WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #117, by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Sophie Campbell, Ronda Pattison and Shawn Lee, on sale now.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are on the verge of what might be their most important battle yet. The Battle of the Bands will decide the fate of Mutant Town for what might be years to come. Ever since saving Tokka and Rahzar from Bebop and Rocksteady, Jennika and her band have been anxiously awaiting their stage confrontation with the latter two overgrown mutants. If they win, Bebop and Rocksteady will take ownership of the bar they're performing in, right in the middle of Mutant Town. If they lose, these two are banished forever. To no one's surprise but her own, Jennika has just absolutely shredded the competition.
Once Jennika and the rest of Created in Darkness have taken the stage, the severity of the situation is more than palpable -- though the band hardly let that affect their performance. Once the music starts, Koya's screams wash over the crowd, worming their way into the ears of everyone willing to listen. From their place in the back of the venue, Bebop and Rocksteady watch on with totally opposite reactions to the show. Rocksteady is quick to scoff at the band and deride them as not "so great." Bebop's stoic gaze tells a different story, and it doesn't hurt him at all to tell his partner just how wrong he is. Created in Darkness isn't just a good band, they're better than Bebop and Rocksteady could ever imagine.
Once the song has concluded, every eye in the venue turns to Bebop and Rocksteady. Even their own crew knows that there is no chance of winning, and tells the two that they should all just leave before anyone embarrasses themselves. Rocksteady isn't interested in going home without a fight, but it doesn't take much protesting to make him back down. As they walk away, Rocksteady wonders why they ever became henchmen instead of following their dreams before Bebop turns to Jennika and her band to let them know just how great they were. For being two of the most ruthlessly violent foes that the Turtles have ever faced, the fact that Bebop and Rocksteady didn't even try to put up a fight speaks volumes about just about how good Created in Darkness were on stage. No matter how incensed Rocksteady might be on the surface, it is evident from Bebop's reaction that he didn't mind losing to such a talented crew of mutants. In fact, seeing them all up there playing for the crowd could very well be the thing that has opened his eyes to ventures outside of being Foot Clan muscle.
Keeping the bar out of Bebop and Rocksteady's hands is a huge win for the Splinter Clan, but keeping them out of Mutant Town altogether is an even greater victory for the entire community. These two have already done more damage than anyone could calculate, and even the rest of Karai's lieutenants are aware of just how dangerous Bebop and Rocksteady are when left unchecked. Now that Jennika has found herself in her music once more, the heroes may have finally saved themselves from the future Lita traveled all the way back in time to warn them about. Bebop and Rocksteady may not have been the biggest problems facing the Turtles, but they became indicative of those issues. Their concession here can only be a good sign for the future.