In Hand and Foot

By Michael Weyer

I know, a bit behind on the Supergirl/Merlin but this one hit me and just had to get out.

Now, some shifts to Season 3 of Daredevil but that's because in this timeline, Matt came back earlier due to Infinity Crisis. Trying to fit it with the newer seasons of Luke Cage and Iron Fist yet do want to make it work well. Tricky to mix things up but away we go.

New York, New York. The Big Apple which I've long found damn rotten. And that was before half the population vanished into dust and came back. It was weird, to be sure. Me, I just hit the nearest bar and would have stayed there if a guy with a flamethrower and a talking raccoon didn't show up in a brawl outside the door.

I've been in fights but that was something else. Aliens, flying folks, a talking tree, it was a crazy thing. The aftermath wasn't too bad. Mick was…something to do later on that helped me out. Handling the fallout was a bit much as found my business picking up a bit. Guess being seen helping save the world leads to a bit more attention.

It also got me and Trish talking again which we needed to do. She'd been dusted and needed to get back to basics and we realized it wasn't smart to let so much shit come between us. She's been helping me with my business while I handle the insanity going around the town.

Matt's back. Yep, guess in the chaos of so many gone, no one really noticed yet another person returning from the grave. Back in his legal office and still doing the Daredevil thing. Luke…Man, I don't know. He's declaring himself the "boss" of Harlem and he says it's to make it better. I went down to give him the speech that if steps out of line I'm there and he seemed to accept it. Just worried about him, that "power corrupts" thing isn't just talk.

Danny went on some Zen quest thing and looks like that Colleen chick now is Iron Fist. But heard he's back with some whacky new abilities. I don't know, I stay out of it for the most part as I've got enough in my life.

I just want to have a normal job and pay the bills. But I keep getting that ugly feeling something's coming that can change that. And it happened when I got a case that turned wilder than I figured.

And just like any good old fashioned PI story, it all started with a dame walking into my office…

The opening of the door caused Jessica Jones to look up from her file. She was in her "work clothes" of a dark sweater and jeans, her leather jacket draped on a hook. She brushed back her jet-black hair as she saw the figure entering the office. "You can knock now and then, Knight."

Misty Knight just pursed her lips as she took Jessica and her office in. She was in a professional suit, looking quite good with her prosthetic arm offsetting her dark skin. "And you should know not to just leave your office door unlocked. Not in this neighborhood."

"Folks know better than to cause trouble lately," Jessica shrugged. "So what do you want? If it's about Luke again…"

"No, not him," Misty said. "At least not today. No, want to hire you to look into something."

Jessica arched an eyebrow. "Budget cuts again?"

"You have any idea of the turnover since the Dusting?" Misty snapped. "Besides, it's something not many in the department are that upset about. Someone's been taking down some operations in the Kitchen and outlying areas."

"Isn't that the Devil?" Jessica asked.

"Just call him Matt, you hate that nickname as much as I do." Jessica nodded as Misty went on. "No, it's something else. A couple fatalities but most of them just knocked out and left behind. They're not talking too much but one mentioned some…creatures were behind this."

"Creatures?" Jessica shook her head. "Forget it. I'm not dealing with mutants, aliens or any combination of the above." She took a sip from her bottle. "Besides, why you so hot on this? Someone's taking out scumbags, that's a good thing."

"Crazy as it sounds, Jones, I actually care about crime, no matter who's pulling it," Knight snapped. "Besides, these things have a way of escalating. For all I know, this is just a new crew taking out the competition so they can move in. I don't want it heading into some gang war. Department resources are stretched thin. I need an outside source and I figure someone as tough as Luke can handle it."

Jessica tapped a pen on the desk before nodding. "Okay. Two thousand down payment, rest comes depending on what I find. I accept checks but no credit cards."

"All business, huh, Jones?"

"It is my way."

Luke Cage put down the glass, wishing the feeling of the liquor would be better. He was clad in a dark suit, a far cry from his usual outfits. Then again, it wouldn't do for someone in his position to be in the usual dark pants and yellow shirt.

His position…the "King" of Harlem. Once more, Luke told himself it was for the best. That it was better for everyone it be him rather than another Cottonmouth. He told himself he could handle it, keep crime to a minimum and cut down the drug use. He told himself he could keep kids safe and out of the crime life. He told himself he could do more good inside the system then fighting it.

