Solicit[]
When villains start to mysteriously escape Arkham, Batman seeks to track them down. What happens when he discovers that they have left Gotham City completely... and entered the TMNT's New York City?
Appearing in The Face of Two Worlds[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
- Aaron Cash (debut)
- Alfred Pennyworth
- Footbot Soldiers
- Harley Quinn
- The Kraang (flashback)
- The Joker
- Two-Face
Main locations, vehicles, and accessories[]
Synopsis[]
New York City. A man carrying a duffel bag filled with money runs down a dark alley. He keeps looking over his shoulder, so when a figure drops into the darkness in front of him, he is surprised enough to drop the bag. The shadowed figure tells the man to do him a favor. He wants the man to tell all his friends about him. The man demands to know what he his – and the mutant turtle Michelangelo steps into the light. Mikey says he’s super hungry and asks if the man knows if there’s a pizza place nearby.
The man passes out as Mikey goes on to state that he is vengeance, he is the night. Raphael appears and makes fun of Mikey for talking to an unconscious man. Mikey sets the man down, lamenting at how many times he practiced those lines. Donatello chuckles and says the man fainted around the time Mikey wanted him to refer to him as “vengeance”. Still in the shadows, an unamused Leonardo orders the Turtles to scatter.
Gotham City. Against the backdrop of a full moon, dirigibles can be seen shining their lights on the city below. Batman drops through the broken skylight of a large, abandoned home. He shines a penlight down the long hallway, which is in disrepair. A broadcast plays in the background, talking of casualties, bombs dropping on the eastern border and civilians huddling in the homes as they try to survive.
A TV show voice sounds from within the house, calling someone the prettiest one of all. As Batman makes his way through the house, he knocks out two henchmen. Arriving in a large room, he calls out to Harvey, telling him it’s time to go home. Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face, is watching a “My Little Pony” show on a large screen television. Another smaller television is playing the news. Two-Face turns off both televisions and spins around. He tells Batman that he’s been home – a different one, a second home.
Batman says he’s not making sense and he needs to return to the asylum. Two-Face continues as though Batman hadn’t interrupted. He says this was a world without Two-Face, without Harvey Dent, without Batman. Without even Gotham. Batman asks how he got out of Arkham and where the rest of the missing inmates are. Two-Face accuses him of not listening. He walks to the smaller TV set and says that he’s already told Batman the answer – that they went down the rabbit hole. As he says this, he draws a triangle in the dust on the TV screen.
In the lair, this same triangle symbol appears on Donatello’s laptop screen, along with the words “Active”. He says that it’s a definite red flag and calls out for the others to take a look at it. Grinning, Mikey says they don’t want to interrupt Leo’s lecture, though April O'Neil is the only one who seems to be paying attention. Raph is busy playing an arcade game. Leo is going on about how ninjas operate in secrecy and that even if they did take down that bank robber, they can’t risk public stunts. April has stopped listening and is looking over Don’s shoulder. She tells the others to stop squabbling and check out what Don has found. Raph looks at the symbol and asks if that’s what he thinks it is. Don says yes, he thinks so. There’s definitely been portal use and it’s still active. It’s The Kraang. Mikey starts fussing about everything always being serious. Raph agrees he doesn’t like it either, but if there’s a Kraang portal open, then they have to bust some alien brains. Leo states that it’s part of their code, what Master Splinter taught them.
At Arkham Asylum, Batman investigates Harvey Dent’s cell. He finds the triangle symbol on the cell wall and takes a scraping of the pinkish coating on the bricks. The voices of a pair of employees coming towards the cell draw his attention. An orderly and security guard, Aaron Cash, are talking about how Batman has brought back Two-Face and he’s now being processed. So far, he’s the only escapee to be returned, though no one knows how they got out. The pair of orderlies enter the cell, which is empty, and prepare to give it a cleaning.
Meanwhile, the Turtles and April walk through thigh deep water in what Raph calls the creepiest corner of the New York City sewer system. Don tells him it’s where the energy trail leads. April locates the portal, spotting the triangle symbol on a wall. Leo urges everyone to be on their guard, because if something came through the portal, it’s nearby. A frightened Mikey says he doesn’t like this, and then he’s suddenly jerked underwater. He struggles back to the surface and yells he doesn’t like this even more but is pulled below the surface again. Raphael leaps, grabbing for Mikey’s hand, but misses him. Suddenly, mud is thrown onto Leo and April’s flashlights. They work to clean them even as Raph asks for a little light.
Then Don looks over and sees “Mikey”. He uses the light to illuminate Mikey, who has a strange look on his face. Don asks if he’s okay, and as Mikey’s face melts, he says he’s fine and never been better. The definitely not Mikey transforms into Clayface, the shape-shifting villain. He immediately douses April and the Turtles with mud. Using his katana, Leo slices through the mud “arms” to free the others, even as Clayface demands to know who they are and why they brought him here. Leo reminds him that he’s the one attacking them.
Raph prepares to throw down with him, but then the real Mikey calls out “Hey, mudbutt!” This angers Clayface, who states his name and calls Mikey a little punk. Mikey calls him mudbutt again and taunts him by saying his dad was fertilizer and his mom was a puddle. Thoroughly angered, Clayface rushes at him, following him into the room with the portal. Clayface turns one hand into a sledgehammer and tries to pound Mikey. Don notices that the water seems to be dissolving him. He asks Raph to give him a boost up to a nearby pipe as Clayface tries to strike Mikey. He shouts at Mikey to stop calling him that and then Don yells that they’ll call him all washed up. He opens the pipe valve and a huge spray of water hits Clayface. The force of the water shoves Clayface back through the portal.
Alfred enters the Batcave with a covered tray. Batman is seated at his computer station and Alfred asks if he could spare some time for a late-night dinner. Batman tells him not right now. Alfred scolds him, saying he’s shocked after going through the effort to prepare a generous portion of nothing, which will now go to waste. He lifts the lid on an empty tray. Batman smiles. Alfred asks what the conundrum of the evening happens to be. Batman tells him it’s Two-Face. Though he’s back in Arkham, Batman can’t get over the way he was ranting. Then Batman found energy residue at his old cell which is like nothing from this planet.
He says he programmed the Batcomputer to locate any similar spikes in power. Suddenly the computer starts beeping and Batman leaps to his feet. As he rushes towards the exit, he tells Alfred to call in Robin and have him meet Batman at the coordinates on the screen. Whatever the energy is there’s more of it out there than he realized.
Chinatown. New York City. Footbots look down upon an alley already covered in the broken remains of others of their kind. As they enter the alley, they are greeted by the The Joker and Harley Quinn. The Joker tells them to take him to their leader.
To be continued…
Trivia[]
- Mega Man is on the game that Raphael was playing.