangelo performing stunts on a television set in Tokyo, Japan. He accidentally strikes a stuntman, dressed as a ninja, in the face with his nunchaku. The filming is stopped as Mikey rushes to the man to make sure he’s all right. The cameraman asks why he stopped and Mikey tells him he hit the man in the face. When you spend your life fighting ninja who want to kill you, it’s hard to suddenly pull your punches. Steve, the stuntman, quickly reminds Mikey that his ‘chucks are made of foam rubber. A sheepish Mikey acknowledges this and the director calls for everyone to go again.
Mikey muses on the nunchaku, thinking about how when you first pick them up, the toughest fight you’ll face is with yourself. When you start swinging them around, you will hit yourself just about everywhere you don’t want clonked with a chunk of flying wood. As he thinks about this, he leaves the studio and waves to the throngs of adoring fans before stepping into a waiting limo. As the limo drives through the streets of Tokyo, brilliantly lit billboards display Mikey’s image. Mikey goes on to think about the secret of the nunchaku and how you have to be able to beat the crud out of yourself day after day. He is something of a master, that’s how good a ninja he is.
In a lavish restaurant, Mikey is seated at the head of a table where he is entertaining a number of important people are guests. He tells a joke, speaking Japanese, and his guests burst out laughing. A waiter then approaches him to tell Mikey that the chef responsible for their meal would like to meet him. Mikey graciously shakes the waiter’s hand, takes a picture with him, and gushes about how it was the best meal of his life. He asks the guests to give the chef a round of applause.
It has been six months since Mikey became a superstar – the star of Japan’s hottest new TV series. He spends his days fighting make-believe ninjas and his nights being wined and dined across the city. People scream his name wherever he goes, all of them wanting to spend a minute with the world’s most famous turtle. Though he feels ridiculously adored, at the same time he feels so utterly alone. What he said to the chef was a lie, because this wasn’t the best meal he’s ever had. Not even close. He flashes back to the lair, where he is sitting on the ground with his brothers while they all enjoy pizza and each other’s company.
Back at his penthouse, Mikey thinks about how he used to sneak out after dinner to look for trouble, but never found much. Though the Foot Clan is based in Japan, things between them have been peaceful for over a year now. Because he’s so famous now, Mikey can’t even chase muggers, as they chase him to ask for an autograph. Then there is the paparazzi. These days, Mikey unwinds with frozen pizzas and old kung fu flicks. Seating on his couch, Mikey is practically asleep with an unfinished pizza on his lap, and he wonders how he got so old.
Then Mikey starts to feel sick. He has been buying pizzas from the same convenience store for weeks, but thinks he got hold of an expired one. Suddenly, a bright light shines through the picture windows and Mikey thinks it drones sent by paparazzi. He is startled to see people entering the room and wonders what is happening. Clutching his stomach, he asks them to turn down the lights, but one of them hits him with a Kanabō, knocking him down onto his coffee table.
Mikey looks up to see one of the intruders standing over him and begins to think they are not photographers. Rising to his feet, Mikey grabs his nunchaku and tells the intruders that they picked the wrong penthouse. He then leaps into the air, shouts "Super Mutant Turtle Power Go!" and strikes - only to realize that he grabbed the foam rubber weapons. The intruder flings him into his television. Mikey gets up and charges even though he can't see straight. He realizes he's been drugged and it was probably in the pizza, which he considers a new low. His attempts to fight back are easily dealt with and his penthouse is becoming trashed. It suddenly dawns on Mikey that he's about to die. He's gotten soft and stupid, then thinks maybe he was always stupid but it used to be that he had the protection of his brothers. As he hits a display case, Mikey thinks he'd give anything to hear their annoying insults again.
From off to the side, he hears Leonardo's voice congratulating him for making everything around him a joke. "Leo" leaps and grabs him by the throat, pointing a katana at Mikey's head. Then Raphael strikes him hard across the face, saying he bets Mikey wishes he'd listened to them when they tried to teach him to grow up. Next up is Donatello, who strikes him with his bō and says he's still not taking things seriously, even when he's groveling on the floor about to die. The three brothers stand over him and Leo says that as a TV ninja he brought shame to Clan Hamato. Raph says his show isn't even good and Don mocks him for laughing with his laugh breath. He tells Mikey to be better in the next life.
To master the nunchaku, one must learn to take a beating. He rises and begins to fight back, pounding first "Leo" and then "Don" before "Raph" drives a sai into his gut. Mikey hits the floor and vomits, which makes him feel better. With his vision clearing and the fog lifting from his mind, Mikey reaches for his diamond encrusted nunchaku, noting that he hasn't actually been fighting his brothers. He has become used to the spotlight, so these killers can't blind him with their spotlight or the lights on their clothes. With a grin, Mikey puts on a pair of sunglasses and attacks. He takes one of the ninja down and turns to meet the other two, finding that he still wants to rage at his brothers. He blames them for driving the family apart and then abandoning him.
Mikey puts another ninja out of commission and turns to face the third. He thinks about how he turned himself into the biggest star in the world all by himself. Mikey launches himself at the ninja and drives him through a wall. As he stands over the fallen ninja, Mikey thinks that all his brothers would see is plain old... From behind him, someone calls his name and Mikey turns to see Raph. His brother tells him that he came as fast as he could, but it seems the Foot Clan was faster. Raph starts to tell him something, but Mikey suddenly strikes him.
Outside, a pair of Foot helicopters hover just outside the penthouse windows. The Foot communicate to say that a second Hamato brother has been sighted and reinforcements are arriving. More Foot Ninja enter the penthouse and are reminded that the orders from New York are clear. No Turtle gets out alive. As the Foot flood into the penthouse, they go unnoticed. Mikey is thinking how a few minutes ago, when he thought he was fighting his brothers, he was poisoned out of his mind. But now, he knows exactly what he's doing - and launches himself at Raph.