Hey and welcome to another one-shot of mine, I was going to call it short, but it's the single longest document I've ever written here. But that's beyond the point, this is a major homage to the 1990's episode 'Raphael meets his match', where Monalisa was originally introduced, and that was sadly her only appearance until the 2012 series, not counting fanfiction.
Since it is a homage, I have tried to work in as many references as possible, possibly even a few that I don't even know of, see how many you can find.
A Not So Pleasant Cruise
April and Casey made their way through the sewers, walking a little faster than normal, but they were very excited, and with all right, and they couldn't wait until they could tell the turtles and Monalisa the good news.
Reaching the hidden entrance, they checked the area so that they hadn't been followed by anyone, just as they always do. Seeing no one around, they opened the large door and entered the mutant's lair.
"Hey, guys!" April called out. "We got some great news for you!"
Hearing their human friends, the mutants quickly gathered by the entrance, curious of what they had in store.
"Hey, April, Casey. What's going on?" asked Monalisa.
"Yeah, you look like you're about to burst. Did you make a great find shopping?" said Michelangelo.
"Did we ever, but not in the way you think." said Casey with a big smile.
"Well don't keep us in the dark, please tell us." said Sephie.
"Didn't know that you two were here as well." said April when she realized that the two Mutopians were visiting their friends. "When did you get here?"
"No more than a few hours ago, and it seems that we chose the right time too." said Tyroth.
"You sure did, big guy." said Casey.
"Anyway, when we were shopping for groceries earlier today, we also bought a lottery-ticket each from a woman selling them to collect money for charity. They announced the winning tickets on the internet not too long ago, and we both won!"
"That's great news, April! Very lucky, and what were the prizes?" asked Donatello.
"We both won four tickets to a masquerade party on a cruise liner that is anchored by Staten Island on Thursday, and naturally we thought of you guys. So what do you say?" said Casey.
"Sounds awesome if you ask me." said Raphael. "It would be fun to let loose for a night."
"I agree. We could use something like this to unwind a bit." said Leonardo. "Wait, you said that you won four tickets each, that's eight tickets total, but that's not enough for all of us."
"We know, and we originally thought that maybe Splinter would have liked to come with us, since we would have had one ticket left. But since Tyroth and Sephie are also here, that makes ten of us rather than eight." said April.
"I will stay here." said Splinter.
"Are you sure?" April asked.
"I am, miss O'Neil, and I thank you for the offer, but that kind of festivities are nothing for me. I will be fine here, getting a calm night will be more than enough."
"As you wish, master. But that still leaves us one ticket short." said Monalisa.
"Don't worry about that, I'll stay behind as well." said Tyroth, much to the shock of the others.
"What? But, babe, why?" asked Sephie.
"Yeah, you if anyone would be able to get onto the ship without problems, even after it is out in the bay." said Casey.
"You all know that I'm uncomfortable with large bodies of water, given that I'm not built for swimming. I won't be able to fully enjoy myself knowing that we're on a ship, but that shouldn't stop the rest of you from having a good time."
"But-" Sephie started, but her mate placed a finger on her lips.
"And that goes for you too, darling, I want you to have fun, even if I'm not there."
"Okay." she sighed. "But what will you do?"
"I'll stay and keep Splinter company, maybe do some meditation and training with my magic as well, got a new idea that I'm working on."
"Well, if you're sure about that, then I suppose that takes care of the problem. I just hope that you won't regret it later." said Leonardo.
"Then I guess everything is settled then," said April. "aside from the costumes that is. You guys won't have to do that much, unless you want to, but me and Casey still have to figure out something to dress up as, and I'd like not to use the same as we had last time, even if I enjoyed the military gig."
"I'm sure we can dig something up at home or at the store." said Casey.
"Oh boy, I can't wait until Thursday!" said Michelangelo with a very cheerful voice, barely able to contain himself.
Thursday came, and the young mutants were getting ready to go topside and meet up with April and Casey before heading to the cruiser. The turtles would be going as they were, but the girls wanted to dress up at least a bit, and they had been rather secretive about what they had planed.
"Do you thing the girls are ready yet? We're supposed to pick up April and Casey shortly." said Donatello.
"Mona said they would need at least half an hour to get everything done, and it's been about half an hour, so I hope that they are done." said Raph.
"I don't really get it why they have to dress up at all. I mean, we all look like we ready for a masquerade all the time." said Michelangelo.
