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).
4 comments:
Damn dude, that's epic! I could easily see this story being expanded into 3 issues or more. I actually like the concept of Bebop and Rocksteady not speaking English. That'd make it harder for the turtles to figure out where they came from (though the savvy fan will definitely know).
I wonder Tristan, how would you imagine Bebop and Rocksteady's reactions to the turtles and the Foot Clan? I think the two would definitely recognize the forces fighting against them, so I'm sure it'd be strange for them to see the TMNT and the Foot working alongside one another.
Love the alternate ending with a Krang and Technodrome cameo. Really nice way to cap the story.
Too bad we won't be seeing this in print. Really great ideas, Tristan. Keep chugging away!
It'd be great if they finally did that crossover. Me, I just want to see the Technodrome back in action.
I thought about this story once, but I didn't get much farther than the Archie Turtles confronting the Mirage Turtles, with Archie Michelangelo saying something about there being way too many Raphs.
I might hold on to the basic premise, scrub Bebop and Rocksteady and bring in something else.
The idea was that these two are just solid units that get a kick out of breaking shit. They're on the run from the law in their own universe, and when they crash here they find countless little soft meaty things (us) running around helplessly. They love it. They'd see the Foot Clan as nothing more than meaty things in black suits with sharp things, so there wouldn't be any differentiation between on thing or another for the two. Humans = small and weak, them = superior. It'd be basically what I'm doing with Hun, applied to Bebop and Rocksteady, only with more pisstaking of the source material.
Oh it's really too bad this didn't get okay'ed. I love the idea of more threatening and foreign versions of Bebop and Rocksteady. It could be a lot of fun with all the little nods and pokes at the OS universe.
Having the option for "what-if" or "non-canon" stories could open doors to so much creative story-telling. I mean, really, how many things can *happen* to these guys in one lifetime keeping it all "in-bounds" of canon?
Post a Comment