Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles VS Street Fighter # 3

By Mark Rodriguez

The Turtles go to Atlantic City to enter the Street Fighter tournament. Bison and Baxter are working behind the scenes and Bison is interested in Raphael. After several matches, a brawl breaks out between the Turtles and the Street Fighters. Bison takes advantage of this and sends his soldiers to attack everybody. After the fighting ends, the crew realize that Chun Li and Raphael are missing.

The issue opens with Raphael and Chun Li being captured by Shadaloo Soldiers and brought to Bison and Baxter. Raphael is surprised to see Baxter involved and says that kidnapping and attacking civilians as well as rigging a fight he should have won (oh, get over it Raph) is low even for him. Chun Li sees Bison and says that's actually not low enough for him at all. 

 

Baxter asks Bison why he brought them there. He tells Bison he specifically wanted him to leave the Turtles alone so they don't risk them ruining their plans. Bison says that was what Baxter wanted, and he made a different call. Baxter says he's the brains of the operation and asks why he was brought along if Bison isn't going to recognize his wisdom. Bison smacks him across the face.

Bison tells Baxter that his purpose is to assist him in whatever limited way he can and to reap his meager rewards. Raphael asks Chun Li if they should interrupt the 'lover's quarrel'. Chun Li says they should wait until they spill their plan. Raph, as usual, refuses to wait and decides to rush them. 

Bison tells Baxter that the turtle is more powerful than he can imagine once he harvests his Psycho Power. Bison grabs Raph as he tried to attack him from behind and he flips him to the ground. Raph asks if Psycho Power is like Turtle Power.

I'm not too clear what happened here. If Bison slammed Raph onto the floor, it needed more impact or to be drawn clearer.

 

Back to the casino, one of the Shadaloo soldiers wakes up and realizes the fight ended and he was the only one left behind. He sees the Turtles and the Street Fighters working together as they study the security cameras. Ryu notes how quickly the soldiers disappeared despite the streets being crowded. Leonardo says some of them definitely used the front door. Donatello says the rest of them must have come from underground. One of the security guards says that they have underground delivery tunnels.

Donatello tells the newcomers that they used to live in the sewers and can use going to the underground as a tactic to get closer to the opponent as they re-surface and attack. Ken says they're more like 'Under-The-Street Fighters'. Jennika points out that she never lived in a sewer like the others. Guile notice the remaining Shadaloo Soldier running away and they can follow him to his friends. Guile and Michaelangelo run off after him while the rest will check out the delivery tunnels.

The security guard leads the rest of the crew, Leo, Don, Jennika, Ryu and Ken through the delivery tunnels. Ryu sees a soda and several posters of Halo Soda, which the guard says is sponsoring the tournament. Ryu tries to piece it together, organizing the letters around and Ken blurts out that it's Shadaloo. He laments that every time they find a nice well-organized tournament, it's always Shadaloo. Well Ken, you need to cameo in more fighting games like Ryu does.

Leonardo asks about Shadaloo. Ryu explains that Shadaloo is a deadly crime syndicate with plans for world domination. Leonardo says they should grab their weapons and use the tunnels to deliver some violence towards Shadaloo. The security guard asks if he should do the same. Jennika tells him to tell his manager that they appreciate the help.

 

Ryu tells Leonardo that he looks troubled. Leo says he's worried about Raph since the trip was his idea. He says Raph wanted to get away from fighting evil organizations and challenge himself against the toughest fighters in the world. Ryu says if Raph was looking for the toughest fighters in the world, he certainly got his wish.

Raphael demands to know what Psycho Power is. Baxter explains that is a source of organic energy. It's like a Dark Presence vested in people that are fueled by hatred and anger. Raph admits he has a temper, but he doesn't have a Dark Presence. Bison tells Raphael that he doesn't have to lie since his 'goody-goody' brothers aren't around. Chun Li says she only knew Raph for a day or so but she kinda agrees.

Bison says none of it matters expect the Psycho Power he can harvest from his captives. He intends to use Raphael and Chun Li as batteries for his Psycho Bomb. Raphael asks about the missing fighters and Baxter says a bomb that size requires a lot of battery power. Chun Li asks what he intends he use the bomb on. Bison says nothing, just so long as the world powers recognize him as their leader. Chun Li says they know their plan, so now they can fight. Chun Li spins upside down and hits the soldiers with her Spinning Bird Kick.

Guile and Mikey chase after the soldier as they head towards an amusement park. Mikey tells him to slow down since they're going to catch him anyway. He says they might as well a time out and ride some of the rides and get some New Jersey pizza. The soldier leaps onto one of the cars of a Ferris Wheel. Mikey asks the soldier what his plan is since he will have to come back down anyway.