"Since we don't get out this way that much, I imagine that they want to take the opportunity to look a little extra pretty when they get it." said Leonardo.
"Okay, We're done. Sorry that it took a while." said Monalisa as she came into view, and the turtles' eyes widened as they saw her outfit.
She wore a tight, sleeveless fur top with a low neckline, a fur loincloth and a pair of fur boots. She had dropped her headband and let her hair hang freely, having given it a very messy and wild look, and she had applied some make-up to look like she had a little dirt on her face as well as some dark rings around her eyes.
"Wow! Mona, you look awesome!" said Michelangelo.
"That's the outfit you wore when we were in Skyrim, didn't think you still had that." said Donatello.
"I actually liked it quite a lot, so I decided to hang on to it. It was really dirty and all, but after a couple of proper washings, it was clean enough to wear again. And what better time to wear it than now."
"I'm glad you liked those things more than I did." said Raphael. "But you still look gorgeous, babe, you'll be the envy of every girl at the party."
"Thanks, honey." Monalisa said and kissed her mate. "But I actually think there is another girl that will have that role."
"What's up, dudes?" Sephie called out as she made her entrance, and the turtles' jaws dropped.
She was wearing high boots in dark skin, black fishnet stockings, a dark red sleeveless hoodie, a short red and black skirt with a belt, a spiked collar and fingerless gloves. The natural curls of her hair had been straightened and it now hanged freely over her shoulders, aside from some on the top of her head which was rather pointy. She had dyed it bright red at the top, but the further down it went, the more the colour shifted to purple and finally blue at the end. Dark-red eye shadow and blue lipstick were also a part of her costume, and she had the zipper of the hoodie pulled down low enough to give her a quite seductive cleavage.
She gave them a very seductive smile, asking what they thought of her costume without saying a word.
"Holy shell! Sephie, is that you?!" Leonardo exclaimed, even he incredibly shocked by her new appearance.
"Heck yeah! Now who's bad-ass?"
"That's why it took a while for us to get ready, we had a lot to do with her outfit, especially with straightening out her curly hair and dyeing it, but we really got a great result." Mona said with a proud voice.
"I can barely recognize you." said Donatello. "I never imagined you dressed like that, it seems more like something someone like Kate might wear."
"You're gonna turn heads!" said Michelangelo.
"That seems to be the idea." said Tyroth as he joined the group. "And damn, babe, you look incredible."
"Thanks, hun. I really wish you could come with me, we'd have such a good time."
"Another time, darling, and maybe not on a ship at sea."
"Where is master Splinter? I thought he would be here to see us off." said Leonardo.
"He's resting at the moment, so that falls to me." Tyroth answered. "But you all know the drill with this sort of things."
"Of course. We will be careful not to be discovered, and have a good time." said Monalisa.
"I really wish that we could bring our weapons, especially after what happened the last time." said Raphael.
"I know what you mean, Raph," said Leonardo. "but it poses too much of a risk to the other guests if we bring them. And I also doubt that the Foot will try anything during the party, too much people, they want to stay hidden from the public as well."
"And on the way there and back, we'll use the Battleshell, so they won't get any real opportunities to attack us." said Donatello.
"I really hope not, I have this feeling of deja vu just thinking of it."
"Before you leave though, there is one more thing." Tyroth said and turned his gaze to Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo, his eyes glowing red.
"If any of you try anything with my mate, you will regret it." he said with a nearly vicious tone to his voice, causing the three turtles to take a step back.
"Hey, ease up, dude." Michelangelo said nervously.
"Yeah, we wound never do anything like that." said Donatello.
"I know, but it doesn't hurt to make certain that you remember that as well. Now get going, or you're gonna be late."
A few minutes later, the mutants arrived in the Battleshell in the alley next to Second Time Around, and were met by April and Casey, both dressed up as well. April had her hair out and wore a long, dark-red dress with wide sleeves and a high ridge behind her head, and had a tiara as well as an ornate wooden staff with a crystal at the tip. Casey looked very formal in his old-style black suit and cape, and wore make-up so that he looked very pale, he also had a pair of fangs.
As the two humans entered the Battleshell, they were astonished about Monalisa and Sephie's outfits.
"Oh wow! You two look amazing!"
"Thank you, April. The two of you look great as well." said Monalisa.
"Yeah! You make a really wicked witch, April!" said Michelangelo.
"Sorceress. Insult me again and I will encase you in a crystal prison." April said coldly and pointed the staff at the orange-masked turtle.
