My name is Leonardo. And right now, my brothers and I are in a mess of trouble. Our backs are up against the wall in some trash strewn alley, cornered by the toughest street gang on the east side.

"Look at the freaks!"

"What's with the dweeby costumes?"

"This ain't Halloween!"

"You're going down, freaks! Nobody messes with the Purple Dragons! Especially wearing stupid turtle costumes!"

He's wrong. We're not wearing costumes.

(!)

Deep below the streets of New York City, in a particular sewer tunnel, a gray rat the size of a man wearing a brown robe sat in darkness, holding a candle in one hand and a walking stick in another. He spoke in the voice of an old sage, "Remember, to be a true ninja, you must become one with the shadows. Darkness gives the ninja's powers, while light reveal the ninja's presence." He positioned himself, ready for an attack. "Now, can you extinguish this flame without revealing yourselves?"

A figure leaped, but the rat ducked. In the light, the figure was revealed to be a turtle the size of a teenager and walked on two legs. He was wearing a purple bandana mask over his eyes and had a wooden staff strapped to his back.

"Too noisy, Donatello," the rat said.

Another figure tried to grab the candle, but the rat tripped him with his staff. The figure was revealed to be another turtle, only this one was wearing an orange bandana and had a pair of nunchucks strapped to his belt. The turtle crashed into the first turtle and the two of them groaned.

"Too clumsy, Michelangelo," the rat said.

Another figure tried to sneak attack him, but the rat suddenly turned around and the figure gasped, exposed to the light. It was an African American boy about ten years old, wearing rags and carrying a pair of tonfas. The rat slammed the boy with his tail, making him collide into the other two turtles.

"Slow footwork, Dante," the rat said.

A third turtle, this one wearing a red bandana, appeared, and tried to grab the candle. The rat jumped out of the way and slowly walked out of reach. The turtle tried to attack with a pair of sai blades only to be slapped aside by the walking stick and crash into the other failures.

"Poor choice, Raphael," the rat said.

A fourth turtle, this one wearing a blue bandana, hid between the pipes on the ceiling until the rat was right under him. With a slash of his twin katana swords, he sliced the candle in half before catching it with one of his swords. He blew out the candle, ending the lesson. The rat turned on the lights. "Well done, Leonardo."

The other turtles and the boy picked themselves up from the dirt. "Ow," Dante groaned. "Did you have to be so rough, Master Splinter?"

"A little roughness must be a reminder of your failure," the rat, Splinter said.

Raphael growled at Leonardo. "Teacher's pet."

Leonardo made a smug smile as he tossed him the remains of the candle. "Ninja dropout."

"Oooh!" teased Donatello and Michelangelo.

Raphael crushed the candle and charged at Leonardo, but Splinter stopped him. "My sons!" The turtles and boy gathered round, sitting on their knees before the rat. "My sons, if you are to become true ninja, you must work harder." Michelangelo was distracted by a fly. "Your path in life will not be an easy one. The outside world will not be a friendly place for you. You five are different in ways the surface dwellers would never understand. To survive, you must master these skills I teach you: ninjutsu powers of stealth and secrecy. You must become kage, shadow warriors. And you must never be discovered by the outside world." Michelangelo grabbed the fly, making Splinter glare at him.

"But I am a surface dweller," Dante said. "I could walk about with the others."

"And I told you time and time again," Splinter said. "That there are people who will take advantage of you. Of small children unattended by an adult or older sibling."

Dante grumbled, "I'm not small."

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling. "What is that noise?"

The whole tunnel started to shake.

Michelangelo exclaimed, "Whoa! Earthquake!"

Donatello, the genius of the family, speculated, "In New York? Possible, but not likely."

"It..." Dante stammered. "Must be a subway passing above us."

"Dante," Raphael said. "There's no subway line above us. And I know subways. Subways don't make the ground shake as bad as this!"

Suddenly, something burst out of the wall. An army of somethings. They looked like an army of robots the size of house cats with bear trap-like heads with a single glowing yellow eye and a pair of clawed-toed feet.

"What are those things?" exclaimed Leonardo.

"New York City cockroaches?" joked Michelangelo.