He'd been telling himself a lot of things lately.

It was quiet inside the club, the early afternoon not a busy time. It gave Luke time to think, which he needed. He had meetings set up as he'd never realized just how much work it was running an enterprise like this. He had the cops, other heroes and rivals all circling around him like sharks, just waiting for a chance to strike. It was adding to the pressure of Luke trying to keep from going too far. He knew all too well the temptations of falling to a bad life and the risk he was taking with this.

He sighed as he heard the door open and footsteps enter. He wondered which of the many figures was coming to see him, either to "pay respects" or threaten him. Turning, he blinked at the blonde-haired man standing before him in a dark suit. "Danny. Didn't know you were back in town."

"A few days," Danny Rand answered. His face was impassive as he took in the club. "Moving up in the world, Luke."

"Still a long way to go before I match where you used to live." Luke held up a bottle. "Drink?"

"No, thanks." Danny looked calm but Luke could feel the obvious tension between them. "I heard what you were up to. And I get why you're doing it."

"This the part where you warn me I step out of line, you come down on me?" Luke snorted. "Cause I've already gotten that from Jess, Misty, Coleen and Matt among others."

"Nah, I've got a bit more faith in you," Danny said. "Just should be careful. I know all about driving yourself to a dark place for the right reasons."

"If it ain't me, it's someone worse," Luke stated. "Maybe it'll fail but…I still have to try." He waved a hand around. "You know how much this club was pulling in on music acts? Cottonmouth didn't need to deal drugs to make a huge profit."

Danny nodded. "Listen, I didn't come by just to touch base. Have you heard about this crew hitting the Kitchen?"

Luke nodded back. "We've got word. Struck a couple of the older operations so some of my crew worried it'll spread."

Danny carefully paced the room. "These guys are ninja."

"And…you just know that?"

"I've studied the scenes. I know the signs. Whoever these guys are, they're well trained."

"The Hand?"

"No. No, it's not their style but…something else."

"And you want me to help."

"You do owe me."

"No, I don't."

"Come on, Luke…Colleen is good but she still has to handle her abilities. And if these guys cause more of a mess, it can be bad for your business too."

Luke thought it over before letting out a long sigh. "Fine. Just one bit of checking out, though."

"Thanks."

"And I'm not wearing any damn suit, you know that."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

When "The Dusting" had hit, Matt Murdock's reaction to it was different than others. Obviously, he couldn't see people actually turning into ash and drifting apart. He did, however, endure how dozens of heartbeats around him had just ceased to be. That was without the sounds of crashes and the chaos of the vanishings. It was what had urged him to give up this hiding out and get back into the suit to help out.

It was odd that he owed his new life to such a disaster. But it had gotten him back into the groove. Had gotten him and Foggy and Karen finally back on the same page helping people. It was as if was…born again. And he rather liked it.

He crouched on the roof of a warehouse, carefully letting his senses go out. While he couldn't see it, his gaze was fixed on the building across the street, a larger warehouse in a seedy part of the Kitchen. He could sense figures inside, an unusual group and was thrown by how a couple of them seemed larger than normal. He couldn't quite make it out and so was doing his best to put it together.

He was still aware of the steps behind him as he quickly identified the heartbeat. "Colleen."

"Devil." Colleen Wing stepped forward, clad in a light white coat over her white shirt and jeans that allowed plenty of freedom for fighting if need be. Her lush dark hair flowed back as she joined Matt on the rooftop's edge. "You heard the same rumors I did."

He nodded. "Tracked down a runner to this place. I figure if the guys behind these attacks are anywhere, it's here."

"Hmmm…I suppose working together is better."

Matt nodded and then paused as he cocked his head. "Something's happening." His radar sense showed figures suddenly appearing at the roof of the building. "We need to move, now." He fired off the hook of his club to hook onto a nearby building and swung out. Colleen simply raced to take to the fire escape to join him.

"You didn't have to come," Jessica stated. She was in the passenger seat of a simple car with Misty behind the wheel. She looked out the lens of her camera to focus on the warehouse. "I'm better off solo."

