by 3 Ninja Tales (The Rise of Tiger Claw; The Casey Chronicles; Mutants in Space!) (retail) (epub)
Behind him, bundled facedown on the ground, Raph warned, “It’s a trap for Splinter!”
“Of course it’s a trap!” Leo answered. “But tell me the part where I have a choice!”
Far below the city, in the Turtles’ secret lair, Splinter sat with his legs crossed and his hands balanced on his knees, meditating. Next to him, under a glass dome, sat a phone shaped like a wheel of yellow cheese.
It rang. BRINNNNG! BRINNNNG!
Splinter opened his eyes, startled. “The cheese phone!” he said. “Truly, an emergency!”
He hurried to the phone, lifting the glass dome and picking up the handset to the old-fashioned corded phone. “Moshi moshi,” he said, a Japanese greeting. He listened to the voice on the other end and said, “Leonardo! What is the problem?” He listened some more and looked grim. “Do not fear, my son,” Splinter said. “I am on my way!”
Tiger Claw tied the three brothers together, back-to-back, on the roof. No matter how much they struggled against the rope, they couldn’t get loose. They were sitting by the broken chimney that led down to the fiery furnace. The assassin was watching them carefully, waiting for their master to arrive to save them.
“I can’t believe you called him,” Raph said to Leo angrily. “If anything happens to Splinter—”
“What else could I do, Raph?” Leo asked, exasperated.
“The rat!” Tiger Claw demanded impatiently. “Where is he?”
The three Turtles stared at Tiger Claw and then looked away. They weren’t going to tell him anything.
Tiger Claw scowled, his whiskers quivering with anger. “One push, and you ALL go into the furnace!” he threatened.
Raph defiantly looked the mutant in the eye. “Just wait, Tiger Claw,” he said. “Splinter is gonna kick that little stub of a tail so deep in your striped—”
“SILENCE!” Tiger Claw roared. “I’m tired of waiting! Your lives end now!” He put his foot against the three brothers and started pushing them toward the broken chimney.
“This is it!” Mikey cried. “I love you, guys! Raph, it was me who ate your last piece of chocolate pepperoni pizza! I’m sorry, man! I was SO HUNGRY!”
Just as the Turtles were about to fall into the furnace, a clear, strong voice rang out from above. “Release my sons … NOW!”
Tiger Claw looked up and saw Splinter on a higher roof. He was holding a staff, standing in front of a bright full moon.
Speaking in Japanese, Tiger Claw said, “An ancient proverb says, ‘Even a cornered rat will bite a cat.’ Is that so?”
Splinter smiled. “Hmph!” he answered. Then in Japanese, “Come find out.”
In one rapid move, Tiger Claw reached behind him, grabbed a powerful blaster, and fired it at Splinter five times. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Leaping from ledge to ledge, Splinter dodged the blasts, keeping in constant motion. He almost jumped right onto Tiger Claw, but the huge mutant stepped back just in time. The assassin kept blasting his weapon, but Splinter kept evading his shots, even swatting bricks at Tiger Claw with his staff as he spun across the damaged roof. Three of the bricks hit Tiger Claw in the face, knocking him head over heels!
Growling, Tiger Claw pulled out a sword with a broad, sharp blade. He spun the sword, glaring at Splinter. “Bah!” he said, done with his blaster for the moment. “I prefer to slice you into bite-sized pieces!”
Roaring, Tiger Claw leaped forward, pointing the deadly tip of his sword right at Splinter. The rat didn’t hesitate. He leaped forward to meet his enemy, and their weapons clashed in midair!
Led by the Kraang-droids, April, Donnie, and Casey walked out of the magenta pyramid and looked around. They were in an empty New York City subway tunnel!
In his robotic, metallic voice, one of the Kraang-droids ordered, “You will continue marching from the place you are to the place you are not yet!”
The prisoners spoke quietly among themselves. “Seems like the Kraang still need to do a little work on their droids’ language software,” April observed.
“At least we’re back in New York,” Donnie said.
“Didn’t they mention feeding us something?” Casey asked. “I’m hungry.”
April shook her head. “No, they said they’d feed us TO something. Something called a …” She tried to remember the long, complicated name.
