Untold Tales of the TMNT: My Enemy's Enemy

Here's another Tale that was planned to come after May next year, but unfortunately with the buyout deal in place, won't see production. Hopefully whoever decides to pick up the Turtles comic license might allow me to rework it somehow to fit in with whatever they decide to do with the Turtles (if anyone does of course). Anyway, here's it is...

“TALES OF THE TMNT” STORY PROPOSAL

“MY ENEMY’S ENEMY”

by Tristan Jones

This issue is a bit twisty, and the pitch itself may seem dense, but the story, while keeping in line with the “done-in-one” style of Tales, involves a number of elements from past issues. We’ve got Tang Amaya from Ross May’s #22, along with elements from #36, #56, #59, #64 and the other stories I have pitched this time around (provided they make it through of course). The essential focus of the story revolves around the legacy of the Shredder, and we will see how different groups, both good and evil, are affected by it. At the end of #64, we meet the XXXXX of XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XX XXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXXXXX of the Foot Clan and XXXXXXX the XXXXXXX of the Shredder. Now the first stage of their collective plan is about to go into motion…

Based on intelligence gathered, the XXXXX takes a closer look at Tang Amaya, the mysterious kunoichi who wears the Shredder’s glove. Lin, the supposed ex-Foot ninja who freed Hun and led the assault on Precinct 5 in Tales #36 tells them basically who Tang Amaya is. She was a contingency plan, a sick game started by the Shredder -- Tang Amaya is Tang Shen’s sister, who Saki had brainwashed into believing that Hamato Yoshi was responsible for Tang’s death. She was a toy of the Shredder’s and one of her best assassins while he was alive, but now that Saki is dead, she claims to be the rightful heir to his mantle and persists in hunting down the Turtles for their link to Yoshi. Lin reveals the existence of Splinter to the other XXXXX XXXXXXX at this point too.

One of the other XXXXX XXXXXXX points out that Amaya’s group was last reported in an area currently held by an African-American gang. Photos are then passed around of an ancient Japanese symbol written in a specific Foot code that has been appearing throughout New York in various places, like graffiti. Lin tells them it’s a challenge code, Amaya’s trying to draw the Turtles out. From this they figure out where she will be and when. The Turtles haven’t been responding because simply because Amaya has been targeting the wrong areas (now that the Turtles have split up).

We crossfade this to a scene across town, where Leo, Donatello and Mike are all gathered. Miller is discussing the same thing with the Turtles (the challenge symbol). Miller can’t make heads or tails of it, and hasn’t been able to take it down the usual areas because of the corruption in the police force, so he thought he’d bring it straight to the Turtles hoping they might. Mike suggests they take a photo of it using a camera-phone and send it to April (who is at the farmhouse with Casey, Shadow and Splinter) to ask Splinter about it. He replies, telling them what Lin told the XXXXX.
Miller is in a bind, he has to be careful about who he tells about this, but Mike knows. Lauren Stanton (the female journalist from #59). They get in touch with her to send feelers out to figure out where she might be hiding. Stanton tells them to give her a couple of days.

We cut to later, where Lin and her group of Shredder loyalists confront Amaya and deliver an ultimatum. She can either join the rest of the loyalists or perish. Amaya laughs at them, but Lin just smiles and commands her group to leave, knowing full well what is coming to the naïve girl. Zooming out, we find that Stanton herself is up in a nearby building using surveillance equipment, spying on the meeting, but there is another person there, in the shadows, smoking a cigarette. This is the man from WAY back in Volume 1, #4 who was spying on the Turtles in April’s apartment. Stanton slips the man some money and heads out to warn the Turtles of what is coming. However, as she leaves, the shadow man also calls an associate… King Cobra!

We cut to King Cobra’s club, where he and Hun are planning their next move. Cobra tells Hun that his informant has found Amaya (but neglected to tell him about Lin being at the meeting). Here in the club we also get our fist glimpse at Touch and Go (as this story would be set just before the Touch & Go story). The criminals gather up their men and head out. The time has come, this is the beginning of the eradication of the Foot Clan (or so they think).

We cut back to the Turtles, who are also planning how they will confront Amaya. When they last fought, Amaya threatened the Turtles that Hamato Yoshi would pay for his crimes. They are determined to find out what she is talking about, but must tread lightly. They are also determined to find out what they can about Lin, and her involvement (or potential animosity). They agree that they will wait until the next challenge is issued and move from there.