"Whatever they are," Raphael said, always ready for a challenge. "They picked the wrong party to crash!" He gave the closest robot a kick, sending it on its back. The others, perceiving the boys and rat a threat, attacked.

Donatello swung one robot away like a golf ball with his staff only for another to bite it down, so he smashed it like a hammer. Michelangelo smashed some with his nunchucks, and grabbed one. "Hey, Leo! Think fast!" He tossed it to Leonardo who slashed it with his swords.

Raphael and Dante were back to back, slashing and smashing the robots with their sai blades and tonfas respectively.

Then Leonardo saw the robots cornering Splinter, who was swatting them aside with his walking stick, which was stronger than it looked. "We got to help Master Splinter," he called to his brothers. They fought more robots, but then they were faced with another problem: the ceiling was collapsing on them!

"They're chewing through the support beams," Donatello reported.

It was too late to save Splinter; the rubble blocked the boys' way. Leonardo tried to dig through. "Master Splinter! Master Splinter! No!"

Dante tried to help. "No, no, no, no! Splinter! DAD!"

(!)

Enraged, Raphael stomped a surviving robot. "What the shell are those things?" wondered Michelangelo.

"Whatever they were," Raphael said, giving another robot a kick. "They're junk now."

"Guys," Leonardo said while he, Dante and Donatello tried to dig through the rubble. "Splinter. We've got to find Splinter! Master Splinter!"

Then Dante heard a beeping. He turned to face Donatello, who was fiddling with a small cellphone-like device the size of a shell. "Donny, what are you doing?"

"Shell cell. I'm calling Master Splinter."

A few seconds of ringing later, and Master Splinter's voice was heard on the other end. "Hmm. Which button do press to answer this thing?"

Everyone was both happy and relieved. Leo took the phone from Donny.

"Hello?"

"Master Splinter, are you all right?"

"Hello!"

"Master Splinter!"

"Stupid device."

"You don't have to press any buttons. You already answered it."

"Oh," Master Splinter said, embarrassed. He hated modern technology sometimes. "Leonardo, whatever those mechanical menaces are, they managed to eat through the support structure of our home. We must leave right away." Everyone gathered around Leo; Raph pushed Mikey out of the way. "Meet me at the old drainage junction at South Point."

Donatello pulled out a map. "If we take the south conduit, it'll intersect with the old drainage tunnel."

"We'll meet you there, Sensei," Leo said, hanging up before Mikey looked over his shoulder. "What did he say? What did he say? Did he mention me?"

"Yeah, that you are hard on hearing." joked Dante.

"HEY!"

Raph chuckled.

(!)

Mikey took one last goodbye to the tunnel they called home. "Goodbye broken pipe. Goodbye grungy pay phone. Goodbye dented manhole cover. Goodbye home sweet home."

"Hello cruel world," Raph said. "Come on!" And he dragged Mikey away.

The five boys walked down a series of tunnels; they could see tell tale signs that those little robots were here too. "Looks like those things have been through here," Leo said.

"And quite recently," Dante agreed.

Donny looked around. "These walls are seriously compromised. It's lucky this roof hasn't caved in yet." He and the other boys stopped dead in their tracks. Dead end.

"Spoke too soon, Donny," Dante said.

Leo shook his head. "Can't go forward, can't go back."

Raph eyed a ladder that led to a manhole cover. "Looks like we go up."

Leo stopped him before he could take a step. "Hitting the surface is a bad idea."

"We've got no other way to go Leo," Donny pointed out.

Leo sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine. But we're going up to go down the next manhole. Got it? No fooling around. Remember what Sensei said. It's dangerous for us to be seen, let alone captured. We need to stay out of sight!"

"We got it the first thousand times, Leo. Just follow my lead."

Raph was the first to exit followed by Dante. Leo was hesitant. "Come on, Leo, move it! I don't want to be staring at your butt any longer than I have to!"

Leo ignored Mikey's comment when he heard the sound of a scooter approaching. Raph pressed himself against an alley wall while Dante hid behind a box and Leo ducked back into the manhole. "I don't know why I have to hide," Dante grumbled. "I am human."