“A Kraathatrogon,” Donnie said, happy to know the answer. “Which is … Actually, I have no clue what it is.”
They walked down the empty subway tunnel in silence.
But Casey was done being ordered around by a bunch of alien robots. “We can wait around to be eaten,” he said quietly, “OR WE CAN MAKE A MOVE!”
He flipped his glove, releasing a bent metal device from his sleeve. Attached to a battery, it glowed blue with electric energy. Casey whipped around and pressed the device against the metal robot. Blue energy crackled all over the droid’s body!
Since Casey had started the fight, April and Donnie didn’t have much choice but to join in. April threw her sharp fan right at the chest of another Kraang-droid and sent him flying. Donnie whipped a throwing star at a steam valve, releasing clouds of white steam into the subway tunnel to hide their escape.
“Let’s go!” Donnie shouted. As they ran through the tunnel, the remaining Kraang-droid fired blasts of magenta energy at them.
April noticed a side tunnel with a door in it. She skidded to a stop, and the two boys ran right past her. “This way!” she called after them as she headed toward the door. Donnie and Casey turned around and followed her into the side tunnel.
They kicked the old metal door open and sprinted through it as magenta blasts burst all around them. “Go! Move!” Casey yelled. He grabbed the door, slammed it shut, and shoved his old baseball bat through two brackets to hold the door closed.
They escaped from the Kraang-droids. Now they could stop running and figure out where they were.
“Wow!” Donnie exclaimed when he realized what they were walking through. “The old pneumatic subway tunnels! Built in the 1800s—nobody uses ’em now!”
As they kept walking, April heard something. “What’s that gross slobbering sound?”
Donnie listened for a moment. “It sounds worse than Mikey eating pizza!” He hurried forward to find the source of the sickening sound. Casey and April rushed to follow him.
They reached the end of the old tunnel, where it opened out into a huge underground chamber, lit by an eerie green light. In the center of the chamber was a gigantic piece of Kraang technology, with pipes and hoses leading to …
… four enormous, segmented white worms!
Donnie, April, and Casey crawled to the very edge of the tunnel to get a closer look. “Those must be the Kraathatrogons!” Donnie whispered. There was nothing like them on Earth.
“The Kraatha … Krothag … Kraathag …,” Casey whispered, trying to pronounce the long, unfamiliar word. Then he just gave up. “‘Space worms’ is easier to say,” he decided, grinning at April.
But April frowned, studying the gigantic worms. These alien creatures gave her a bad feeling….
“RUUAAAHH!” roared one of the worms, rising up and sending two of its Kraang-droid handlers flying. It slammed its massive body back on the ground. WHAM! The whole chamber shook, and pieces of concrete fell from the ceiling.
Casey, April, and Donnie fell back, dodging the falling pieces. “Whoa!”
“It’s the worms!” Donnie suddenly realized.
“Duh,” Casey said. “Obviously it’s the worms. We just saw one rear up like a crazy stallion and slam its body down onto the ground. How could we have missed that?”
Donnie gritted his teeth. “Those worms are what’s been causing all the earthquakes in New York!”
A Kraang-droid dragged the Kraathatrogon by a metal chain, forcing it back into its place. Another Kraang-droid carried a long hose with a huge black nozzle attachment toward the worm.
“But … why?” Casey asked. “Why would the Kraan
g bring their giant space worms through a portal into the old subway tunnels?”
“Look!” April whispered. She pointed at the Kraang-droid with the nozzle. He was attaching it to the side of the worm! “They’re milking the worms for … mutagen?”
Sure enough, some kind of liquid began to pump out of the worm, flowing through the hose and up into a glowing green storage tank.
“By Darwin’s beard!” Donnie exclaimed. “THIS is where the mutagen comes from!”
“Mutagen?” Casey asked.
“That’s the stuff the Kraang use to mutate creatures—kind of a green ooze,” April explained. She caught herself then, hoping talk of mutation wouldn’t hurt Donnie’s feelings.
But he didn’t look at all offended. He looked amazed. “Fascinating,” he said. “And …”
“… disgusting!” April said. Then she felt someone touch her. Casey was right next to her, so she glared at him and said, “Stop that!”