Cut to later. Leo pounces on one of Amaya’s ninjas, and tells the lackey that they will meet her that night.

Later, we see the Turtles arriving at the meeting place where Amaya waits. They agree to split up and scope the place out before doing anything. Leo and Don meet up and discuss their options. They contact Raph but can’t get through to Mike. The time comes and Leo and Don go (Raph will keep lookout) in to meet with Amaya. Here we learn of Amaya’s brainwashing by the Shredder. How she is really Shen’s sister, and how the Shredder made her believe that Hamato Yoshi was responsible for her sister’s death. Leo tries to reason with her, but a fight breaks out. During the fight Raph tells Don that someone is coming, and before anyone realizes what is going on, Mike (unconscious) is thrown through the doors to the warehouse. The Purple Dragons, King Cobra’s gang AND Lin’s Shredder Loyalists (in civilian gear, making their true allegiances inconspicuous) storm in, Hun laughing at what a pathetic fight Mikey put up.

It’s chaos, Leo and Don don’t know what to do or who to fight, but Raph drops in and goes for Hun. Hun throws the Turtle off and commands his men to kill the Foot Clansmen. All of Amaya’s men and Amaya herself rush into the fray. Don goes to help Mikey, and Raph fights anyone he can.
Leo finds himself fighting alongside Amaya as he continues to try and reason with her. He manages to slowly convince her, but just as it looks like she’s about to realize Hun grabs her and tears off her arm wearing the Shredder’s gauntlet. The fight suddenly comes to an end. Amaya falls to the ground, and Leo comes to her aide. Don has Mikey and Raph has been badly wounded by King Cobra. Hun throws the gauntlet to the ground and laughs at them before leaving. King Cobra tells his men to kill the Turtles and the remaining Foot Ninjas, but the Turtles manage to escape with Amaya.

We end with the villains victorious (for once), but the Turtles are more determined than ever to take down these vicious gangs and the secretive Shredder Loyalists. And it looks as though they may have just earned a new ally, providing Amaya pulls through. On the final page, Lin returns to the warehouse alone, and retrieves the Shredder’s gauntlet.

Untold Tales of the TMNT: Touch and Go.

I know there are people curious out there, and given the news of the Viacom buyout, I think it's safe to say that these stories unfortunately won't see the light of day. Dan Berger had started lining them up as a possibility beyond May, provided no decision was reached regarding publishing roughly a month ago... Anyway, here's the first. I'll post the other 3 shortly...

This story is set shortly after Tales #64, just a bit after Volume 2. Hun is looking to retake the New York underworld and has joined a cabal of the most powerful criminals currently at large. They all have the same goal – eradicate the Turtles, eradicate the Foot, but not everyone trusts the other. This story shifts focus on to King Cobra, a villain introduced in Tales #59, who appears again in #64, with the intention of not only expanding his character, but also introducing a couple of cool new characters and will finish with a real sucker-punch development for Hun that I think will really leave readers hungry for more…

We open shortly after the ********************* concluded #64. King Cobra has gone back to his base of operations at “The Snake Pit” in Harlem (See #59). He and his bent, but also extremely good lawyer are going through some files. He doesn’t trust any of the other cabal members and is digging up as much dirt and personal information as he can on them in case things go bad, and it looks like his lawyer has struck gold: Hun has a 13 year old niece in witness protection.

King Cobra heads down to a private, seedier area of the club, where two girls are dancing on a podium for the lurid entertainment of lowlifes and criminals seeking refuge in the club. He calls the two girls aside, telling them he needs them for something very important. It is here that we find out that these girls are Amie Cortier and Anya Desír -- two of the world’s most dangerous assassins, and the team known more commonly as Touch and Go.

We jump cut to another part of NYC. The subway. It’s late night, and the trains are relatively empty outside of a few people here and there. Lauren Stanton (the main character from Tales #59) is sitting in a corner of the carriage with what appears to be two bums. The bums are actually Mike and Raph, on their way to Leo’s home in the sewers with Stanton, who they are bringing up to speed on things since her involvement with them in #59.
At one stop, three cops get on at one door, and a small group of men and women at one further down the carriage. But something is wrong… the two groups seem to be casting signalling glances at each other.