"Just remember," Leo said as he finally crawled out. "There will be people who will want to take advantage of you."

"How can I know who those kinds of people are if I haven't met any?"

"Just stay on our tails," Leo said with finality. The turtles and boy jumped over a bar canopy, slid under some cars and dashed across the street to where the manhole cover was. Only to find that Raph got there first, only he wasn't going anywhere. An armored truck was parked right above the manhole, one of its tyres blocking it. Raph gave it a kick, hurting his foot. Leo winced, "Way to be stealthy, Raph."

"Yeah," said Mikey. "I don't think they heard you over in Jersey."

"Give me a hand," Raph ordered, then added, "Don't even think about it, Mikey." Mikey frowned. "Ah, forget you guys! I'll push it myself."

Suddenly, someone was coming!

"Hide Raph, hide!" Leo hissed.

Raph looked left, then right, then dove into the back of the truck, much to everyone's frustration. "Poor choice, Raphael," Mikey quoted.

At that moment, a bunch of thugs with a purple dragon motif to their street clothes and tattoos came out carrying bags. They opened the back of the truck, not all the way though, thankfully. "Did you see the way that guy squirmed when we took his cash?"

"Sheep man. Sheep to be fleeced by us wolves."

When the thugs were finished loading the truck, they slammed the door, got in the cab and took off. Mikey peeked out from his and his brothers' hiding spot. "Aww man, imagine their surprise when they open the back of that truck."

Leo shook his head, "This is exactly what Master Splinter was talking about. We've got to get him out of there."

"Last one to the roof hatched from a rotten egg!" Donny called out. The four brothers used their parkour skills to climb all the way up to one of the buildings. From this height, they could see the truck driving away. "We can cut them off at third and first," Leo said.

"If we run like crazy." Donny said.

Mikey smiled. "Is there any other way to run?"

The boys followed the truck, still on the rooftops. Mikey got ahead of the other three. "Slow down, Mikey," Dante called out. "This isn't a race!"

"It just became one!" Mikey ran ahead before he looked back. "You guys are too slow!" He spoke too soon; Donny and Leo jumped over him and over the gap of two buildings. Mikey still had one thing to be happy about: if he couldn't beat them, he could beat Dante who was trying to keep up. Mikey slid over a roof and zip lined across a clothes line only to collide into someone's laundry and land on a roof. He sniffed the sheets. "Mmm, springtime fresh."

Dante smiled. He came in third place, then second after he passed Donny. He could never catch up to Raph, but since wasn't here, this was good. He was finally catching up to his older brothers.

(!)

The truck finally parked in an alley. Four of the gangsters got into one of the buildings. A fifth was about to enter, but one of them ordered, "Hey, Two-Ton, watch the truck. We wouldn't want somebody to steal our stolen money."

The big thug paced back in forth in front of the car until he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. When he looked behind him, he saw a young kid dressed in rags. "Hey, beat it, kid." He tapped the baseball bat he was carrying in his hand threateningly.

"Hey, this is a no parking zone," Dante said with feigned innocence. "Here's your ticket..." He kicked the thug between the legs, making him drop to his knees. "...and HERE'S your fine!" A smack upside the head with the tonfas knocked the thug out.

"Nice work," Leo commented.

"Thanks. Mikey came up with that line."

"And thank you for the credit," Mikey said with a smile.

"Now, let's get Raph out of there."

The boys got to the back of the car where Raph angrily banged against the door, shouting to be let out. Mikey saw just how advanced the lock was. "Man, whatever happened to good old fashioned padlocks?"

Donatello reached into the toolkit in his duffel bag and started to disassemble the lock. "Where's the fun in that? This one is all mine."

Raph continued to angrily bang against the interior of the car much to Mikey's pleasure. "What's that, Raphael? You're gonna have to speak up dude. I can't hear you." Raph kicked the door in frustration. "Okay, I heard that."

Donny stopped his progress for a brief moment to glare at Mikey, "I'm trying to work here." A few more clicks and the door was unlocked.

"Hey, Raph! Welcome back, bro...AAAAHH!" Before Mikey could finish his taunt, Raph charged out the door and tackled him to the ground.