Guile says Mikey is the silly turtle. Mikey says he just makes jokes when he's nervous.. and when he's not nervous. Guile says that 'she' isn't like that. He yawns and says they have some time to kill while the soldier comes back down. Mikey says he might take a hostage or hurt himself jumping off. Mikey says he's serious when he needs to be and is serious about protecting his friends and family. Guile watches as Mikey climbs up the Ferris Wheel and says 'she' is like that. Mikey tries to grab onto the soldier who tries to kick him away. The turtle says he's trying to keep him safe so he can tell him where his brother is.

Chun Li starts choking Baxter with her restraints while Raphael jumps towards Bison. Baxter presses a button that disconnects Chun Li's restraints, making her fall off him. Bison grabs Raph's leg and swings him into one of the several containers powering the bomb. 

Baxter tells Chun Li that she can't outsmart him. She asks why he set her free. Baxter presses a button and the restraints cuff her hands back together. Raph hits Bison with a flying elbow to the face. Bison smacks him back. Baxter tells Bison to try to keep up since he took care of Chun Li. Bison asks if Baxter thinks he's more powerful than him. Baxter says he's smarter which is its own kind of power. Bison then realizes that their prisoners have escaped while they were having a 'spirited and healthy debate'.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew fight their way through the Shadaloo soldiers and Ken gets a call from Guile. Guile says they got a location from the trooper and Ken asks if it's the Halo Soda Bottling Plant. Ken tells him that they are currently underneath it with the Turtles. Jennika tells Ken that they have names. Guile says they'll all meet up at the plant where they're sure to find Chun Li and 'that other Turtle'.

 

Raph and Chun Li run down corridors of the bottling plant as they're chased by the soldiers. Raph says he'll hold them to buy Chun Li some time. Chun Li offers to do so instead. Raph says Chun Li knows who Bison is and how to fight him. He tells her to find her friends and tell them what's going on. Chun Li runs off and says they'll come back to rescue him. Raph fights off the guards until he's overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.

Guile and Mikey are lurking outside the bottling plant. Ken tells them that they're gathering intel but it's mostly lots and lots of guards. Guile asks what the plan is. Jennika says they go in, fight dozens or hundreds of guards, find their people and fight their way out. Guile says it should be easy as long as their aren't any surprises, but what are the chances? Just then, one of the containers within the plant starts to rattle and crack as whatever lurks inside is trying to break out. 

Baxter gets looked at by one of Bison's nurses as he asks why they're rushing towards world domination, or oblivion if anything were to go wrong. Just then the containment unit busts open as a voice calls out, declaring his freedom. Baxter recognizes the voice. Bison says it was one his earliest creatures, and a difficult one. He says he'll call the guards to recapture him. Baxter tells Bison that he had just doomed them all.

We see that Shredder has stepped out of the containment unit.

My Thoughts-

While the story is entertaining to see where it goes, the characterization of the Street Fighter characters is just so off. With Bison's Saturday Morning plot and the good guys being too familiar with Bison and Shadaloo, the Street Fighter characters act more like they're based on the 90's cartoon show which followed the movie. Having the soldiers look like they did in the live-action movie is the real kicker. Regardless the version though, I still think Baxter gets away with giving Bison too much lip without being put in his place. I get that he's the TMNT villain used, and that Baxter would act like that towards individuals much more dangerous than himself... but not even the Raul Julia Bison would put up with all that talking down to. 

The comic had some cool scenes and good lines. Jennika got some of the better ones, when she told the Street Fighters that she doesn't live in the sewers, and reminding them that they have names and aren't just 'the turtles'. We also had the scene with Guile and Mikey, where we got to see that Mikey likes to joke around but is serious when he needs to be. Plus it was cool to see Guile interact with one of the other turtles other than Raph.

The action is a bit lacking due to keeping the story moving forward and trying to give all of the characters enough page-time. I would say there is no way Baxter would get one over on Chun Li. Sure he surprised her by Baxter turning her restraints on and off, but I'm sure she would have whupped his ass before he even had time to do any of that. 

Speaking of Chun Li, she got to do the Spinning Bird Kick again, but we have still not seen any Ha-Do-Kens or Sonic Booms. Usually crossovers take more after whoever gets top billing, with the second title being the guest star. The Marvel VS Capcom series play more like the Marvel games do. Battletoads and Double Dragon game played more like a Battletoads game. In this comic, the Turtles take more priority, and other than mutated animals, it is a more 'realistic' world. I guess when you look at it that way, it wouldn't make sense for regular humans to shoot fireballs and whatnot. I still want to see them anyway though.

While the turtles are closer to their IDW counterparts, especially with Jennika there and the fact that they currently live in Mutant Town, one big change is the Shredder. Shredder was dead at the time of this in the IDW on-going... but maybe he gets revived by Bison in this version of the story? I can't wait to find out what happens next now that Shredder's been tossed into the mix. I do like his design, which a lot of references to the classic 80's Shredder.