Both groups seem to swoop on a young girl seated by herself. The young girl struggles, and the Turtles (in disguise) move in to protect her. During this fight, the humans recognise the Turtles for what they really are, and Raph then realises that they are a part of the renegade Shredder Loyalists that were responsible for the events of Tales #36 and the release of Hun. Midway through the fight, the power goes out and the train comes to a screeching halt. The little girl runs for it, but just as she gets to the door to the next carriage, the power comes back on, and standing right in front of her is Go.
Not trusting of anyone, Hun’s niece runs back, and the Foot try to grab her. Touch comes through the door at the far end of the carriage, and both girls launch into an attack against the Foot. After a brief fight on the train, the Turtles stall Touch and Go long enough to allow Hun’s niece enough time to escape. The turtles aren’t quite sure what to make of Touch and Go, given that this is the first time they’ve encountered them, and that they just kicked the shit out of the Foot goons.

Touch and Go both disengage from the fight and seemingly retreat. Mikey is enamoured with the girls, but Raph seems agitated. The turtles grab Lauren and they jump off the train, continuing towards Leo’s lair on foot.

They arrive at Leo’s home, filling him in on what occurred earlier. They get in touch with Donatello (who is at April’s currently vacant apartment, guarding the place after the “Hun” incident), who uses the new computer set up there to gain access to the NYC Surveillance Project and find out which way the girl(s) went.

Miller tries to contact him (the cops have been called about what happened on the train). The group decides to meet up and discuss what’s going on. Raph, Mike and Lauren all explain to Miller and Leo exactly what happened. Leo is concerned mainly about the involvement of the Foot and Touch and Go, but Miller is concerned about the little girl most, as he knows who she is. All he tells them is that they need to find her, that she’s under witness protection because of Hun.

We cut back to the girl. She’s arriving at her home, her foster parents are pissed at her being late. We drop a few little hints about who this girl might be, but nothing explicit yet. Suddenly, Touch and Go strike! They kill the foster parents, but before they can get away with the young girl, Leo, Raph and Mike bust in, taking everyone by surprise. The apartment is trashed as the Turtles collide with Touch and Go, and Miller and Stanton catch Hun’s niece as she tries to escape the building.

During the fight, Touch and Go reveal their true potential, and the Turtles are barely able to keep up. Again Touch and Go disengage from the Turtles and resume their pursuit of the little girl. The Turtles follow.

New York traffic prevents Stanton and Miller from getting too far, and Touch and Go catch up. Things look grim as the two assassins get the better of Miller, but the Turtles do show up in time. Leo figures out how their power works and the Turtles start fighting smart. They divide the girls and overpower them, forcing them into a retreat.

The Turtles manage to save the day, but it is decided that Hun’s niece isn’t safe. They know the Foot are after her, and they believe Touch and Go could be working for anyone, so they decide to send her to stay with Casey and April for a while down at the farmhouse in Northampton. It is during this scene that Miller reveals who the little girl is (this will be the big reveal to the readers).

More Untold Tales...

In light of a certain discussion as to how a X-over between Archie and Mirage might play out, here is a story I pitched as a non-canon story for something like FCBD. Pete liked the ideas, but ultimately passed on it. Would've been fun to see, but it doesn't bother me much, the story I'm putting together at the moment with Tales this year is going to be much more exciting!

We open in another dimension (Caption: NOT Dimension X…), where the two massive brutes are being pursued by authorities in an intense car/other-dimensional-vehicle chase! Suddenly, a vortex starts opening in midair just ahead of them…

Cut to our world, where a Foot Mystic and a band of renegade Foot ninjas are trying to open up a portal to the Netherworld (to summon a demon to help them against the Turtles). Unfortunately, the mystic has misinterpreted one of the symbols in the spell used to open the portal correctly. A portal opens, but when the vehicle Bebop and Rocksteady had hi-jacked comes thundering out and pastes the mystic, it becomes very clear that it’s not the right one!

The rest of the Foot renegades scatter and Bebop and Rocksteady check out this strange new world they’ve stumbled into. They are massive too, at least twice the size of Leatherhead. A registered, costumed superhero flies down to try and stop the duo, but they pulverize him (in a comically brutal way, not to death, but there’s no way a normal human would be able to take it).

Cut to the Turtles’ lair, where Raph, Don and Mike are watching late night television (Leo is reading something). A sudden live news broadcast interrupts and reveals that Bebop and Rocksteady are tearing up midtown as police try and take them down.