"Remind me how you're related to that hothead," Dante asked, shaking his head. Suddenly, he heard a can get kicked. Someone was coming. And they knew they were here. "Raph, Mikey, you might want to stop fighting now."

"And why not?" asked Raph, who had Mikey pinned.

"Because we're not alone?" Mikey asked, getting out of Raph's grip.

The gang from earlier heard the noise and were advancing toward them. "Look at the freaks," they said. "What's with the dweeby costumes? This ain't Halloween!"

The frontman of the gang stepped forward and twirled a bat. "You're going down, freaks! Nobody messes with the Purple Dragons! Especially wearing stupid turtle costumes!"

Dante chuckled as he and his brothers readied their weapons. "We're not wearing costumes."

(!)

It was no contest really. The Purple Dragons were just a bunch of punks who thought that if they got their hands on weapons, they'd be experts instantaneously. Big mistake. The whole gang was tossed to the ground and their bodies were piled up. When they got up, they all made a hasty retreat.

The turtle brothers and Dante high fived each other. "Give me some green," Mikey cheered.

"Noggin!" Dante called out. He and Mikey head butte each other lightly. "Duuude," they both said, almost sounding like surfers.

Donny sniffed. "Well, that was easier than expected."

Raph huffed with pride. "I hope there are more of those guys, I'm just getting warmed up."

The shadows of multiple people loomed over the five boys. Mikey gulped. "Uh, well, looks like you got your wish, Raphie boy."

All over the roofs surrounding the alley were multiple people wearing black outfits with armored vests, black masks with yellow lenses and on their chests was a symbol of a three-toed dragon's foot. Leonardo gasped at the figures. "Are those guys...ninjas?"

The figures jumped down and circled the boys. "Well, they certainly seem ninja-esque," Mikey gulped.

"Be ready for everything," warned Leo.

"I am so going to enjoy this," smirked Raph.

(!)

Donny was the first to attack. First, he pole vaulted over the group and blocked a couple of blows before sweeping the ninjas off their feet with his staff.

Raph found himself caught in the middle of a circle of three attacking ninjas. "Nice dragon kick. Yeah, sweet double phoenix punch. Hey, ya' know this one?" A triple flying kick knocked all three ninjas out.

Leonardo clashed swords with one ninja, only to find himself fighting two on the canopy of the building.

Mikey swatted one ninja with his nunchucks, and hit another trying to sneak up behind him.

Dante clashed tonfas with another ninja. So far, he was winning until another ninja snuck up behind him and threw shuriken at his back. Thankfully, Donny blocked them just in time with his bo staff. "Thanks, Don," Dante said. Unfortunately, the ninja he was clashing with saw this as an opportunity to kick him into the face and send him flying into the side of the truck. Soon, even Donny and Mikey were cornered. "Don, are we beating them, or are they beating us?" A bunch of throwing stars were thrown at them, but Donny blocked them with the truck's door.

"Ask me again when we're winning, Mikey."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"You ask me," Dante said, rubbing the soreness on his head. "I think it's time for a tactical retreat."

Donny looked at the truck, then started to pull out the wire. "Do you even know how to hot wire a truck?"

"Piece of cake," Donny said, fiddling with the wires. "Cover me!"

Dante kicked two ninjas between the legs before smashing them with his tonfas. Another snuck up on him and started squeezing him. Thinking fast, Dante bit down on his arm, releasing his grip and leaving him distracted enough for Dante to kick him in the face. But he was starting to get tired. Soon, Raph, Leo and Mikey were helping him, but even they had limits and the ninjas just kept coming in greater numbers.

"How many of these goons do we have to bop before they get the hint?" asked Raph.

"Really," said Mikey. "They just keep coming."

Leo turned to the turtle genius. "Time to switch to plan B. Donatello?"

"Almost there, Leo." A second later, the engine turned on. "This bus is now leaving for anywhere but here!"

The turtles and Dante hopped into the back of the truck. Donny put the petal to the metal and drove through the crowd of ninjas, scattering them like roaches. "Slow down, Donny," called out Dante as he and the three turtles bounced around. "The back doors are open and this rig doesn't exactly have SEAT BELTS BACK HERE!"

