The Crime Fighter Collection

by Matthew J Gilbert (retail)

“Really?” asked a voice from out of nowhere.

  “Really,” Raph answered, then realized who he was talking to!

  Before he could say another word, they all rushed toward the speaker, looking down over the side of the hatch door. And there, hanging on to the pod and treading water, was Leo! Despite nearly getting crushed by a gigantic Kraang-droid and going through an interdimensional spaceship crash, he had somehow survived! He was a little banged up, but he was all smiles.

  “Leo, you dork, you scared the heck out of us!” Raph grumbled.

  “You’re aliiiiiiiiiiiive!” Mikey cheered.

  They excitedly pulled him up into the pod.

  Other hover-pods soon splashed down to earth. Their hatch doors opened to reveal more survivors! The humans that the Kraang had abducted were now safe!

  There were sighs of relief, high threes, and bro hugs all around. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had stopped an alien invasion, and they were all alive to see it. This was cause for a major shell-ebration!

  Back in the Turtles’ lair, the ultimate pizza party was on. Carrying a stack of warm pizza boxes, Mikey made his way to the table and joined everyone for a little victory dance.

  “Who saved the world?” Mikey chanted.

  “We saved the world!” his brothers chanted back.

  “I said, Who saved the world?”

  “We saved the world!”

  “I said—”

  “Stop asking!” Raph demanded, breaking out of the chant.

  Never one to give up on a good cheer, Mikey finished alone with a weak “We saved the world.”

  On the outskirts of the party, a fully healed April approached Splinter. Even though the Kraang had put her mind through the wringer, she hadn’t forgotten the hurtful things she’d said to her sensei before this whole mess started.

  “I wanted to apologize for the way I spoke to you earlier,” she told him.

  Admiring her conviction, Splinter looked at his kunoichi with respect. “No need,” he replied gently. “You spoke what was in your heart. I am just relieved that you made it home safely.”

  April was pleased. She knew he was proud of her, and that was all she really wanted from him. She joined the others for a slice, unaware of the troubled look on Splinter’s face.

  Splinter moved off to the side, turning his back to the party for a moment. While the others were busy watching Mikey bust a move, Splinter looked at an old photograph—a Yoshi family portrait: Hamato, Tang Shen, and baby Miwa, swaddled in the middle. He couldn’t help but study Miwa’s face over and over, trying to reconcile the baby in the picture with the teenage assassin he’d seen at Shredder’s lair. He didn’t know where to begin. He just wanted to be a part of her life.

  “What’s wrong, Sensei?” he heard Leo ask, just behind him.

  Splinter quickly hid the photo. “I learned some things from Shredder,” he said.

  “Like what?” Leo asked.

  “That’s for another time, Leonardo,” he finally said. “Tonight is for celebration. After all, it is not every day you make the world safe from an alien invasion.”

  “You got that right!” Mikey said, break- dancing his way into the center of the room. “Everybody . . . who saved the world?” he cheered again.

  “WE SAVED THE WORLD!” everyone joined in.

  Meanwhile, deep in the Atlantic Ocean, a school of fish was swimming peacefully along the ocean floor. Suddenly, an unseen force sent a concussion through the water, and the fish flitted away. Strange lights appeared, forming a shape that was round and massive.

  The Technodrome was badly damaged, but it was back online. It was stranded in the murky depths of the ocean. . . .

  But it wouldn’t be for long.

  High above the quiet, shadowy streets, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo—stood watch over New York City on their nightly patrol. Normally, the ninja brothers would be scanning the streets below for any signs of crime.

  But not tonight.

  Tonight, their eyes were on the skies. Leo looked through his long-range spyglass at the skyline. He focused his lens on a facility a few blocks away that seemed to be haloed by a spooky pink glow: the Techno Cosmic Research Institute, otherwise known as T.C.R.I.

  After weeks of observation, the Turtles knew this was the secret headquarters of the Kraang—extra-dimensional aliens that were hiding on Earth and planning something big. But what?