"My money, I wanna see the investment," Misty replied. She sipped at her coffee. "And make sure you don't cause yet another massive mess I'm gonna spend hours working paperwork on."

"Listen, I know my sources are cagy but they agree. Folks are giving a wide berth to this place. Which means…"

"It's where the trouble is," Misty agreed. "All we're getting is intel that I can take to my boss so we can get a strike team here. No fighting."

"Come on, you already said I can't drink during this..."

"I mean it, Jones."

Jessica shrugged as she looked through the lens of her camera. Misty saw her stiffen and her gaze moved to follow Jessica's. She saw a pair of figures moving to the side of the warehouse, one she found familiar. "Is that…"

"Danny and Luke," Jessica confirmed. "Dammit, the hell are they doing here?"

"Do you guys just run into each other at random?"

"You'd be surprised." Jessica paused before sighing. "Got your piece?"

Misty nodded as Jessica unlocked the car, once more cursing her bad luck.

Matt and Colleen crouched on the rafters of the warehouse, gazing down at the group nearly fifty strong. They were dressed in full black outfits with purple hoods and a variety of weapons. Their style of movement reminded both of the Hand but somehow not quite the same. They appeared to be waiting for something, comfortable but alert. The two exchanged a look, knowing they had to be quick in their movements and do their best to avoid detection at all.

That approach was ruined when the door to the warehouse burst off its hinges.

Instantly, the ninja were alert, yanking out their weapons. They watched as Luke strode into the building with Danny behind him. He had removed a pair of pistols that he aimed at the group while Luke just cracked his knuckles. "Okay," Luke called out. "Let's make this fast and easy. Just tell us who you're working for and we'll spare you the hospital bills."

One of the ninja charged in, swinging his sword out. Luke held up his hand to block it as the blade shattered against his arm. Danny was pulling up his pistols and pulling the triggers. The guns seemed to glow before a pair of bullets streaked out, knocking back another attacking ninja. The others barely paused before charging at the duo.

Matt swung down from the rafters, landing right on one attacker. He leapt back to kick another and soon trading blows with a third. Colleen landed on a table and somersaulted to attack another ninja, her glowing blade flashing in the light.

"What are you guys doing here?" Danny asked as he dodged a blow to smash his fist into a ninja's face.

"Same as you," Daredevil fired back. "Just a bit smarter about it." He leapt back to avoid a strike, cursing himself as his radar sense was overwhelmed by so many shapes around him. "Just because you're bullet-proof doesn't mean you have to charge in like a tank, Luke!"

"We don't all got those freaky senses you do!" Luke returned as he punched a ninja across a table. He looked up as a door from the rear opened and even more of them poured out with weapons raised. "Geez, where did these guys come from?"

The door banged open again as Jessica and Misty entered. Misty had her gun raised. "NYPD, no one move!" The words were barely out of her mouth before one of the ninja slashed the front of her barrel off. Jessica belted him in the face to send him flying away. Another charged in with Misty attacking with her bionic arm to send him back.

"Hey, ladies!" Luke called out. "The more the merrier!"

"You know me, always the party girl," Jessica told her former lover as she waded into the brawl. She winced against a blow before knocking her attacker back. Two were trying to tackle Luke who easily shoved them aside. Danny flipped over an attacker, grabbing his sword. He was soon using it to slash through fellow attackers alongside Colleen.

Jessica snarled as she felt one ninja slash at her back, barely avoiding the blow before knocking him away. "You realize this counts as expenses!" she yelled to Misty, who was too busy trying to survive to retort.

Matt was kicking a ninja back when his senses detected two large shapes approaching from the next room. "Everyone get ready!" he yelled. "Something big is coming!"

The ninja parted aside to allow two figures to step forward. Actually, "stomp" would be the better term. Both were larger than a normal person with very muscular physiques. One had brown fur over his body, a torn red jacket with tight jeans and what looked like purple visor shades over his eyes. He had purple hair that was in a Mohawk ending in a ponytail and a necklace of skulls and bones was around his neck. His face resembled a warthog with a huge nose and massive teeth jutting out his mouth.

