“Yeah. Sourdough,” Pigeon Pete told him.
“Done,” Leo said.
“Let’s roll!” Mikey yelled, throwing down a celebratory smoke bomb.
Together they moved in formation toward the Kraang’s hideout—completely unaware that a group of shadowy figures were watching them from the rooftops.
While the Turtles were searching for the Kraang’s secret hideout, Bradford and Xever were looking at the face of a hideous fish.
Xever skillfully scooped it out of its algae- covered fish tank. What he held in his hands was an Asian snakehead fish, with slimy red-purple scales and a large, fang-lined mouth. This tiny Chinatown fish market called it a delicacy—but Bradford thought it looked more like a monster.
“That’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen,” Bradford said as he stared at the snakehead gasping for air. Then he looked at Xever and added, “Present company excluded.”
Just before the fish could flop out of his hands, Xever tossed it to the vendor, signaling him to wrap it up for dinner.
Bradford took a deep breath. “So, we have a problem,” he said.
“No, you have a problem,” Xever replied.
“We’ve both failed Master Shredder. Can you live with that shame?” Bradford asked.
His question was met with an angry silence as the reality of the situation finally dawned on Xever. He prided himself on his reputation with the ninja underworld. To be remembered as a failure would undo all the villainous victories he’d worked so hard for.
“If I had the opportunity, I would crush those Turtles like bugs!” Xever hissed.
Just then, Bradford’s cell phone chimed on with an alert.
“What’s that?” Xever asked.
Bradford grinned from ear to ear as he read the message on the screen. It was a text from one of their Foot Soldier spies. He had a lock on the Turtles’ exact location.
“Opportunity.” Bradford smiled.
It was time for revenge—and redemption!
From the outside, the Kraang’s facility looked like any other industrial building after midnight. There were no lights on and no signs of life—absolutely nothing to attract the attention of any suspicious earthling who might wander by.
The Turtles found a small door in the roof of the building. As Donnie tinkered with the lock, everyone else focused on April. No one said it, but they were all thinking the same thing: There was no way of knowing what condition her father would be in after weeks of being held prisoner by an alien race. He could be badly injured, brainwashed, or worse. The Turtles knew they would have to bring their ninja A-game if they were going to rescue him.
The hatch lock opened with a clank. “Piece of cake,” Donnie said confidently.
“Let’s do this!” April said, pushing her way to the front.
“We need you to wait here, April,” Leo reminded her, blocking her way.
“Are you crazy?” she protested. “My dad’s in there!”
“Along with who knows how many Kraang! Leave it to the pros.”
April felt defeated. Being excluded from her father’s rescue was not an option. She gave Leo a hard stare and tried to plead her case.
“I can’t just do nothing,” she said.
“You won’t be doing nothing,” he informed her, handing her a rope in the darkness. “We need you to lower this rope when we give you the signal.”
It was clear Leo wouldn’t change his mind. With a sigh, April took the rope and watched the Turtles disappear down the hatch.
The inside of the Kraang’s facility resembled a space station. The titanium walls hummed with bright-pink energy as Kraang computers processed information at lightning speed. There were mutagen labs, mutant testing areas, prison cells, power cores, and command centers—all under one roof.
The Kraang-droids—the shiny exoskeletons that housed the slimy Kraang brainlike things—patrolled the corridors with military precision, blasters charged up and ready to fire.
The Turtles began to stealthily drop in, one by one: first Leo, then Donnie; then Raph; and then Mikey landed with a loud thud!
A droid spun around, putting Mikey in its sights. With no time to react, Mikey could only cover his face and wince, afraid of what would come next. The barrel of the droid’s blaster illuminated, readying a bolt. But at the last moment, Raph sprang into action, burying his sai into its robotic head. The Kraang-droid seized up, and then its body exploded in a mess of metal and sparks.
That was close, Mikey thought. Opening his eyes, he smiled at Raph.
