WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin #3 by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz, Esau, Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, Samuel Plata, Luis Antonio Delgado, and Shawn Lee, on sale now.
The world of The Last Ronin has been among the darkest and depressing futures that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have ever faced. In a timeline where only Michelangelo survived decades into the future, the last Turtle is still busy fighting in a desperate bid to create some semblance of peace in the Foot-controlled New York City.
While Michelangelo and April O’Neil are getting ready to wage war in this dark future, the biggest revelations of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin #3 come with flashbacks to Oroku Hiroto’s attack on New York. Shortly after the villain took control of the Foot Clan, he and Baxter Stockman unleashed a massive attack that left both Leonardo and Casey Jones dead.
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As Michelangelo and April catch up after his self-imposed exile, they remember what they did during the Turtles’ last stand against the Foot Clan on the night that Donatello and Splinter flew to Japan for peace talks with Oroku Hiroto. As they flew halfway across the globe in hopes of reaching a truce, Baxter Stockman unleashed a devastating assault on the remaining Turtles and their allies, beginning with a whole new breed of cybernetic Foot ninja that kept Leo and Casey Jones on their toes.
While these new robotic minions proved far more dangerous than the Foot ninja the heroes were used to, Leo and Casey were still able to handle them with a bit more effort and a lot more sledgehammer. This coordinated and calculated strike against the Splinter Clan wasn’t merely an intimidation tactic or chance to show off the Foot Clan’s new assets, though. The true purpose of this attack, at least to some extent, was reclaiming the Fugitoid robot housing the mind of Professor Honeycutt for Baxter Stockman. Leo and Casey proved themselves more than able to handle the first wave of robots, but once Stockman released a seemingly endless sea of flying Mousers, it became clear that the odds were stacked against them. Staring down what seemed like an inevitable defeat demise, Leo sent word to Michelangelo to evacuate the others and alert Donatello and Splinter of the unfolding situation. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like that warning fared much better than Leo and Casey did.
In a stark contrast from the final fate of Raphael, who went into battle singlehandedly against Karai following a brutal assault on Splinter that nearly killed him, Leo and Casey seem well aware that there would likely be no coming back from this battle. Where Raphael had struck out on his own out of rage and in the pursuit of vengeance, these two chose to stand in the face of insurmountable odds to protect their friends. As noble as their intentions were, that could not protect them from their inevitable demise, even if none of them saw it coming. Stockman’s desire to obtain Fugitoid was far greater than his hatred for the Splinter Clan, and once it became apparent he would never acquire his target, he simply detonated his entire Mouser armada, causing a massive explosion that killed Leo and Casey.
While it might not seem like they died for much, Michelangelo, April and some of their allies were all able to survive the explosion and carry on their fight against the Foot. Leo and Casey may not have had the most tragic ends in this dark future for the Ninja Turtles, but theirs are certainly the most heroic so far. Their willingness to die allowed others to survive the fray. And with any luck, their surviving family members will finish the fight they started and save their city and its future for good.
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