His companion was just as large but bulkier with solid grey skin. He wore a yellow muscle shirt and camouflage-styled combat pants with huge boots. On his head was a large military cap with goggles. His head was huge and dominated by a massive horn with a tip that gleamed in the light. In one hand was a gun roughly the size of an entire table.

"Sweet Christmas," Luke muttered at the sight of an overgrown warthog and a massive rhino standing on regular legs.

"Huh, the humans here look as good as our world," the warthog said in a literal snort. "What say we show them how we do things, Rocksteady?"

"Lead it on, Bebop!" The rhino lowered his gun and opened fire. The humans scattered to avoid the bullets. Danny pulled out his guns and fired, the glowing bullets flowing with one sinking right into the barrel of the machine gun. It erupted into the rhino's hands, causing him to yell in agony.

Luke charged in, tackling Rocksteady. He grunted as he felt the pain of slamming into a brick wall but kept going. The rhino creature seemed surprised at his strength as he was sent smashing through a table. Matt and Coleen moved in unison, each leaping to attack Bebop, who had pulled out a large sword to attack them both. Jessica raced to help Luke, punching Rocksteady in the gut and wincing at the pain.

"What the hell are these things?" Misty yelled out.

"Take them out first and worry about it later!" Matt yelled. He grunted as Rocksteady smashed a fist into his side, rolling about as he held his ribs. He saw the rhino throwing Luke back and started to march at him.

"Hey, Horatio, don't you have a horn convention to go to?"

Rocksteady and Bebop froze at the loud voice. They turned slowly as did all the ninja to see the arriving newcomers. The Defenders stared right back, thrown by the new arrivals but for different reasons.

In the midst of the room stood four figures. They were all of similar builds, squat figures with green skin and dark shells on their backs. They wore similar buckles and belts around their bodies and each had a bandanna over their eyes: Blue, orange, purple and red. Each had a weapon in their hands as they faced off against the two huge creatures.

"Oh, geez, its da Turtles!" Bebop groaned. "I thought youse guys was left behind!"

"Ah, come on, now we can turn them into boots!" Rocksteady boasted.

"You don't make boots out of turtles," the one in the purple mask stated. "I swear, these guys get dumber every time we meet."

Rocksteady snarled as he charged forward. The blue-masked figure leapt up to avoid the charge, allowing the purple one with the staff to duck and use it to trip Rocksteady. The rhino yelled out as he flew about and crashed into the rear of the room. The yellow and red-masked figures were moving to attack the ninja, smacking them aside with their weapons, the red one slashing a couple with his sai.

"Okay," Jessica spoke up. "Just so I know I'm not having some weird delayed effect to last night's tequila…those are turtles, right?"

"They are?" Matt frowned, only able to make out their shapes.

"Turtles who know kung-fu," Luke said in a dull tone.

"I swear to God, my life was normal before I met you people," Misty groaned.

Colleen looked to the others. "Whose side are we on here?"

Danny saw a few of the ninja break away to go after them. "The ones not attacking us!" he yelled before kicking him back. The rest soon realized he was right to charge back into the fray.

The yellow-masked figure was using some nunchucks to knock some ninja back. "Leo, behind you!" he yelled to the blue-masked figure. Leo held up his twin katanas to block a spear strike from a ninja before cutting him down. "Thanks, Mike!" he called out.

The red-masked figure somersaulted to avoid a hit. The purple-masked one was using his staff to grab onto one ninja and send it flying toward him. "Heads-up, Raph!" The red figure caught the ninja to send him flying back. "Good one, Donnie!"

"Mike" saw Luke lifting up a huge desk to send it flying into a trio of ninjas. "Whoa, dude, who are these guys?"

"Dammit, we didn't want to get attention," Leo cursed as he avoided Bebop's strikes.

"Kinda hard when you're freaking talking turtles!" Jessica yelled.

"Oh, come on!" Raph yelled as he slashed back at a ninja. "We see the papers! You've got weirder than us walking around this city!" He pointed at Matt. "And he's a demon guy!"

Matt just ignored him as he flipped over a ninja and threw out his billy club. The cable fired out to wrap around Bebop's legs and with a tug, he was sent smashing snout-first into the concrete. Mike did a somersault to land shell-first onto his back, causing him to gasp out in agony.