But instead of smiling back, Raph bopped him hard on the head—a painful reminder to be more careful next time!
The Turtles moved through the lab in formation, watching each other’s shells. They knew they had to keep their eyes peeled for any sign of April’s dad. And they needed to get deeper inside the facility.
Up ahead, two droids were waiting by an air-locked door. Leo paused and motioned for his brothers to wait for the robots to gain access. One droid rapidly keyed in a code. Once the entrance opened, Leo rolled forward, sneaked up behind the droids, and bashed their heads together, knocking them out in one swift move!
A third Kraang-droid pulled his blaster and aimed at Leo. Raph dropped that bot by throwing a sai right between its eyes.
They were in!
But what they were in was anyone’s guess. It seemed like some sort of control room.
It made Mikey feel as though he were in a sci-fi movie—especially with the real-life alien just a few feet away.
They all took a closer look at the Kraang housed in the bot. It was a gelatinous, brainlike creature that appeared dazed and confused. But after a moment, its tentacles began to move, and the Kraang roared back to life!
Without hesitation, Leo stepped up and punched the alien’s lights out for good. It was one KO’d Kraang!
The Turtles exchanged looks. They were pleased they’d made it this far, but now it was time to find April’s dad—and to find out what the Kraang were up to.
Leo gave the others their orders. “Donnie, hack into the system and see what you can find out about the Kraang’s plot.”
Donnie nodded, his hands itching to touch the keys in front of him.
“Raph,” Leo continued, “you’re with me.”
He then locked eyes with Mikey—who waited with a big, goofy smile.
“Mikey . . . stay with Donnie,” he said.
“Why do I always get stuck with Mikey?” Donnie asked.
“I don’t want him, and I’m in charge,” Leo said matter-of-factly.
“Hey!” Mikey shouted in frustration.
Completely ignoring Mikey, Donnie suggested, “Well, then make Raph take Mikey!”
“Over my dead body!” Raph piped up.
“Hey! You know, I’m starting to think nobody wants to be with me,” Mikey said, his feelings hurt. “I’ll just go off on my own.”
Mikey threw a smoke bomb and—poof!—seemed to disappear into thin air. But he didn’t manage to go far! A split second later, he came through a door on the other side of the control room.
“That was a closet,” he explained.
Leo and Raph were already out the door. “Have fun, you two!” Raph said, shutting the air lock.
Mikey looked around the alien control room like a kid in an arcade.
“What’s that button do?” Mikey asked, pointing excitedly.
Donnie smacked his hand away, gritting his teeth. “Don’t. Touch. Anything.”
Hacking an alien computer mainframe was hard enough, but babysitting Mikey at the same time? This was going to be a challenge.
Unaware of the Turtles’ rescue mission, Kirby O’Neil, one of the smartest men in the country, sat in his Kraang prison cell. He was one of several scientists who had recently been abducted by the Kraang. Normally, he spent his nights wondering why, but right now he was thinking only of his daughter, April. Had Pigeon Pete been able to deliver his video message to her? Was she okay? Was she fleeing the
city for safer ground? As long as the Kraang’s plot was still in motion, the clock was ticking for planet Earth. And all Kirby could do was wonder about April’s fate as he sat in silence.
Then he heard a voice on the other side of the wall. “Mr. O’Neil? Are you in here?”
He looked through the small window of his cell door and was shocked to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
“You’re the turtles who rescued my daughter!” he cried. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” Leo answered, trying to break the door lock. “She’s right outside.”
“You mean she’s still in the city?!” Kirby exclaimed, shaking his head. “Man, that girl is stubborn.”
“Yeah,” Leo admitted. “We’ve noticed.”
Leo went to work on the lock.
Back in the Kraang’s control room, things weren’t going any better for Donnie. He had to use every ounce of his ninja speed to smack Mikey’s hand away from the array of buttons on the computer console.
“What’s that one do?” Mikey asked.
Smack! “I don’t know,” Donnie replied.
“What’s that one do?”