After getting a call from April (who’s been caught in the midst of the carnage), they spring into action (they would be disguised somehow, either in gear similar to #36, or civilian clothing – long coats, etc.).

They pluck April out of the danger zone and get her to safety without being noticed, everyone seems too freaked out by the massive duo to care.
Mike notices that Karai and a band of her best warriors are on a nearby rooftop. They join her to try and find out what’s going on, and Karai reveals that a rogue mystic had recently stolen a tome from their archives containing spells/rituals that could supposedly open pathways to parallel dimensions. However, without the book they have no idea what spell/ritual was used, or how to send the two creatures back to where they came from. Don and Karai discuss their options and agree to try and come up with something together, but it means that Mike, Leo and Raph, along with the Foot warriors, will have to try and keep the dimension-hopping duo occupied.

As Mike, Leo and Raph fight Rocksteady and Bebop (taking a number of jabs at the old cartoon along the way), Karai and Don manage to put together a trans-dimensional portal using Leatherhead’s makeshift transmat device and various other bits and pieces Don has accumulated over the years. By channelling the mystic energies of a similar spell through the device, they are able to open a wormhole to another dimension (though not necessarily the one they came from).

The group lures Rocksteady and Bebop to the area above Leatherhead’s old lair (where the portal will open), but the two brutes realise they’re being herded towards a trap and start playing dirty. Don and Karai can only keep the portal open for a small amount of time, and with the brutes wise to the trap, the portal overloads the device that opened it.

At a loss for what to do, Mike suggests they call Renet, but none have any idea how to do that – considering she’s just appeared every time they’ve needed her. However, true to form, she does appear, having sensed a disturbingly large tremor in the space-time continuum. The guys fill her in, and Renet floats up towards Bebop and Rocksteady. She begins channeling her energies, chanting (similar to good ol’ Doctor Strange), but suddenly – WHAM! One of the monsters punches her into a building, sending the sceptre scattering off into an alley.

Don rushes to her aide while Raph, Leo, Mike and the Foot launch another assault on the pair. When it looks as though all is lost, Splinter suddenly arrives on the scene, standing quietly between the battle-weary warriors and the battle-ready monsters. The Turtles freak out, thinking Splinter has finally gone insane, and Bebop and Rocksteady find the situation hilarious. But Splinter has Renet’s sceptre!

Splinter mumbles something and suddenly the two are sucked into the sceptre itself!

With the city saved, Don returns with Renet. Karai tells them that she will help provide the funds to repair the damages caused in the chaos. (If you like the alternate ending, Mike could ask where Splinter sent them).

The turtles return home with their master, exhausted.

ALTERNATE ENDING (one final jab at the old cartoon):
We cut to find that Rocksteady and Bebop have been transported to a dusty, arid dimension, somewhat similar to the surface of Mars. They have been secured by hi-tech restraints and are being marched towards a gigantic construct by hulking soldiers who look similar to The Thing. They stop at the base of the construct, just in front of what appears to be large boarding ramp. “New prisoners for you my lord! We found them inside the forbidden zone.”
Bebop and Rocksteady look up, and we see a grotesquely obese Utrom, sitting in the torso cavity of a massive exosuit (think Obediah Stane’s “Iron Monger” suit compared to Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit). The Utrom grins: “Excellent!”

We zoom out for the final panel, revealing that the construct is disturbingly similar to a certain subterranean construct made famous by the old TMNT cartoons..


The End.


END NOTES: I thought it might be funny if the Mirage U Superheroes tried to fight the two, but would just get flicked away like annoying bugs, the only reason the Turtles manage to get their full attention is because Raph or Mike manages to throw either a sai, or a makeshift explosive up Rocksteady’s nose, pissing him off to no end.

The other thing I thought would be to not have any of Rocksteady and Bebop’s language be English, or even remotely recognisable. It would be alien gibberish, but we would be able to ascertain what they’re saying through visuals.

Finally, Rocksteady and Bebop’s names would never be uttered either, except in their native tongues (which we wouldn’t be able to read anyway).

Buffy vs Burning Man

If I can dig up the plot, I'll post it here like I did the others, but I thought someone might find this interesting, particularly if there are any Buffy fans out there. Originally, I was sitting on the fence between two stories - Burning Man and a pisstake on Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Mike and Raph encounter a colossal uber-vamp in the belltower of the Church Raph has been hiding out in. The short and curly of it is that basically the two end up teaming up with a girl cut from the Buffy mold. She kicks vampire ass and the three set out to figure out why this ancient monster (which feeds on other vampires as well) has been let loose. It was basically a "What if" sort of story but taking all the necessary precautions to avoid horrendous legal troubles. It was a fun story, but ultimately took a dirt nap in favour of Burning Man, which ties into everything else I've got coming along for next year.

