At the same time that the Turtles were planning their defense so was the Shredder planning his attack.
"Blast that city's news reporter!" he exclaimed in rage when he had seen April's newscast on the monitor alerting everyone to the defense. "Well, those pathetic humans may have their own weapons and means of defense but we have more on our side. Krang, bring out the Foot Soldiers!"
"I'd hate to admit this," said Krang. "But after so many battles with the Turtles already we have only a few dozen of them left over."
"Blast! That outnumbers us of the human army by many!" Shredder cursed.
"But then of course we could always make more," said Krang.
"But there's not enough time!" exclaimed the Shredder in agitation.
"Well, we could always clone them into a thousand or so," said Krang.
"Hmm... A most excellent idea I'll admit," said Shredder. "But we don't have a cloning device."
"We do now," said Krang. "I just had Rocksteady and Bebop break into the top secret lab of physics and steal their cloning ray for us." Krang held up a strange looking device which resembled a ray gun and a miniature satellite.
"Splendid!" exclaimed Shredder in triumph. "Now we'll an army of Foot Soldiers that outnumbers those measly humans! But we may need more allies for us to take care of the obstacles those wretched Turtles throw in our way," he added thoughtfully. "And I know just who to call first!"
He went to the trans-dimensional portal and set it to Dimension X. "General Tragg, this is Shredder! Come in!" he commanded. Almost immediately the face of a man sized rock creature wearing a general's helmet appeared on the screen.
"Hello, Master Shredder," greeted the General. "How may I be of assistance to you now?"
"You can gather all of your troops to be transported to Planet Earth where they may fight the humans and Turtles in a war I have planned that will decide the fate between me and my old enemies," said the Shredder.
"Very well, Master," General Tragg just before he signed off
Next Shredder relocated the trans-dimensional communicator and honed into another old servant of his.
"Slash! Come in, Slash, evil Mutant Turtle of Dimension X!" Then on the screen appeared the face of a rather deformed looking turtle that somewhat resembled the hero Turtles of Earth.
"What does Master want?" asked the evil Turtle.
"I want you to join me once again in my fight against your enemies, the Turtles of the Earth," the Shredder stated.
"Will there be any pizza in it for me?" demanded Slash.
"Certainly," said Shredder. "When we succeed in victory you can have all of the pizza, and all of the palm trees, you want."
"Then count me in!" exclaimed Slash, flashing his Shaolin swords.
The Shredder chuckled evilly as he tuned in the portal to a new location. This time the image of two mutant insects appeared on the screen. One resembled a giant ant and one looked like a large cockroach.
"Well, if it isn't the Shredder again!" exclaimed the cockroach. "What do you want with us now?"
"Anthrax, Scum-bug," said the Shredder addressing the mutant insects. "I want you both to aid me in a war being fought against the Turtles and also one who has turned against me and used to be one of your race."
"Really? Well, we'll gladly assist you in ridding the world of measly humans and turtles, as long as you promise we insects shall rule alongside you," said the mutant cockroach known as Scum-bug
"I promise," the Shredder lied. "You may take some credit and rule some of the world with me."
As soon as Shredder signed them off he tuned in the portal again, only this time it was to Planet Earth in a remote swamp in Florida.
"Leatherhead, come in! This is the Shredder speaking!"
Soon the face of a giant mutant alligator appeared on the screen "Shredder!" he said in Cajun accent. "What can I do for you?"
"You can help me to destroy the Turtles and take over the Earth. We are now facing our biggest war of all," said the Shredder.
"Hmm... Will I get to also destroy the Punk Frogs by any chance?" asked Leatherhead hopefully.
"Of course you will," assured the Shredder. "As I am sure they will no doubt be involved with the Turtles defense."
"Then count me in, my leader!" agreed Leatherhead.
"And now, last but not least, to call Lord Dregg for his assistance," said the Shredder as he tuned into his Dimension X superior on the portal.
The face of an alien Lord appeared on the screen. "Shredder! You had better have a good excuse for interrupting me in my planning to conquer the Earth!" Lord Dregg said irritably.
"I do indeed, My Lord," Shredder assured. "I want you to be my partner in conquering the Earth and we'll start with defeating the Turtles and all who is on their side. I also would appreciate if you would enlist many of your minions also."