  Leo broke the silence to give his report to the others. “Nothing happening at T.C.R.I.—”

  “Yet!” Donnie added in a skeptical tone. A few days earlier, the Turtles had discovered a secret Kraang storage device that contained a detailed file on their best friend—and Donnie’s dream girl—April O’Neil. So it was no big surprise that his nerves were somewhat on edge now.

  The same could not be said for Mikey. He was completely at ease, playing video games on his T-Phone.

  “This game is awesome!” he exclaimed, mashing buttons. “The combat is so realistic.”

  “You want me to make it more realistic?” Raph threatened, cracking his knuckles at him.

  “Guys!” Leo piped up, taking charge. “Stop messing around!”

  Donnie punched in a few commands on his T-Phone’s decoder app while he addressed his brothers. “According to the Kraang storage device that I decrypted, some kind of scouting ship is coming through the Kraang Portal tonight.”

  Leo glared at Mikey, who was still nose-deep in his game.

  “So we all have to … STAY ALERT,” Leo said to Mikey even more loudly.

  “Yeah, you never know what could sneak up on you,” said a soft voice from the dark.

  Before the Turtles could react, a graceful figure somersaulted off a nearby water tower and onto the rooftop.

  It was Karai, Shredder’s beautiful teenage ninja soldier.

  Leo locked eyes with her, remembering the last time he’d seen her: It was in a secret Kraang lab. She’d double-crossed them, trapping them inside with a grotesque super-mutant code named ‘Justin,’ a monstrosity made up of every kind of animal DNA known to man. The Turtles had only narrowly escaped its clutches.

  “Cute, Karai, but I’m not in the mood,” Leo told her.

  He didn’t want to admit it, but just seeing her stirred up a lot of old feelings. She might have sworn her allegiance to their archenemy, but he couldn’t help admiring her skills.

  Ignoring his words, Karai drew her katana and charged at Leo. Their blades clashed immediately. Leo expertly fended off her attacks. With one swift move, he swung both his blades and knocked her back.

  “We don’t have time for this!” Leo insisted. “Guys!”

  On cue, Mikey yelled, “Booyakasha!” and the rest of the Turtles charged into battle.

  Karai darted back and forth, acrobatically dodging each blow.

  “Booyakasha?” she asked, landing with catlike finesse. “What does that even mean?”

  “I don’t know,” Mikey replied innocently. “But it’s fun to yell!”

  And with that, Mikey surprised Karai with his secret throwing chain. She tumbled back, but recovered quickly. Showing off her ninja prowess, she made quick work of Donnie, Raph, and Mikey. It wasn’t long before she locked blades with Leo again and they were face to face.

  “You really know how to make a girl feel welcome,” Karai taunted, putting Leo on the defensive. “I heard the scrawny one mention the Kraang. What’s going on?”

  Leo lunged forward. “None of your business—”

  “And I’m not scrawny,” Donnie interrupted them. “I’m svelte.”

  Karai refused to back down. “Oh, c’mon! Let me in on the fun!”

  Raph had had enough of this. He stepped forward and tried to talk some sense into her. “Look, we’re a little busy trying to stop an alien invasion here, so do us a favor and get lost!”

  Karai paused, lowering her sword. “An alien invasion? Are you serious?” she asked with concern.

  Suddenly,
the roof began to rumble. The entire city seemed to be shaking. They all looked up to see the T.C.R.I. rooftop open like an aircraft hangar. Within seconds, a saucer-shaped Kraang ship with flowing tentacle sensors floated out of it.

  “This can’t be good,” Leo whispered.

  The Turtles and Karai were frozen. The sight of an extraterrestrial scout ship flying over New York scared them all speechless.

  Finally, Mikey spoke. “Ummm, guys … I think I need to change my shell.”

  Inside the scout ship, two blobby Kraang sat at the helm of a mobile alien command center. All around them, monitors and control panels flashed and oozed light. With the click of a button, a sophisticated radar screen began mapping the rooftops for any sign of movement. The system quickly zeroed in on five living, breathing targets.

  One Kraang turned to the other and droned, “The ones who are called Turtles have been detected by the scanner which scans for Turtles.”