Smack! Smack! “I don’t know!”
“What’s THAT ONE do??”
Smack! Smack! Smack!
“I DON’T KNOW!”
Not being able to touch anything was making Mikey want to touch everything. He noticed a stream of digital lights flowing up toward another button.
“Ooooh, that one’s pretty!” he exclaimed.
Donnie snapped. “Just stop it!” he yelled, slamming his fists down in frustration, which made the room go dark.
After a moment, one computer screen lit up.
“I’m in!” Donnie said excitedly.
The Kraang’s files were now an open book—and it wouldn’t have been possible without Mikey.
“You’re welcome,” Mikey teased.
But the celebration would have to wait. As Donnie tried to make sense of the Kraang’s secret plans unfolding on the monitor, a grave look came over his face. He might not have fully understood complex alien technology, but he knew a bomb when he saw one.
And he was staring at the blueprints for the biggest one he’d ever seen.
All he could say was “Uh-oh.”
Despite Leo’s best lock-picking efforts, Kirby O’Neil was still trapped in his cell. There was no sign of any Kraang-droids, but Raph knew they were running out of time. “Since it’s taking Leo forever to pick that lock—”
“I’m working on it!” Leo said impatiently.
“—maybe you can tell us what the heck’s the deal with the Kraang?” Raph continued, ignoring Leo.
Kirby took a moment. The Turtles were protecting his daughter and trying to rescue him. They deserved some answers. But were they ready for the truth?
“They’re aliens from another dimension,” he began. “When they came here, they brought the mutagen with them.”
That gave Leo pause. The Kraang were the ones who had brought the mutagen? The same stuff that had mutated Master Splinter all those years ago? The same ooze that had mutated them? Leo understood the idea of an alien race wanting to destroy humanity, but choosing to mutate it into something else? Why?
“What’s the point of turning people into monsters?” Leo asked Kirby.
“The mutagen doesn’t work the way they thought it would,” Kirby explained. “Apparently, the physical laws of their universe are different from ours.”
And with that, the reasons behind the Kraang’s kidnapping of Kirby suddenly became clear to Leo. “They’re grabbing scientists to help them modify the ooze,” he concluded.
“Wow! You figured it out!” Raph mocked. “How’s that lock coming?”
Now it was Leo who was ignoring Raph. “So what do they want the ooze to do?” he asked Kirby.
Kirby sighed. “I wish I knew.”
Suddenly, Raph and Leo heard footsteps coming from around the corner. They braced for the worst!
It was only Mikey and Donnie.
“Leo! Raph! They’ve planted a mutagen bomb downtown!” Donnie said, panicked. “They’re going to use it to disperse ooze over the entire city!” Then, seeing April’s dad for the first time, he tried to compose himself and added, “Oh, hi, Mr. O’Neil! Your daughter’s really nice.”
Leo had to stay focused and think. Breaking Kirby out seemed impossible. Soon more Kraang would come looking for them. And to top it all off, they now had to deal with an intergalactic bomb threat. This mission was spiraling out of control fast, but Leo kept calm. He knew if the Turtles wanted to save the day, they were going to have to face these challenges one at a time—starting with this lock.
“We have to disarm that bomb,” Leo said, still tinkering with the cell door. “If I could just get this stupid door open!”
That gave Mikey a bright idea. “Have you tried this?” he asked, pushing a random button on the wall.
“Noooo!” everyone else yelled.
But it was too late. Mikey had just triggered an alarm.
“And that’s why no one wants to be with you!” Raph remarked.
They could hear the clanging feet of Kraang-droids as they marched down the hall.
There was no time for Leo to panic. He felt a small lever move inside the lock, and then—click—the cell door popped open!
“Got it! Let’s move!” Leo ordered, grabbing Kirby from his cell.
With April’s dad in tow, the Turtles ran down the corridor as fast as they could, dodging blaster fire from the approaching Kraang-droids.
