Chapter 1: The Bank Robbery
Shredder sat silently on his throne, reviewing the recent turn of events in his mind. Even though the Kraang had managed to take over the entire city of New York, those foul mutants that called themselves the turtles had managed to stop them. No matter what he did, they always came out on top. Shredder pounded a fist onto the armrest of his throne in fury.
Tigerclaw, the second-in-command of the Foot Clan, came in and knelt before him. Behind his metal helmet, Shredder smiled. Tigerclaw had been an assassin/bounty hunter before being hired full-time by Shredder, and had proven himself a loyal warrior time and time again.
Now the big cat spoke with a growl. "Master Shredder, five strangers are here to speak with you."
"Send them in."
Tigerclaw stood up, and moved behind Shredder's throne. Eight of Shredder's Foot-bot soldiers took up positions, four on each side of the walkway leading up to Shredder. In walked five strange-looking men, closely flanked by Foot-bots. The first man wore a dark green cloak hood over his iron-masked face of which his mouth and large, yellow-orange eyes were exposed through slits. The second had a golden helmet with curved horns, and clothes that looked like they were from another world. He carried a golden spear. The third wore a Nazi uniform and had a red-colored face, with the skin stretched out over it to make it look like a skull. The fourth had a red and purple suit and floated on a metal platform. The fifth wore a white lab coat partially covering a metal belt which had four long mechanical arms attached to it.
"Who are you, and why do you enter my presence?" Shredder asked.
"Forgive us, my lord Shredder," said the metal-faced man , "but we have come on an errand of business."
"State your errand."
"Your recent campaign to take over New York City has come to our attention," the metal man said. "Loki here actually attempted that same feat a few years ago with a different alien species. Ever heard of the Chitauri?" Shredder did not respond. "No? Thought not. Anyway, he was even less successful than you were."
"And I am an Asgardian," the man with the golden helmet said. "To say that a mortal has bested me in strategy is a bold statement. Were these different circumstances, I would not believe such a statement."
"Combining your efforts with ours, we want to pit our skills together and launch a full-scale invasion of New York," said the metal-faced man. "With the combination of our armies, we can crush anyone who gets in our way. Particularly Spider-Man and those cursed Avengers."
"I have also heard that some vigilantes have been causing you trouble," said the man on the metal platform. "Specifically, four turtle brothers and their rat father. I have no love for heroes of any sorts, particularly mutants. I am a mutant myself, you know. Join us, and these ninja pretenders, along with all our enemies, will fall."
Shredder smiled evilly. "It seems we have a common enemy."
"At last, Lord Shredder, we can introduce ourselves properly," the metal-faced man said. He bowed slightly. "My name is Dr. Doom."
The ninja turtles were having a training session in the underground dojo of their secret home in the sewers. Their mentor, Master Splinter, had suggested that they practice a little bit. It had been several weeks since New York had been freed from the Kraang invasion, and crime was at an all-time low. They hadn't seen hide nor hair nor tentacle from any of their bad guys in weeks. Even the Purple Dragons were a no-show. And all of them were getting bored.
The turtles were having a special match against their father. All four of them would be competing together against Splinter. The only rule: each of them would only be allowed to attack once. This exercise, Splinter said, would help them make the best of a single opportunity.
As his sons gathered around him with weapons drawn, Splinter began the match. "Hajime!"
Donatello opened up with a spinning jump kick that Splinter easily ducked under. As Donnie landed, Michelangelo aimed his nunchuck at Splinter's shoulder. "Gotcha, sensei!" he cried joyfully.
But Splinter caught Mikey's weapon and countered the attack with a blow to the chin that sent the turtle reeling. "Not today, Michelangelo!"
"Watch your back, sensei!" Leonardo jumped onto his father's back and put the rat in a wrestling lock.
Splinter flipped his son off of his back and onto the floor of the dojo. "Watch the floor, Leonardo!"
"Whuff!" Leo grunted as his shell hit the floor. Now Raphael made his move, charging towards Splinter. But the rat turned and knocked his son down with a sweep of his tail. With all four turtles down, Splinter declared the match over and retired to his quarters to meditate.
"Dude, that was totally epic!" Mikey said. "I think he knocked all the pizza stains out of my shell." He stood up, rubbing his jaw.
Suddenly they all heard a commotion at the main entrance. April and Casey had arrived with the turtles' most favorite treat: pizza.
"All right!" All four brothers dove in hungrily. They were always up for some pizza. "Mmmf! Mmmf! Thanks guys!" they managed to say between pizza slices.
"Eat up!" said Casey Jones. "You're gonna need the extra fuel on patrol today."
At least three times a week, the turtles patrolled the streets of New York City in search of their missing sister, Karai. She had been accidentally mutated into a snake, and Splinter was concerned for her safety.
"Turn on the TV!" Mikey said, diving for the remote. "Maybe we can get to see the marathon of Crognard the Barbarian!" Crognard was the turtles' new favorite show, their others being Space Heroes and Super Robo Mecha Force Five.