  “They are knowing too much of Kraang’s plan,” the other Kraang announced. “Attack.”

  The ship cut through the atmosphere, nose-diving toward Karai and the Turtles.

  “I hope you have a plan for fighting that thing,” Karai told Leo.

  “Of course I do,” Leo said. And then he turned back to her and hastily added, “Step one … run!”

  They sprinted for their lives as the scout ship laser-blasted the rooftop to rubble. Leo led the way through the dust cloud, diving to the city streets below. Karai and the other Turtles followed, bouncing off rickety fire escapes and landing painfully on the pavement. They all scurried to the safety of a nearby alleyway.

  The streets suddenly glowed with buzzing pink light as the scout ship performed a heat-seeking scan for its targets. Everyone held their breath as the great ship hovered overhead for what seemed an eternity. Finally, it moved along.

  Once the coast was clear, Karai and the Turtles made a break for it. Running side by side with Leo, Karai asked, “What the heck was that thing?”

  “I don’t know,” Leo answered, “but off the top of my head, I’d say they use it for flying and shooting at things.”

  Then they heard the scout ship circle back. It fired its lasers, barely missing them by an inch.

  “It’s right on our shells!” Mikey screamed.

  Every ninja for herself, Karai thought. Without hesitation, she broke off from the group and darted into the welcoming shadows of an abandoned alley lined with garbage. The pink light searched the street. It was hunting her.

  Using her ninja training, Karai stood perfectly still, blending into the night. The ship scanned and scanned but found no trace of her. After another flyby, it finally floated away.

  Karai closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. She was safe. For now.

  A few blocks away, the Turtles had also found sanctuary. They were hiding shell to shell, next to an abandoned car.

  Mikey knew making any noise would be a bad idea right now, but he just had to ask Leo something.

  “Do you think it knows where we are?” he whispered.

  “Yeah, maybe,” Leo answered.

  Just then, the car they were leaning on was sucked up into the air in a shaft of light. The ship suddenly released it, and the Turtles barrel-rolled out of its path before it landed with a loud crash of broken windshield and twisted metal.

  “We gotta get underground!” Donnie yelled.

  Leo stepped up, determined to find a way out of this. He saw a manhole cover. An idea was forming.

  “I’ll draw their fire,” he said, unsheathing his shining katanas.

  Leo rushed out of the shadows, attracting the ship’s attention.

  He taunted the Kraang by poking fun at their blaster—a glass oval that looked like a giant alien eye. “Over here, Cyclops!”

  Using the brick walls to his advantage, Leo bounded into a zigzagging display of somersaults to dodge the laser blasts.

  Seeing their opportunity, the other Turtles popped open the manhole cover. Raph held it in place while Donnie and Mikey climbed down to the safety of the sewers.

  “Leo, come on!” Raph shouted.

  Leo lobbed a few ninja stars at the scout ship before flinging himself back into the alley. He slid into the chute with Raph, replacing the manhole cover with lightning speed. The ship hovered overhead. It scanned the area, flooding the alley with harsh light.

  From behind the sewer grate, the Turtles heard the approaching swarm of police sirens. Maybe they were safe after all.

  But right as the cops made it to the scene, the Kraang ship employed an invisibility device and disappeared into thin air.

  “Great,” Raph groaned. “Because it wasn’t scary enough when we could see it.”

  Police choppers arrived as the minutes passed—one even coming dangerously close to Karai’s hiding place. As a leader of the Foot Clan, she normally hated the sight of the cops.

  But not now.

  Not after what she had just seen. This situation was bigger than her hatred of the Turtles, bigger than her loyalty to the Shredder and his evil master plan to destroy them. Planet Earth was in danger of an alien threat the likes of which it had never seen. Karai knew she had to do something about it.

  Later that night, Karai returned home to the Foot Clan’s secret lair to tell her father everything. She knew it wouldn’t be easy. The Shredder was no normal man. He wasn’t used to listening to others’ troubles or helping them through tough times. He was a Japanese warlord, the head of the world’s oldest ninja clan, and a dark figure feared throughout the underworld.