Casey looked confused. “Stop what?”
April ignored him, but then felt something again. She wheeled on Casey. “I’m serious! I said stop!” Casey held up both hands, protesting his innocence.
April looked down and saw …
… a small white worm nuzzling her leg! Well, small compared to the giant worms. Compared to an earthworm, it was huge! “Yah!” April shrieked.
“AAUUUGH!” Casey yelled.
Casey stepped back and bonked the worm on the head with his hockey stick. It immediately opened its mouth wide, showing three jaws bristling with razor-sharp teeth! It hissed angrily, giving them away!
One of the Kraang-droids spoke to the other droids. “We have been discovered in the place that was meant to be undiscovered!”
“UNLEASH THE KRAATHATROGON!” ordered another.
The nozzles on the side of the worm released and dropped to the floor. Untethered, the Kraathatrogon quickly found the tunnel Donnie, April, and Casey were hiding in. It reared back, opened its huge mouth, and roared!
The three friends flinched and looked up in wonder. “I don’t think I have a big enough hockey stick for that thing,” Casey said shakily.
On the rooftop, Tiger Claw roared, lunging at Splinter with his wide, cruel sword. Splinter parried with his staff and slipped around the massive tiger-man. The three Turtles, bound together near the smoking chimney, watched the incredible display of fighting skills.
Splinter blocked every one of Tiger Claw’s sword strokes, all the while landing three punishing blows of his staff on Tiger Claw’s face, knocking him back.
“You’ll pay for that, rodent!” Tiger Claw snarled. He swiftly raised his sword and brought it crashing down on Splinter’s staff.
The staff broke! Splinter was left holding half a staff in each hand.
Tiger Claw laughed—an evil, gloating laugh. “Now you are defenseless!”
“A ninja is never defenseless,” Splinter said. He held his hand up, and three metal throwing blades appeared along his fingers. Flicking his wrist, he hurled them straight at Tiger Claw.
The mutant’s eyes widened with alarm. He drew back his sword to knock the whizzing blades of steel away, but one caught his shoulder. He felt the searing pain.
Tiger Claw flew at Splinter with his sword. As the two fought back and forth across the roof, the three Turtles cheered their master on.
“You got him, Sensei!” Mikey shouted, craning his neck to see all the action.
“Slap the stripes off that cat!” Raph added. It was killing him to have to sit and watch, instead of jumping in to help his father.
Splinter somersaulted, slipping right under Tiger Claw’s blade. He popped up under the mutant’s thick striped arm, grabbed it with one hand, and chopped it with the other, so that …
… Tiger Claw dropped his sword right into Splinter’s hand! He immediately whacked Tiger Claw sending him skidding across the roof.
But the assassin was well trained. Raising himself up on one knee, he pulled out his blaster, aimed it at Splinter, and fired. A spinning rope flew through the air at the mutant rat.
“You will not trip me up so easily!” Splinter declared, his eyes narrowing. He focused all his attention on the rope flying straight toward him. At the last possible second, he sprang into the air, reached down, and snagged the rope!
Landing on his feet, he spun the rope in his hand and flung it back at Tiger Claw. The tiger-man ducked the rope but made the mistake of turning his head to watch the rope go by. That was when Splinter attacked.
First, he used Tiger Claw’s sword to knock the blaster out of his hand. Then he came right at Tiger Claw, swinging his sword to put the mutant off-balance. As Tiger Claw helplessly backed away from Splinter, the rat kept chopping the tiger-man in the face and chest, delivering a series of painful blows. WHAM! WHAP! CHOP! BAM!
Finally, Tiger Claw was teetering on the edge of the roof. Gasping, he glanced down at the street far below. When he looked back, he saw the point of his own sword inches from his face.
Splinter spoke calmly. “We shall see if a cat always lands on its feet.”
“NOW!” Tiger Claw yelled.
On a nearby roof, Karai stood underneath a huge billboard advertising pest control. Taking careful aim, she shot her weapon. A dart zipped through the air, heading straight for Splinter!
ZZZZWIP! The dart struck Splinter’s neck, sticking there. “Hm?” he said, pulling the small dart out of his skin and examining it.
