WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #115 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Sophie Campbell, Ronda Pattison, Shawn Lee, and Bobby Curnow, on sale now.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been through some truly horrible situations lately, and they only have more of them to look forward to as far as they're concerned. Preventing a bleak promise for the future from coming true is at the top of their priority list, and the biggest part of that is keeping one of their deadliest enemies alive. As one dire situation cascades into another, the Splinter Clan is left shell-shocked by the never-ending barrage of brutality that their lives have become. Thankfully, one of their own is able to put an end to the madness, at least for now. The only caveat to the evening's peaceful resolution is that the heroes have to agree to another battle in just a few days. Specifically, a Battle of the Bands.
Rescuing Karai and her lackeys from the wreckage of their crashed helicopter was the easiest thing the Splinter Clan are going to do all night, as it's immediately followed by venturing back out into the city to hunt down and bring home the roaming Tokka and Rahzar. These two massive mutants may have caused the crash, but it didn't do them any harm, instead of leaving them alone and confused while scouring the street for Karai. Unfortunately for everyone, Bebop and Rocksteady are also out looking for Karai's new pets, and when they find each other the rescue mission turns into one of the most shocking displays of violence in TMNT history.
While Bebop and Rocksteady unload on their prey with automatic weapons and chainsaws, the Turtles can only watch on in horror while the two younger mutants are viciously assaulted. The heroes swear they aren't going to let anyone get killed, but with the way things are going it isn't in any way clear how they're going to keep that promise.
The Splinter Clan is well aware of the damage that Bebop and Rocksteady are capable of, as well as the fact that they don't stand a chance against them. With not a moment to spare, Lita takes it upon herself to run out from behind their cover and confront the two maniacal mutants on her own, and she makes them an offer they can't refuse.
Lita knows that Bebop and Rocksteady are musicians at heart, even if those hearts are cold and cruel, so she challenges them to a Battle of the Bands. It might not seem like anything to take seriously, but the two villains hush their own allies while they consider Lita's offer after Jennika steps up to join her fellow Turtle. Jennika sets her end of the terms with Bebop and Rocksteady being forced out of Mutant Town if they lose, while Bebop counters that he and his partner will take control of the rock club if they win.
With the matter settled, the two sides part ways until it's time for them to meet again, the villains completely unaware that they've just agreed to help save the world. Jennika plays more of a role than she would like to in the dark future that has been foretold by Lita, and a big part of that is her leaving music behind to pursue unimaginable violence instead. If the Battle of the Bands can make Jen remember why she loves playing in the first place, it could very well be the first big step towards preventing the total destruction of the world as they know it.
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