  Had anyone else told him a story about aliens roaming around New York, he would have crushed them with his armored hands simply for wasting his time.

  But this was Karai talking. And since she was his only daughter, the Shredder allowed her to speak.

  “It’s true!” Karai argued, kneeling before her father. “The Kraang are plotting an invasion. I saw the ship myself. They’ve got some serious hardware.”

  Shredder was unmoved by this.

  “We have to do something before it’s too late,” Karai said, trying to plead with him. And then, in a rare moment of vulnerability, her voice softened. “Father?”

  “We shall proceed as planned,” Shredder growled.

  “But—”

  “Tomorrow night, we will receive a shipment of new weapons,” he interrupted. “These shall help us put an end to the Turtles and Splinter.”

  “We can deal with that later,” Karai protested. “Didn’t you listen to a thing I just—”

  Shredder banged his fist down on his throne, yelling, “Karai!”

  She flinched.

  “You have said your piece. Now you will do as I say,” Shredder commanded.

  Karai bowed her head. Arguing was clearly getting her nowhere.

  “Yes, Father.” Karai sighed in frustration.

  If her own father wouldn’t listen to her, maybe she needed to find someone who would.

  Meanwhile, back at the dojo, the guys were thinking up a plan of attack. Leo paced the room as Raph threw his sais at a tackling dummy for target practice. Each hit was music to his ears.

  “That Kraang ship is incredibly dangerous,” Leo finally said. “We’ve got to figure out what it’s doing here.”

  “Or”—Raph coolly spun his sais, then took the tackling dummy out with a vicious strike—“we could just skip to the part where we destroy it.”

  Mikey looked down at the dummy crumpled on the floor. “You’re pretty tough when they can’t hit back,” he teased.

  Raph shot his brother a death stare. He didn’t mind a little friendly joshing now and then with his bros, but retreating from the Kraang had really steamed his shell.

  The moment Raph raised his fists, Mikey shrank away. He turned his attention back to Leo.

  “So what are we waiting for?” Raph asked. “Let’s load up the Shellraiser and challenge that thing to a rematch.”

  “First we need a way to find a ship that’s invisible,” Le
o told him.

  “I know!” Raph exclaimed. “How about we shoot into the air until we hit it?”

  Typical Raph, Leo thought. Shoot first, ask questions later….

  “That doesn’t sound too smart.” Leo frowned.

  “Yeah, Raph.” Mikey giggled. “Not too smart, buddy.”

  Raph spun around again, ready to pound Mikey—who immediately ducked for cover.

  “Actually,” Donnie interjected, “Raph’s got something there.”

  “Yeah, Leo,” Mikey piped up again, this time using the tackling dummy like a ventriloquist dummy. “Raph’s got something there.”

  Now it was Leo who stared him down. Mikey was really getting under everyone’s shell tonight!

  Donnie ignored Mikey’s shenanigans and continued his explanation. “Instead of shooting objects, we’ll shoot waves of electromagnetic radiation. In other words,” he said, holding up an object that looked like a mini satellite dish, “… radar.”

  That got everyone’s attention.

  “I’ve built some radar beacons we can set up around town,” Donnie went on. “If the ship gets near us, I’ll get an alert on my T-Phone.”

  “Good work, Donnie!” Leo said, relieved to hear some good news for a change. “Come on, guys. Let’s split up and place those beacons.”

  Up on the surface, Leo wasted no time installing his radar beacons throughout the downtown area. He had sent his brothers off to different locations around the city to do the same—and after a night of dealing with Mikey, he welcomed the chance to be on his own for a while.

  As he bolted the final radar dish to a rooftop, Leo took out his T-Phone and dialed Donnie.

  “Tribeca beacon installed,” Leo told him.

  “That’s the last of them,” he heard Donnie say. “Raph and Mikey are finished, too.”

  Leo smiled. Their work was done for the night. “See you back at the lair,” he said. When he hung up his T-Phone, a strange feeling suddenly came over him. It was as if his ninja senses could detect a disturbance in the quiet air. This was no normal breeze. No false alarm. It felt like a person watching his every move. He wasn’t imagining it—