The drugged dart did its work quickly. Splinter staggered back, dropping Tiger Claw’s sword and collapsing to his hands and knees. The world seemed to be spinning around him.
“Ha!” Tiger Claw laughed, rubbing his wounded arm. “You lose, rat!”
Splinter looked up and saw Karai striding across the roof toward him. Staring coldly, she tossed her dart gun aside. She stopped a few feet from Splinter and smiled a small, satisfied smile. She knew she’d carried out her orders perfectly.
Splinter looked up at Karai helplessly. He stretched his hand out to her, cried “Miwa!” and collapsed, passing out.
Karai’s eyes widened as she stared at her victim.
“Karai!” Leo called to the kunoichi.
Karai’s eyes darted toward Leo.
“Karai, please don’t do this,” Leo pleaded. “Splinter … he’s your father! Your true father!”
Her eyes narrowed. “Liar!” she called out. “You’d say anything to save him!”
“No! I swear it!” Leo insisted. “He’s your father! Hamato Yoshi!” He spoke the name given to the man who had mutated into the rat, Splinter.
Karai looked confused, then angry. “If you won’t be silent,” she warned, raising her sword above her head, “I’ll silence you!”
The three Turtles gasped!
But as Karai’s sword came slicing down through the night air, it was blocked by another sword. CLANG!
Tiger Claw had blocked Karai’s blow!
“What?” Karai asked, dumbfounded that Tiger Claw had dared to stop her deadly attack.
Tiger Claw pushed Karai’s sword away. “Master Shredder desires them alive. He wants the pleasure of finishing the Turtles himself.”
Karai sheathed her sword. “Fine,” she reluctantly agreed. “Let’s deal with the rat first.” She and Tiger Claw strode back to Splinter.
Tiger Claw did not sheathe his sword.
“Leave him alone, Karai!” Raph snarled, struggling against the ropes. “Or you’re gonna answer to me!”
“My sons,” Splinter managed to gasp. “Go … NOW!”
Summoning all his strength and skill, Splinter whipped three sharp throwing stars across the roof toward his sons. They neatly sliced the ropes that bound them, freeing the astonished Turtles.
“RUN!” Splinter yelled.
Tiger Claw ran over to Splinter and savagely kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling. He fell off the roof, landing on a ledge a few feet below.
“SPLINTER!” Leo cried out, reaching toward him. He wanted to run t
o his sensei, but Raph grabbed his brother’s arm.
“We gotta come back for him, Leo—MOVE!”
As Tiger Claw fired his heat blaster, the three Turtles dashed off the roof, leaping across to the fire escape on the next building.
“Don’t let them escape!” Karai ordered, forgetting that she wasn’t in charge anymore.
But it was an order Tiger Claw didn’t need to hear. He was already leaping across to the fire escape in pursuit of the Turtles.
Mikey pulled out one of his smoke bombs and hurled it down onto the floor of the fire escape. FWOOM! A cloud of purple smoke filled the fire escape.
When the smoke cleared, Tiger Claw was alone. The Turtles had disappeared! He stood up and growled.
Back on the nearby roof, Karai turned her back on Tiger Claw, facing Splinter. “At least we still have the rat,” she snarled.
Splinter lay on the ledge, out cold.
Pedestrians strolled past a mailbox on a New York City sidewalk. Suddenly, the earth jolted. They stopped, startled. What was causing all these small earthquakes?
The cause was far below them. Deep in the old abandoned subway tunnels beneath the streets, Donnie, April, and Casey ran for their lives. The huge Kraathatrogon was chasing them, lifting its long body and slamming it down on the old subway tracks.
“Run!” Donnie yelled, trying to be heard above the pounding sounds of the moving worm. “FASTER!”
The worm was gaining on them. The three friends were too busy looking over their shoulders at the beast to notice a gap in the subway track. They all tripped and fell—“YAAAAAHH!”—landing facedown in a small space a couple of feet below the surface they had been running on. The worm was on them …
… and then passed right over them! It was like being underneath a rushing freight train!
Donnie, April, and Casey looked at each other. Were they safe? They cautiously peered up over the edge of the hole they had fallen into, only to see …