Quickly, Leo led them back to the original rooftop hatch. As planned, he started doing dove calls, hoping this would cue April to lower the rope. But it was no use. With the alarm blaring over the PA and energy bolts whizzing in every direction, she couldn’t hear his signal.
More blaster fire cut through the air. The Turtles were surrounded by Kraang-droids!
“April!” Raph shouted over the deafening sound of blaster fire. “Throw the rope!”
From the rooftop, April dropped the rope down as promised and got her first real look at the chaos inside the facility. She saw the Turtles taking cover behind a barrier of wooden crates. She saw the Kraang-droids closing in. She saw Raph cut through a bot with one of his sais, causing its blaster to fall to the ground.
And for the first time since he’d been kidnapped, April saw her father, Kirby O’Neil.
“Dad!” she cried out.
“April!” he called back.
Kirby couldn’t believe he was looking at his daughter’s face again. The only thing that had gotten him through this kidnapping ordeal was the hope that he would be reunited with her. But the reunion he’d been dreaming about wasn’t happening the way he wanted. He didn’t want her to risk her life for him! He had hoped she would flee the city. He’d hoped she would escape the Kraang. Now he hoped she would forgive him for what he was about to do.
He looked at the blaster that had fallen near Raph’s feet.
Kirby picked it up and put his finger on the trigger.
“Mr. O’Neil, what are you doing?” Leo asked him.
“Save my daughter. Save the city,” he told Leo with a strange determination.
April couldn’t hear what he was saying to Leo, but something seemed wrong.
And that was when she saw her father charge into battle.
“Daddy, no!” she screamed.
And to everyone’s surprise, Kirby began firing a barrage of energy bolts at the Kraang-droids to hold them off. It was enough of a diversion to help the Turtles—and his daughter—escape.
Leo never liked to leave a man behind, but he knew there was no other option. “Go! Go!” he commanded, ordering the Turtles to climb to safety.
“We can’t leave him here!” Donnie insisted.
“We don’t have a choice!” Leo yelled.
The other Turtles hated to admit it, but they knew Leo was right. They were outnumbered and outgunned. One by one, they hurried up the
rope to the rooftop.
The Turtles had just made it to April when they saw the Kraang-droids overpower Kirby and drag him back to his cell.
They shared a silence, realizing her father’s plan had worked—he had sacrificed his freedom to save their shells!
April couldn’t take it. She ran into Donnie’s arms, sobbing.
“We’ll get him back, April,” he said, trying to comfort her. “I promise.”
But there was no time to worry about that now. They needed to get April to safety. They needed a new plan. They needed to stop that bomb!
The mutagen bomb was hidden on the rooftop of the Hotel Wolf, one of downtown’s premier hotels. Normally, business executives and international tourists would stay on the top floor, but tonight’s guests of honor were the Kraang. And those slimy little alien brain-things weren’t there for the four-star service. They were preparing to cover the entire city in ooze!
The bomb was behind the hotel’s glowing neon sign, carefully guarded by a team of sharpshooting Kraang-droids.
“Kraang, in how many time units known as minutes will the device containing the mutagen that will be spread over the place known as New York be detonated?” one of the droids asked.
“Five—”
Just then, a strange, unknown object flew through the sky and—KABOOM!—hit a droid between the eyes, blowing it into a thousand pieces.
Seeing this, the other Kraang-droids fanned out in formation, trying to protect the bomb and determine what was happening. They scanned their surroundings, focusing so hard on their next plan of action, they didn’t notice that another projectile had gone airborne.
It was an exploding arrow, shot from a hidden location by the Ninja Turtles. Each of the Turtles was now outfitted with bows and arrows, courtesy of Splinter’s ancient ninja armory.
Raph slotted another arrow into his bow and aimed at a Kraang-droid. He pulled back and fired, destroying his target with one clean shot. The vulnerable Kraang leaped out of its damaged exoskeleton, hissing into the shadows.
The Crime Fighter Collection Page 2