"Hmm... Well, since we are each fighting for the same cause and have been for years I suppose now is the right time for us to join forces," said Lord Dregg agreeing. "I shall break all of my minions and servants out of prison and enlist them in our war."
"Excellent! You won't regret this, My Lord," the Shredder said.
"I had better not," said Lord Dregg as he signed off.
"Well that's everyone," said the Shredder rubbing his hands together.
"Hey, what about us, Boss?" asked Rocksteady, not wanting to be left out.
The Shredder looked at Rocksteady and Bebop and tried to think of how these two bumbling mutants could aid him in such a time.
"The best way you can help me is by staying out of the way!" the Shredder declared with annoyance.
"Aw, but Boss!" whined Rocksteady. "Don't you remember when we became Rhino Man and Mighty Hog and we used our super strength to run against the Turtles? Can't we do that again?"
"Hmm," the Shredder thought about this for a moment. "Well, I do suppose we'll need all the assistance we can get, so alright, you can have your super powers back."
"Gee, thanks, Boss!" exclaimed Bebop.
Back in the Turtles lair, Baxter had just finished mixing together the right chemicals to make the mutagen.
"All done. Now I promise you, Your Highness, this will not hurt your subjects at all," he said to the Rat King.
And so saying he poured the mutagen into an eye-dropper and placed a single drop onto one of the rats the Rat King had brought. Instantly the little rodent began to glow an eerie green color and then it began to grow taller and taller until it was fully as tall as Splinter and also stood up on its hind legs.
Baxter then repeated this with each one of the many rats until there was a full sized army of manlike mutant rats before them.
"Excellent!" said the Rat King well pleased. "Now with Splinter's training we can certainly defeat the Shredder."
"Come with me, my new students," said Splinter to the rats. "Let us begin your training in the fine art of ninjitsu."
While Splinter led the rats to where they would have enough room to train and practice. Baxter and Barney turned to the Turtles and handed them out their specially designed weapons.
"Now, before I forget," said Baxter. "Here are your weapons which we have enhanced just for this occasion. Donatello, here is a bow staff with a special secret weapon inside of it which will be unleashed should the bow be broken in two. Michelangelo, here are nun-chucks that hit as hard as heavy weight ones in spite of their minimal size. Raphael, here are sais' that through off electric sparks at the enemy. Last, but not least, Leonardo, here is a sword that is controlled by remote and should it get broken it will explode."
"Gosh, thanks Baxter, these should come in very handy," said Leonardo.
"And now," Baxter continued. "If you'll step out this way I'll show you the new high-tech machines me and Barney and Donatello have constructed for your benefit."
He lead them outside into the sewer tunnels and showed them first a large truck which resembled a garbage truck from the front.
"This one is for Muckman," said Baxter. "It will allow him to pick up garbage and then throw it onto his enemies."
"That is way cool!" said Muckman.
Next Baxter showed them another large truck with a set of giant sized metal boxing glove fists attached to it on all sides.
"This one is for Casey Jones," Baxter explained. "As I know he loves to break things this will enable him to break anything that comes in his path and also to knock out his enemies."
"This is just what I always wanted! It's beautiful!" exclaimed Casey in delight.
"And here is the Turtle Tank," said Baxter, gesturing to a giant sized metal tank with many guns and cannons around it and a top and bottom that looked almost exactly like a turtle's shell. "It is called that because it can resist any attack on it just by closing up in its shell," Baxter explained.
"Whoa! Now that is what I call awesome, dudes!" said Michelangelo
"And over here is what I call the Hopper," said Baxter gesturing to machine truck in the shape of large frog. "Made especially for the Punk Frogs it can leap long distances, jump high in the air and if it lands on anyone of anything it will trigger a semi-explosion."
"Now we can really play leap frog with the Shredder under us!" exclaimed Napoleon.
"Now, last but not least, here are the new highly advanced ray guns for Usagi and his army," Baxter concluded as he gave each animal warrior a ray gun. "These will do everything you want them to do and more," said Baxter, clearly proud of his handiwork.
"Thanks, Baxter and Barney," said Donatello. "We couldn't have accomplished all of this and in such a short time without you guys."
"Now we had better get ourselves ready," said Leonardo seriously. "I heard from Shredder on the TV that he plans to attack tonight at midnight."