Danny and Luke battled back to back while Misty and Colleen found themselves doing the same. Jessica was tossing a ninja aside when a shadow fell from the doorway. Looking up, Jessica saw a figure slowly enter the room. He was tall, dressed in a dark purple suit with a massive helmet over his head that included a metallic face mask which almost completely hid his features. A long cape flowed behind him as his suit was packed with armored bits that included sharp edges all over. His wrists were enclosed in hard metallic gauntlets that ended in long and sharp knives.

At once, the ninja moved to join him, proving he was their leader. Even Bebop and Rocksteady moved to that side as the figure stepped forward to face the two groups of attackers.

"Oh, geez," Donnie groaned. "He survived too?"

The figure gazed at them all before speaking in a voice that echoed through his helmet. "This is not the time for our conflict, Turtles." He focused on the humans as well. "As for you…I shall give you this once chance. Stay out of the affairs of the Foot Clan. Or else suffer the consequences."

With that, he threw out his hands as canisters fell from them. A thick veil of smoke emerged, blocking off half the room. The humans were coughing a bit but it seemed to have no deadly effect. As it faded, the entire ninja group, including Rocksteady and Bebop and the fallen warriors, had vanished as if into thin air.

"How the hell do two walking bulldozers just disappear like that?" Luke demanded.

"Better question," Misty cut in, glaring at the Turtles. "Who the hell are you guys?"

"In ten words or less," Colleen snapped. "Preferably English."

Donnie stepped forward. "We are mutated reptilians who were transposed from our world to yours."

"Twelve words. Close enough."

"If he's speaking English, I'm Albanian," Luke announced.

"Dude, easy!" Mike spoke up. "We're good guys, all right! Just a bit different but we like helping out folks the Foot wants to crush!"

"Still in Albania here."

Misty glared at the Turtles. "You better be up front or I'm hauling you all in."

The quartet looked at each other with sardonic faces. "He's not gonna like it," Raph stated.

"I know," Leo sighed. "But we don't have a choice." He looked to the group. "Hope you guys have strong noses and love pizza."

Jessica was no stranger to the seedier parts of New York. But following four turtles through a tunnel and then down passageways into the sewers was something else. The four led the group into what had been a train station before being abandoned long ago. A section of it had been turned into a makeshift base of some sort. Simple cots lay on the floor to sleep in with a table marked with some maps. What looked to be a set of machines put together into a computer sat on one table while a TV set was set in another. Scattered about were empty boxes of pizza with one still containing some slices that the Turtles quickly went to chew on.

Kneeling in the center of the room was a figure with brown fur. White tendrils of hair flowed down from his chin like a long mustache/beard combo. He wore a simple red kimono over his body with a cane laid on his knees. He looked up to see the new arrivals and raised an eyebrow. "My sons," he said in a voice echoing with age. "I take it your journey tonight was eventful."

"Oh, my God," Misty whispered as Colleen instinctively shivered at the giant rat talking to them.

Leo bowed his head. "Master Splinter. We encountered a group of ninja we believed were the type we fought before. But it was the Foot."

"The whole pack," Donnie added. "Including Rocksteady, Bebop and the Shredder himself."

The figure named Splinter nodded solemnly. "This is grave news indeed. For them to be loose upon this world is a dire threat." He looked to the humans. "And who might these be?"

"Oh, we sorta ran into them fighting the Foot," Mike said between bites of pizza. "Pretty awesome moves there!"

The rat bowed his head. "Greetings, humans. I am Master Splinter."

"He's sort of our dad," Donnie said.

"Because of course he is," Misty said in a flat voice.

"Adoptive," Leo stated. "He's raised us from when were babies."

"Okay, what planet are you guys from?!" Jessica demanded.

Raph scoffed. "We're not aliens! That's just stupid!"

Splinter held up a hand. "We are not of your world, that is true. Yet I believe introductions are called for." He looked to Matt. "I know of the Devil of Hell's Kitchen already. In both your guises. As for the rest of you…"

They glanced before Misty showed her badge. "Misty Knight, NYPD."

The blonde-haired man waved his hand. "Danny Rand." He nodded to Colleen. "Colleen Wing, the current bearer of the Iron Fist." She waved to them.

"Luke Cage," he rumbled.

