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Some TMNT stuff really isn't for little kids. |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: IDW 20 / 20 is an installment of a weekly series from IDW Publishing, where the publisher looks at one of their properties 20 years in the future from the current issues, to celebrate the company's 20th anniversary.
Solicit[]
Meet the Turtles of tomorrow in this adventure set 20 years in the future! The Utrom Civil War rages across Earth. When news of a backup Technodrome threatens hundreds of millions of innocent lives, it’s up to the Turtles to do what they do best—save the world.
Long ago the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stopped Krang from terraforming the Earth. Now, twenty years later, Krang's dark legacy continues... will the older, more jaded Turtles be able to save the world again?
Appearing in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: IDW 20 / 20[]
Major characters[]
Minor Characters[]
Species[]
- Mutant Lion
- Mutant turtle
- Protoceratops
- Triceraton
- Utrom
- Robot
Objects and vehicles[]
Locations[]
Summary[]
Michelangelo begins narrating the story's beginning: the Utrom civil war is over. Europe is ravaged. And the wrong side won. Cut to Mikey as he says that the Utroms planned on using the new Technodrome to terraform Europe - and then the world. Raphael steps into the picture to say that they knew the Utroms would fail because the world's most fearsome fighting team was on their way. A grinning Mikey says that Utroms may be tough, but they're no match for ....
General Sally Pride and her Pride fighters. Sally is seen leading a group of fighters, comprised of aliens including Triceratons, over the lifeless bodies of numerous Utroms. Cut to Leonardo, who asks if he has to do this and when he’s told that no one is forcing him, he emphatically states he’s not going to do this. He then vanishes and Raph calls Mikey’s attention to the fact that “mister fancy warrior monk” is gone again into his astral plane thing. He then curses and says that he knows Leo can still hear him. Mike continues his story, saying that while Sally and her people took care of things in Berlin, they were on a different mission eight hundred miles away.
In their flying Turtle Van, the three Turtles and Pepperoni, now grown, approach Italy. Mike mentions pizza and the regret that they probably won’t have time for a slice. He says his teenage self would be disappointed in him. Leo says that regret is a luxury. Raph comments that they’ll be feeling real luxurious if this mission goes wrong. They land in an alley and Raph asks a heavily armed and armored Pepperoni if she’s ready to do this. They are spotted by a group of Utroms who say that they are here for the other one. In his narration, Mikey says that they were wrong. Their brother Donnie had gone in as a mediator to try to fix things with the Utroms. But the talks collapsed, the bad guys won, and Donnie was trapped behind enemy lines. However, they weren’t in Italy for him.
After his capture, Don managed to get one last message to them. He told them of a backup Technodrome and they had to destroy it or there would be death, destruction and the course of history changed. They were there to destroy the backup Technodrome. Saving Don’s life was secondary – if he was even still alive.
The Turtles battle through a heavy onslaught of Utrom fighters. Mikey tells Leo that once the first wave is subdued, he can start his search. Back to Mikey’s narration, he explains that he didn’t want to take over, but after Leo started to withdraw into himself to explore his mystic side, they had to let him step down as leader. He had always taken the weight of the world on his shoulders and it started to crush him. Afraid of losing Leo, Mikey took over the job of leader. He has to admit that other than the constant danger and stress and the ongoing threat of losing his brothers, being the leader of the team is a pretty easy gig.
Mikey explains that he leans pretty heavily on Raph’s tactical know-how. It was his idea to land in a narrow alley, to let the Utroms come to them and take them on a few at a time. With the first wave defeated, the Turtles prepare for the second wave of attackers. Leo closes his eyes and fades into the mystical realm. Mikey’s commentary includes the fact that his brother’s mystical powers work as some great infiltration techniques. Mikey tells Pepperoni to make things tougher on the Utroms, so she opens fire with her mounted lasers. A pair of Utroms in flying harnesses spray at pink chemical at them, catching Raph in the net-like goop. Leo suddenly appears and slices Raph free, saying he knows he should be searching the city, but he thought Raph could use a little help first. The duo fight side-by-side for a bit, and then Leo fades away again.