Blood on the Streets - Untold Tales of the TMNT aka Tales #36 Sequel mk.II

After receiving a lot of positive responses to Tales #36, I decided to rework the sequel I had in mind and narrow it down to this story. The two major things people responded to were the action and the story, and both are elements I would like to up the ante on with this Tale providing intense ninja action with an intricate done-in-one story.

Picking up some of the story elements in Tales #36 that many responded so well to, this story would take a closer look at the status quo of the New York underworld following the major shake up that would have happened during and following the City At War arc.

Where Tales #36 was predominantly focused on the character of Gordon Miller, with the Turtles being more of an occurrence, this story would see the Turtles in the forefront, with Miller making more of a Commissioner Gordon style cameo appearance.

The story's action would once again focus heavily on the ninja aspect of the Turtles, and we will be able to see how well trained they are when they have to deal with both Foot ninjas AND heavily armed gangsters.

There would also be a heavy focus on the Turtles working together as a team, as brothers, especially during their fight with the heavyweight gang-leader.

Something else I would like to highlight is how the Turtles manage to keep tabs on certain aspects of New York's criminal element, which would be shown when Don and Leo examine the way the gangs have been moving and when Casey tells them how he heard about the arms deal. This could tie in well as sort of a carry-on from the relationship established with Miller and Whitmire in Tales #36, and could possibly even make reference to Nobody/Officer Longer.

Hopefully you like what you see!

SYNOPSIS:

In the months that followed City At War and the reformation of the Foot Clan, the gangs and powerplayers of the criminal underworld began vying for control over certain territories once held by the Shredder and the Foot Clan. Now, someone is aiming to become top dog in this villainous food chain, brutally waging war against the various gangs and heavy hitters for their territory, and with the police seemingly at a loss and Karaiís Foot Clan no where to be found, only the Turtles can do anything to put a stop to the violence in the streets.

We open on a police raid of a derelict building, believed to be a mob hideout. The police bust in only to find that, once again, someone has beaten them to one of the heavy hitting gangs/criminal organizations. Outside, we see that Leo and Mike are watching from a nearby rooftop, having followed the police trucks to the site of the raid. They are meeting with Miller (from Tales #36) who explains to them that the Foot have vanished (although there could still be some buried in the force covering for them) and right now, their big worry is the increasing gang problem. Miller offers to forward what files he can on to them to see what they can do.

The Turtles head back to the lair where Casey and Raph are shooting some hoops and Donatello is working on something. They seem to all be talking about something when Leo and Mike arrive home. After explaining the situation to Don, Casey and Raph, they check through the files Miller has given them and Don works out that the attacks have been aimed at gangs that have ties to the Foot Clan. They also manage to deduce who the next major target is likely to be, which all ties into what Casey was telling Raph and Don before Mike and Leo got back: word on the street is that someone has managed to get their hands on some heavy duty weaponry and that this new gang is the buyer. They all agree to check it out, and if it turns out to be right, then they may be able to put a stop to the violence and prevent this new gang from reaching the top of the underworld.

The Turtles and Casey arrive at the warehouse the deal is set to go down and are confronted by something they werenít expecting. The dealer is Lin (the traitorous Foot ninja who had infiltrated the NYPD from Tales #36) with an entourage of Foot clansmen! The buyers arrive, a group of thugs, led by the hulking Copperhead (tentative name), whose hulking physique and ugly mug put even Hun to shame! Our heroes formulate a plan, a way they can take care of the gangers and get their hands on Lin, and launch their attack.

In the battle that follows, the Turtles dominate the gang and take down some of the Foot clansmen, but seriously underestimate Copperhead, who proves to be more than a match for the Turtles. Lin manages to escape during the fighting, and as police sirens draw closer, the Turtles, Casey, and the gang leader all make their own exits. The police arrest the gang-members and Foot clansmen left in the building and secure the weapons. Later Miller meets up with the Turtles and they discuss the revelations of the evening. Miller thanks them for putting a stop to things before they could get out of hand, and our heroes part ways.