"Dude, awesome name!" Mike called out.

"Jessica Jones, P.I. Now how's about a talk on who you freaks are?"

"Hey, we're not freaks!" Raph snapped with Leo putting a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

The rat crossed his legs as he leaned on his staff, preparing himself. "The story begins almost twenty years ago in the Japan of our world. I was a simple rat then, the pet of young Hamato Yoshi. Hamato was a ninja warrior training with Oroku Nagi. Both were in love with Tang Shen, who chose Yoshi. Nagi was so outraged that he attacked his friend, who was forced to kill Nagi in self-defense. Knowing his crime, Yoshi and Shen traveled to New York with me their only possession.

"They found new lives there, new jobs. Yoshi worked construction while also teaching self-defense classes. I found myself watching him and even in a primal state, I understood enough to mimic his moves the best I could. That knowledge sunk into my mind until it could be used."

His face soured. "But back in Japan, Nagi's younger brother, Oroku Saki, burned with anger over his beloved sibling's death. Fueled by rage, he joined the Foot, a sinister clan of ninjas whose dark arts had been banned long ago. He rose through their ranks to become one of their top agents. He was chosen to travel to New York and establish a new power base for the Foot. Oroku accepted as he knew it was the chance to gain his revenge."

Splinter looked down with sadness in his eyes. "One night, he broke into the apartment and slew Shen. Yoshi arrived to find them and naturally fought. But he was no match for Saki who slew him as well. My cage was broken during the fight and on instinct I attacked Saki, clawing at his face. He tossed me out the window where I landed into a garbage dumpster. My master was dead and I was lost on the streets. I should have been yet another dead rat in New York."

"What happened?" Misty asked, enthralled by the tale. Even Jessica was fascinated by where this was going.

"One day," Splinter explained. "I was rummaging through the garbage near a pet store when a blind man was crossing the street. A truck was bearing out of control at him as a young boy raced out to push the man aside. The truck ended up crashing by the store and in the chaos, two items were sent flying out and into a sewer grate. I climbed down to find a broken bowl containing four baby turtles. It had landed in the remains of a canister containing a mysterious green liquid. We would learn years later that this was an experimental mutagen being transported from a laboratory."

"Mutagen?" Misty snorted. "Bad enough we got powered folks popping up, someone wants to make a drug for it?"

Splinter nodded in acceptance before going on. "As soon as I touched the liquid, I felt my mind expanding. Items I had taken in over the years suddenly became crystal-clear ideas and concepts. I took the turtles under my care as they grew. It soon became clear the mutagen had increased our intelligence as well as allowing us to grow in size. I took it upon myself to raise the turtles while also using the knowledge I had learned from Yoshi to train them in the ninja arts." He brushed back his "beard". "I immersed myself in several books found discarded in alleyways. Among them was a book on Renaissance art. It was from there that I named them."

He lifted the stick to point at each in turn. "Leonardo. Michelangelo. Donatello. And Raphael." Each Turtle nodded as their name was called out. "I realized fate had brought us together for a reason and believed it was to aid others."

"You trained them as warriors?" Danny asked in amazement.

"I trained them to do what the police of our world could not," Splinter stated. "As they grew, so did the Foot. Oroku soon transformed them into a dark force dominating the New York underworld. He took on his own identity as the Shredder and determined to bring the entire city under his heel. Eventually, I decided my sons were ready and they took the battle to Shredder. A war that continues."

Luke was clearly not getting this but Matt seemed open to it. "How'd you guys end up here?"

"Besides the Foot, we face another key enemy," Splinter declared. "Krang, an other-dimensional alien who has also attempted to conquer our world."

"It says something that's the first thing about this story that actually makes sense to me," Jessica announced.

"He's basically a talking brain who goes around in the stomach of a giant robot body," Michelangelo explained.

"And there goes the sense."

"Krang and Shredder have a love/hate thing going," Leonardo explained. "Sometimes they work together against us but other times they're fighting for power for themselves. It looks like they were in the 'off' period when we were getting into a huge battle with Krang's soldiers and the Foot. When some guys started turning into dust, we thought it was Krang's doing. Then, it hit all of us."