"Relax. We're far away from them. We'll park here." Donny found a place to park and Raph shut the door.

With the truck far from the ninjas, Donny drove the truck to the speed limit. Mikey scratched the back of his head, confused. "I gotta tell you, this has been one mondo bizzaro day. First all those metal robot things underground and . . . what's with all those ninjas? Ninjas in New York City, besides us? It's just not right."

Dante kicked a duffel bag the Purple Dragons left in the truck. "That's not the only thing that's not right." He opened one of them, revealing loads of dollar bills.

"Show me the money, baby!" Mikey cheered.

Leo took it back from him. "This isn't finders' keepers, Mikey." When they found a police car, Leo took all the duffel bags of money and tossed them onto the hood of the car. "Take care of this money, will you guys?" Then they took off.

"Aren't you worried that two cops just saw four giant talking turtles toss bags of money out the window?" Dante asked.

"Nah," Raph said. "They'll probably think they ate too many donuts."

(!)

The boys drove through a tunnel until they reached the drainage junction where a familiar rat was sitting and meditating. Dante was the first to get out and the first to give Master Splinter a hug. "Oh, dad! You're safe." Master Splinter returned the hug.

"Well, I'm glad to see you too, my sons."

"Master Splinter, so much has happened today," said Leo.

"Yes, yes, there will be time to tell me all about it later, Leonardo. But first, I wish to take you all home." The rat walked toward a hole in the floor, but he stopped when he saw the sad looks on the boys' faces.

"Home?" asked Mikey.

Raph painfully reminded Master Splinter, "We got no home. Those robots trashed our pad, remember Sensei?"

The rat smiled. "Do not worry. I think I have found a solution to our current housing problem. Follow me my sons." And he jumped down the hole. Leo was the first to follow the rat, then Donny. Mikey paused and was about to shout, "Cowabunga!" but Raph pushed him. "Not funny, Raph!"

"Oh, yes it is." He jumped down the hole with Dante being last.

(!)

The hole turned into a slide that led to another tunnel.

"No offense Master Splinter, but this place doesn't seem so great."

"Look with your heart Michelangelo, and not eyes."

Mikey paused for thought. "Um, okay."

"And walk this way." Mikey imitated Splinter's cane-assisted walk only to be whacked upside the head by Raph borrowing Donny's bo staff.

(!)

The tunnel led to the most amazing thing the boys had ever seen: a spacious chamber made up of a mortar and metal of unknown material and with multiple upper and lower rooms. There was a hole in the middle of the floor that probably led to another part of the sewer and there were pipes all around. Despite the fact that the place was a mess and hadn't been touched for some time, it was definitely a place to call home. The boys oohed and awed at the place.

"This is beyond awesome!" Mikey exclaimed.

"I could really tune this space up," Donny reported.

Mikey was already calling dibs on rooms. "This room here, mine." He pointed to a door Raph was standing by. "And where you're standing, also mine." Raph frowned in annoyance.

"You see my sons, change is good," Splinter said.

Leo put a hand on his shoulder. "We couldn't agree more, Master Splinter."

"Good, so let's see you boys clean up for a change. This chamber is filthy."

Dante whined, "Hey, that's not fair, Master Splinter! You haven't done anything!"

"Whatever do you mean? I already did my share of the cleaning before you got here."

The boys groaned.

(!)

In his lair, Oroku Saki sipped his tea. He was accompanied by a large blonde-haired man with a scarred cheek and a tattoo of a purple dragon coiled around one arm and one of a three toed dragon foot on another. Saki listened to the Purple Dragons leader currently explaining his story about the missing money with a stuttering, afraid voice. "Sir, I . . . I uh, my men, we uh, we lost the armored car with the money. But we were attacked . . . by a kid in rags and some sort of karate frog creatures or something. They took us by surprise. It – it wasn't my fault."

Saki stood up. "Enough!"

"I promise sir, I won't fail you again."

"I know. You won't fail me again. EVER!"

The large man silently watched as Saki executed the pleading man right on the spot.