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Some TMNT stuff really isn't for little kids. |
Solicit[]
In the wake of the events of TMNT: The Armageddon Game-Opening Moves, Oroku Saki (the Shredder) has fully revealed himself to the Turtles. In order to counter the newest evil machinations of the Pantheon's trickster god, the Rat King, he seeks an alliance with the sons of his former archenemy, the late Master Splinter. But are the Turtles prepared to join forces with their merciless executioner from a past life? And is the Shredder truly ready to be redeemed? No matter the case, the Armageddon Game is fast approaching, and the only place to find the answers to these burning questions is in Northampton!
Appearing in #131[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
- Alopex (flashback only)
- Bebop/Rocksteady/Jasper Barlow gestalt nightmare entity
- Bishop/Old Hob/Alopex gestalt nightmare entity
- Pepperoni ((Flashback}}
- Silas/Ivan/Karai/Rita gestalt nightmare entity
- Slash/orphan gestalt nightmare entity
Locations[]
- New York City (flashback only)
- Church (flashback only)
- Northampton, Massachusetts
Synopsis[]
Oroku Saki takes the Ninja Turtles to the woods in Northampton, Massachusetts to train for the upcoming threat of Rat King's Armageddon Game.
Before. Saki and Leonardo tell the rest of the Splinter Clan about Saki's warning and proposal.
Back to the present; Saki lounges by a campfire with the Turtles, introducing them to the concept of the kuji-kiri, a series of nine hand gestures which were taught to a small handful of ninja in Japan for use on specific missions exclusively, due to their danger in drawing on powers equal to black magic.
In the morning, Saki shows off the principle of Rin, strength, shattering an aging tree with one blow. He goes on to stand weightlessly on a tree limb, shatter rock, turn invisible, and breathe fire.
At night, the other Turtles are in a tree house, while Raphael flashes back to their meeting with Saki that led here. Alopex refuses to have any part of anything with her oppressor, and despite Leo's orders as chūnin and Raphael's attempt to reason with her, she quits the Clan. In the present, Raph holds her bandana and is interrupted by a pair of glowing eyes. It is a four-legged beast with a demonic Old Hob face, and Jonathan Bishop growing out of its back. As it taunts him, he stabs it with a sai and it turns into mush, before transforming into an apparition of Alopex. He runs a sai through "her" and walks away.
Michelangelo wakes up in the tree house and notices Raph isn't there. He goes to look for him and sees what he thinks is Raph, but it ends up being Slash as a corpse, complete with buzzing flies. He springs to life with the Children of Saint Robert's Orphanage's heads growing from his plastron and attacks Mikey. They demand that Mike fight back, but he refuses. The entity dissolves into a puddle.
Now Donatello is in the forest, running from a Rocksteady/Bebop fusion. They rip off his carapace and proceed to beat him. Don proceeds to make the "rin" hand sign and forms a blade of chi, cutting the Bebop/Rocksteady in half. Jasper Barlow appears in one of the sectioned halves and pleads with Don, telling him that he tried to "fix" him, but Don blasts him with chi.
Jennika wakes up to find herself being attacked by a being with the heads of Silas, Ivan, Karai, and Rita. She protests to have it get off of her, and chokes the Karai and Rita heads, after which it dissolves.
The following morning, the Turtles discuss their encounters. Leo reveals he didn't have one. Raph asks if all of this is still supposed to lead to them being ready for the Rat King, and Saki professes that he hopes, as everything Rat King is doing is far beyond what they've ever experienced before. Leo asks if Kitsune is involved, and Saki declines her involvement. Leo asks Saki why he didn't have a thin place vision, and Saki says it's because of his connection to black magic. The "Dark Leonardo" that Kitsune and Saki conjured up wasn't made from nothing; he was borne from what was already inside Leonardo all along. In order to prepare for Rat King's assault, Leo will need to summon his dark self from within him, and not conquer him, but harness and become him.
Notes and trivia[]
- Leonardo incorrectly gives his rank as chūnin rather than jōnin