"When we were restored, we thought it was some weird attack," Donatello added. "But it didn't take long to realize this wasn't our world. Somehow, we got pushed into this dimension and we've been trying to find a way back."

"And…cleaning up the streets is just a way of killing time?" Jessica asked.

Splinter had a light smile to his face. "I had instilled in my sons a desire to seek justice in any way. They cannot let that fade in any world."

"Haven't you guys tried going for help?" Matt asked. "The Avengers or the Fantastic Four?"

"We're…sort of hoping to not make too many waves," Donatello said. "That was before we ran into those weird ninja guys."

"The Hand?" Matt asked with interest. "They're still around?"

"If that's what you call them," Donnie stated. "We thought they were just some random gang but we've been diving into your records to check things." He nodded to the makeshift computer set up on a tale.

"And now we've got the Foot here too," Leonardo sighed.

"Who were those two freaks with them?" Jessica asked.

"Bebop and Rocksteady," Donatello explained. "A couple of street thugs who got exposed to mutagen themselves. It warped them into these monsters while making them dumber than before."

"I'm assuming that armored dude was the Shredder?" Luke asked.

Leonardo nodded. "Yep. As bad as you may think this Hand is…if the Shredder is here, it's going to get worse."

Misty rolled her eyes. "Great. Just what we need, a gang war between super-powered ninja clans."

Splinter let out a sigh. "I am afraid we have accidentally brought our conflict into your world. Thus, we will do our best to end it before too many innocents pay the price."

The humans looked at each other. "Tell me this is not happening," Jessica half-begged. "Tell me, we're not joining up with some turtles to fight ninja from another planet!"

"I think we are," Danny said, looking just as dubious as she was.

Jessica glared at Misty. "You realize I'm seriously jacking up the bill for this."

"Shut up, Jones."

"Hey!" Michelangelo spoke up. "Now that we finally got someone from this world to talk to, I need to ask something of vital importance!" He held up a slice of food. "You guys know if there's a better pizza joint around?"

The chamber was silent with the robed and masked figures standing together in unison. One of their number was standing before the steps leading to a platform. Sitting on an ornate chair was a handsome man of Japanese descent. His long hair flowed to his waist as he wore a simple white suit with red markings across it. His eyes were covered by a red mask yet he gave no indication of being blinded as he faced the figure waiting his approval.

"You were discovered," he said in a dark voice. "Your task was simple. To infiltrate this new clan of interlopers but you could not do that."

"Their leader knows his men," the ninja stated. "He discovered me quickly."

"You dare make excuses?"

"No, my Lord. I know my failure. And I know the penalty."

"Yet you returned." The man stood up, nodding with respect. "Good." He looked over to the other ninjas. "Let this man's acceptance of his fate be a lesson to all of you. There were now be severe penalties for failure."

He reached to his bandanna and as one, all the ninjas closed their eyes and turned their heads away. Except for the one standing, who merely set himself in place. The man removed his mask to allow his solid white pupils to flash outward. Instantly, where a flesh and blood human had stood, there was now a solid stone statue.

The man replaced the bandanna and called for the attention of his men. "These interlopers are staking a claim to a city that is meant to be ours," he called out. "They call themselves the Foot. But now, by the word of Gorgon, they will feel the true wrath of the Hand."

The man stood before the huge window, gazing down at the city below. His group stood before his desk, all keeping quiet, knowing how much their leader hated being interrupted. "How much?" he finally said in a dangerous voice.

"Three million last night," one man replied. "Combined with the attacks earlier in this week, that's closing in on twenty million just in this week."

"He's making in-roads to some of our shipping lines as well," another man said. "Including our operations at the docks."

"At the rate he's going, he may well be taking over a fifth of your territory in just a week," the first man intoned.

The white-suited figure turned to face them, the light glinting off his bald head as his eyes narrowed with anger. "This man wants to play within my city?" Wilson Fisk glared at the men before him. "We'll just have to teach him a lesson."

As you can see, a lot of set-up but hopefully it works. I decided to go for a bit of a mix of the classic Eastman/Laird Turtles with the original cartoon and the 1990 movie as do enjoy the "teens mood" with some more serious stuff in combat. And Gorgon is just too cool a character not to use for a rebuilding Hand. All comments welcomed.