Leonardo begins searching everywhere in the city. The Utroms spot him periodically, but he vanishes before they can react. Having located one of their control rooms, he attacks. After taking out several Utroms, he grabs one and points the tip of his katana at the Utrom’s face. Leo demands to know where the Technodrome is, but the Utrom says that no one here is going to tell him anything. As Leo fades away again, he expresses the hope that his brothers are doing better.
In the alley, the Turtles and Pepperoni find themselves surrounded. When Mikey comments that they aren’t doing so great, Raph says they’re doing fine as long as there aren’t any… He looks up to see dozens of Utroms in flying harnesses. They suddenly begin attacking the other Utroms and a confused Mikey says he thought the civil war was over. A newcomer tells him that wars are never really over. Standing at the mouth of the alley is Donatello. His brothers are happy to see him and Raph says he guesses being the “unofficial ambassador of mutantkind” keeps him busy. Don acknowledges that and adds he’s also organized a massive breakout of political prisoners while forming them into an armed resistance. Mikey says that more importantly, does he know where the Technodrome is. Donnie indicates the Florence Cathedral and asks “isn’t it obvious”?
Just as he says this, the Cathedral is demolished when the Technodrome starts moving, its primary weapon blasting the city around it. The Turtles react in shock, and then Leo appears. He points at the Technodrome and says he found it. Cut to Donatello, as he begins explaining that everything was going according to his plan. His people had managed to install an explosive device inside the Technodrome, but they didn’t have time to arm it. So they broke out of jail and waited for his brothers to show up – for Leo to show up.
Leo begins walking towards the Technodrome. A group of Utroms line up in front of the machine and open fire on him, but he vanishes, appears long enough to smash an Utrom, and then disappears again. The Utroms try to figure out where he is and one of them looks at his computer, stating that he’s inside the Technodrome. As Leo arms the explosive, his brothers and Pepperoni are running to escape the blast radius. Mikey asks if it’s working and Don says yes, they just need to… before he can continue, a flying Utrom grabs Don’s belt strap and lifts him into the air. The Utrom tells him that once you’re a prisoner of the Utrom empire, you stay a – He is interrupted by Leo, who appears behind him and destroys the flying unit on his harness. Leo and Don ride the Utrom to the ground, letting its body cushion their fall. Don thanks Leo and asks if he was able to set off the… A huge explosion that completely destroys the Technodrome answers that question.
Cut to the narration. Don says that was pretty much it for the battle of Florence. Once the Technodrome was gone, the Utrom army began to abandon the city. The resistance pursued, leaving only a few wounded soldiers behind. Mikey says that a quick call to General Pride confirmed that her mission was also successful. At the scene of the fight, the Turtles celebrate that the Technodrome and backup Technodrome have been destroyed. However, their joy was short lived. An injured Utrom calls them fools for their obscene overconfidence. He says this Technodrome wasn’t the backup, it was a backup. All over the world, other Technodromes blast out of their hiding places. The Utrom asks if they really thought the Utroms would retreat so readily if this was the last hope for their glorious new homeworld.
Return to the Turtles in Italy as they climb into the Turtle Van. The narration turns out to be a video diary they are making at Donatello’s suggestion. They are flying into their next big fight; one they likely won’t survive and Don wanted them to record the history of the battle. To record the history of how Europe was lost. Mikey, however, doesn’t think they need these recordings. The forces of good are mobilizing. The Pride fighters, the new Earth Protection Force, the Triceraton army, Harold Lilja’s robo-battalion, and more. They are spreading across Europe, hitting as many of the Technodrome sites as they can find.
Mikey says that the odds look hopeless, but they’ve been fighting against hopeless odds for twenty years. They have a lot more victories than losses. He tells his brothers he doesn’t know about them, but he feels like he has another twenty years in him. He asks what they say. Raph says to make it forty, and Don agrees and asks what Leo says. Leo slowly appears and says there is no place he’d rather be. Mikey says, “All right, then… Let’s get started.” Wearing parachute packs, the group, including Pepperoni, skydive straight for the Eiffel Tower.