Witches Warning! is a Fleetway comic, published in TMHT Adventures #39 in July 13–July 26, 1991.
Appearing in Witches Warning![]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
Species[]
- Disembodied alien brain
- Human
- Mutant rhinoceros
- Mutant turtle
- Mutant warthog
Objects and vehicles[]
- Bō
- Flying broomsticks
- Grenade
- Katana
- Trans-Dimensional Portal
- Sai
Locations[]
Summary[]
On a dark night, during a heavy storm, Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady take a short cut through Central Park to get back to the Technodrome. Shredder curses Splinter and the Turtles, having been defeated by them again. A sudden fog springs up, which the two mutants find to be spooky, but Shredder states that he’s not afraid of bad weather. As he’s speaking, the fog separates him from Bebop and Rocksteady, who turn off in the wrong direction.
Shredder notices that they’re missing, but figures they’ll catch up eventually. The fog begins to thin and hearing voices, he goes in that direction thinking to find the errant mutants. Instead, Shredder encounters three hideous witches stirring a large cauldron filled with bubbling green liquid. He tells them to let him pass because he’s in a hurry, but one of them calls out that she and her sisters have a message for him – the Shredder.
He asks how they know who he is, and one of them explains that they are witches and all three know about Oroku Saki. With a twitch of her fingers, one of the witches makes an image of Krang appear. She calls it ‘image projection’ and creates another of Bebop and Rocksteady. The next image they produce is of Splinter and when asked what manner of being he is, Shredder says the rat-like ninja sensei, Splinter, is his hated enemy. The witch next creates an image of the four Turtles and says she believes they are also his enemies.
Growing impatient, Shredder demands they tell him what they want with him. A picture appears inside the cauldron and the witch says the all-seeing waters show the future. It is a picture of Shredder, sitting on the street, beaten, alone and begging for coins. Shredder can’t believe this will happen, though he stammers when he says victory over the Turtles is very close. One of the witches cackles that it’s as close a her winning a beauty contest. The witches tell Shredder that Krang is the reason for his constant defeats. Another tells him that he’ll never win unless he disposes of the brain creature.
After Shredder departs, the witches consult their list to see who is next to receive a dire warning. One of the witches reads off the name “Macbeth” back in the year 1040. Then she spots something else on the list and calls her sister witches’ attention to it. They realize that they’ve made a bit of a mistake and lament that they’ll never get their witches licenses.
Soon after, Shredder reaches the Technodrome. He has decided that the hags were telling the truth and he needs to get rid of Krang. The problem is figuring out how because doing the deed himself would be too risky. Just as he decides he needs some dimwitted assassins, Bebop and Rocksteady arrive, having somehow found their way back. A short time later, Shredder takes Krang to a room in the Technodrome, telling him he has a surprise. In the room is a swing on which Bebop is standing as Rocksteady pushes him. Shredder says that this is his idea of a way to get his out of shape mutants fit.
Suddenly, the ropes snap and Bebop begins to fly down towards Krang, just as Shredder planned. Unfortunately, Krang manages to dodge out of the way and Bebop plows into Shredder instead. Krang then bans that sort of training and Shredder decides it’s time for part two of ‘Operation Get Krang’. Later, Krang sees that Bebop and Rocksteady are now playing ping pong and he congratulates Shredder for giving them something safe to do. What he doesn’t notice is that the ping pong ball is actually a grenade. Krang calls the mutants weaklings and orders them to strike the ball harder. Rocksteady does so and knocks the pin out of the grenade, although he thinks he simply broke the ball.
Shredder ducks out of the way and the grenade explodes. He begins cheering his own success but then see that Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady are still alive. Krang tells him the ‘ball’ rolled under the table and went off, saving them all. He blames the two mutants for the exploding ball. After this, Shredder decides to consult the Technodrome’s files of fiendish plans. Inside the “Fiendish Plans Room”, Shredder goes through draws filled with ideas and finds them all wanting. None are good enough and he tells himself he should just go back to fighting the Turtles. Then an idea strikes him – the Turtles can do his dirty work for him!
The Turtles are in their lair enjoying some pizza when the phone rings. Since it’s Leonardo’s turn at phone answering duty, he does so. Shredder, disguising his voice, informs Leo that this is an anonymous tip-off and that today, Krang plans to attack New York. When Leo asks how he found out about the plans, Shredder hangs up. Leo turns to the other Turtles and says that some dude with the weird name “Anne Anonymous Tipoff” called. He tells the group to grab their weapons and disguises because they are taking a little trip to the Technodrome.
Meanwhile, back at the Technodrome, Shredder sneaks away as he expects the Turtles to attack at any moment. Inside, Rocksteady reports to Krang that there is no sign of Shredder and he seems to have vanished. Krang finds that to be impossible because Shredder wouldn’t work for him if he could do such tricks. A unwelcome voice cuts in to say that if Shred-Head had any sense, he wouldn’t work for Krang at all.
Krang can’t believe that it’s the Turtles and wants to know how they got in. Raphael tells him that someone left the front door open. He then demands to know about the planned attack on New York. Krang says he has no idea what he’s talking about and doesn’t care as he sends his Footbots to attack the Turtles. Michaelangelo yawns and says that it’s wrecking robot time. The following battle is very short as the Turtles destroy all of the Footbots. Krang shouts for Bebop and Rocksteady to protect him, but as they are outnumbered, the two mutants flee.
Facing Krang, Leo says he’s their prisoner, they just have to figure out what to do with him. Donatello calls his brothers’ attention to a sign posted on the controls to the transdimensional portal. It reads “Throw Krang back to Dimension X then smash up all the controls! Signed, A. Friend.”
Don wonders if the note is from the anonymous tipster. Leo says he doesn’t know, but the suggestion is a good one. He, Raph and Mikey toss Krang into the portal and the Don uses his bō to trash the control panel. After putting their disguises back on, the Turtles leave the Technodrome. From a nearby hiding place, Shredder watches them go and gloats that with Krang gone, the Technodrome is his to command.
The following day, the Turtles walk through an alley, having picked up some pizzas. Shredder, Bebop, Rocksteady and a contingent of Footbots lay in wait for them. When the Turtles are near enough, Shredder yells for the attack. The Turtles throw off their disguises and fight back, easily taking down the attackers, much to Shredder’s surprise. Shredder realizes the battle is lost and calls for a retreat. During the confusion, Shredder becomes separated from the others and finds himself in Central Park once more.
The freaky fog appears again and for that Shredder is happy because he wants to have a talk with the hags. He locates the three witches and they ask if all went well. He tells them no, that even with Krang out of the way, he still ended up losing. One of the witches explains that they are only trainees and that they gave him the wrong message. A second witch says that the right message was to advise him to give up being a villain and become a hero instead.
Because it was their fault, the witches say they must restore everything to the way it was before. Chanting a spell, they make Krang reappear in midair. His walker touches the scalding cauldron liquid and he shrieks at the heat, bouncing out of it and straight at Shredder. Flat on his back on the ground, with Krang on top of him, Shredder groans. Krang asks if he’s happy to see him back and then tells Shredder he’ll have to carry him to the Technodrome. The witches mount their flying broomsticks and take off, setting a course for witch school, as they now realize they are not yet ready to pass their tests.