The TV was tuned to Channel 6, and there was an important news bulletin on from Channel 6 News. "We interrupt this program to bring you this special bulletin from Channel 6 News," the TV said as a flashing Channel 6 News icon filled the screen. A dark-skinned man appeared on screen.
"This is Carlos Chiang O'Brien Gambe here," the man said. "Suprisingly shocking events going on in downtown New York, as a man calling himself Shocker is holed up in the bank." The mini-screen next to O'Brien's head showed a scene from the bank, where a man in a yellow and brown costume was standing with his hands on his hips inside the building. "He seems to be able to shoot destructive vibrations from his gloves," Gambe continued, "and there are several people being held inside the bank. So for all you people thinking about withdrawing money, I would suggest using a credit card for your purchases."
As the special bulletin ended and Crognard began, Raph, Donnie and Leo huddled up. "So do you think we should go check it out?" asked Leo.
"How?" asked Raph. "Unless you plan to walk. The Party Wagon got lost, remember? And those Kraang wrecked the Shellraiser."
Donnie cleared his throat, and all present turned to look. "I might be able to help you out there, Raph," said Donnie with a smug smile. He raised a remote control and pushed a button, causing the garage doors to open. Inside was the Shellraiser, looking good as new.
"I give you . . . the Shellrasier Mark II!" Donnie said proudly.
As his brothers stared in amazement, Donnie continued, "The Shellraiser Mark II is just as good as the old one, with a few slight modifications. It has all the old weapons: a retractable top-mounted garbage cannon, a sewer lid shooter and bumper-mounted crushing jaws. Its armor is nearly impenetrable, its weapons are devastating, and its wheels crush Foot-bots underneath them."
Raph spoke up. "I take back everything I said about you not being awesome. Because this is TOTALLY AWESOME!"
"Yeah," agreed Leo. "Good work, Don."
Several minutes later, the Shellraiser Mark II pulled up to the back of the bank. The turtles jumped out and climbed up the fire escape, entering the building through an open window. There they crouched on the balcony, looking at the scene below.
Inside the Shocker man raised his arms, blasting through the bank safe. "All right, you robots!" he said. "Get in there and get that gold!"
A team of Foot-bots started removing gold from the vault and taking through a hole in the wall outside to a white van. "I didn't know this guy was Foot," said Leo. "Is he some kind of new mutant?"
"Ooh! Ooh!" piped up Mikey. "As Official Name-giver, I will dub him with the name . . ." He paused for dramatic effect. ". . . Vibro-man."
"Pretty sure his name is Shocker," said Raph.
Mikey frowned. "Well, now his name is Vibro-man!"
Suddenly three figures appeared at the main entrance to the bank. One of them was dressed in red and blue, and hung upside-down from a sticky white rope on the ceiling. Another had a shiny metal suit with hand and feet repulsors, which he used to hover above the ground. The third was a giant green monster with purple pants and black hair.
"These guys look like they came out of a comic book or something!" said Raph.
"Stand down, Shocker!" said the metal man. "This doesn't have to get ugly."
"Spider-Man!" Shocker said. "Glad you could make it! And I see you brought a few friends. Let the welcoming party begin!" He charged up his fists and fired vibrations at them.
As the superheroes charged Shocker, Leo spotted several people in trouble. "There are people down there!" He leaped over the edge of the balcony onto a wooden desk. A man stood on the desk, surrounded by four Foot-bots and scared to death. "Help!" he said. "These guys have me surrounded. I can't get down!"
"Don't worry, sir," said Leo. "I'll get you out of here." He drew his katanas and sliced the Foot-bots to pieces. With his guards gone, the man took off screaming for the exit.
Meanwhile, Mikey and Donnie were trying to help a woman who was trapped underneath a pile of debris. "Get me out of here!" she screamed.
"Please calm down, ma'am!" Donnie said as he and his brother cleared away the junk she was buried under. Once she was out, they pointed her towards the exit and she ran off.
Raph was trying to help a terrified man get out of his office. "I can't get the door open!" said the man. "The lock's jammed or something. Help!"
Raph had been trying to jimmy the lock with his sai and get the door open, but this hadn't worked. Finally, abandoning all formality, he kicked the door open with all the force his legs could muster. He then stepped aside as the man bolted for the front doors.
With the civilians safe, the turtles dove down on the Foot-bots loading up the van. Each Foot-bot, upon the arrival of the turtles, activated their four weaponized arms, but even this could not make them a match for turtle power. Soon all twelve Foot-bots lay in pieces.
By now the battle was over. Shocker had been tied up by Spider-Man's webs and lay helpless at the feet of the green monster. The guy in the iron suit walked over. "Always good to fight alongside a fellow hero," he said, extending his metal-clad hand. Leo took it, and gripped it in a firm handshake.
"Leo, people are coming in," said Donnie. "We gotta move."
Leo nodded, and the turtles hustled out of the bank through the window as news reporters and policemen streamed into the building.