"Please don't!" Michelangelo squeaked as he held up his hands over his head.
"I like your vampire outfit, Casey. Very classical." said Leonardo.
"Thanks, Leo. Took a while to get all this make-up in place, but it was worth it. But these fangs are a little uncomfortable."
"Tell me about it." said Sephie. "And a word of advice, next time you would do well with a pair of red contacts as well, take it from one who knows."
"I'll keep that in mind."
A while later, they arrived at the dock at Staten Island where the cruiser was anchored. Parking the Battleshell in a dark alley a block away, they exited it and headed to the ship, tickets in hands. There were a lot of people waiting in line, and their costumes were incredibly varied, ranging from real-life people, comic-book and cartoon characters to inanimate objects, humanoid animals, film and video-game characters. There was even one that had dressed up as the turtles, albeit lacking many details, but they could still see what the guy tried to look like.
"Look, guys! We're fashionable!" said Michelangelo.
"With how many masquerades we've been to, someone was bound to try and copy our look eventually." said Donatello. "And I have to applaud the craftsmanship, it looks quite well-done."
"That's so cool! And with a yellow mask, so there is absolutely no risk of mistaking him for any of you guys." said Sephie.
"Yeah, I would hate to accidentally go home with someone who isn't my Raphael." Monalisa giggled.
"This is gonna be a great night!" said Casey.
"Oh, I sure hope so, but I still have this odd feeling of deja vu for some reason."
"Don't worry about it, babe, I'm sure it's nothing." said Raphael.
"I suppose you're right. Well, let's get this party started then!"
It took another half hour before all the guests had arrived and gotten on board, after which the ship set out to sea, cruising through the bay for quite a while, all while the festivities started and kept going for many hours.
Among all the eating and drinking, there were very few guests that didn't take to the dance-floor shortly after they had gotten a little comfortable, and the team was no exception.
After a few hours of partying, Sephie walked over to the bar to get a drink, having danced a little with Donatello, Leonardo and Michelangelo as well as a few other guys that had asked for a dance. Sipping the beverage, she looked at all the people dancing and saw her friends among them.
April and Casey were dancing together, as were Monalisa and Raphael, hardly a surprise given that they were couples. Donatello was currently taking a short break and talked with Leonardo over a few drinks at the other end of the bar. Michelangelo was having the time of his life, having two girls dancing with him, one dressed as Princess Peach and the other as Rouge the Bat.
Sephie smiled, but it faded quickly as she thought of Tyroth and how she missed him.
"Hey, Sephie! You okay?" Monalisa asked as she walked up to her best friend, having finished her dance with Raphael.
"Yeah, just taking a break."
"You miss Tyroth."
"Is it that obvious? Good thing I'm not playing poker then."
"Good thing indeed, you wouldn't get very far with it. But, yeah, it's that obvious, and I understand. You two love each other very much, and for your mate not to be here must be difficult for you. I know that I would feel the same way if it was Raph that had stayed home while I was here. And I also know that you would try to help me if that was the case."
"Just like you're doing for me now." Sephie said with a smile and Monalisa smiled back.
"He did tell us to have fun even though he isn't here, and from what I've seen you've had a good time so far, so why not keep that up for the rest of the night. Just because you miss him, doesn't have to mean that you can't enjoy yourself, if not for your own sake then for his."
"Yeah, you're right, no use in sulking."
"That's the spirit, Sephie. So, you wanna dance?"
"With you? Hmm… sure, why the heck not."
"Great! Then let's show the guys how to dance!"
Hitting the dance-floor, the two lizard-girls started dancing, gaining many envious looks from the majority of the female guests, and almost just as many looks of desire from the male ones, but the lizards didn't care. They were there to have fun, and they were having it.
However, that was cut short when the ship seemingly got hit by something, shaking the entire thing so badly that many of the guests fell over, but luckily no-one of those that were outdoors fell overboard and the rest didn't get any worse injuries than the odd scrape or bruise.
"What the shell was that?!" Raphael exclaimed as he picked himself up from the floor.
"I don't know, but I don't like it." said Leonardo. "It seemed to come from the port side, let's check it out."
Leonardo and Raphael hurried out on the port side of the ship, and they did not like what they saw. A large submarine surfaced next to the ship, and hatches opened across the top of it, allowing several grey-clad men to exit the submarine and throw grappling hooks with ropes at the deck of the ship. Within short, several dozen of the grey men boarded the ship, all armed with automatic rifles, some moving towards the bridge while the rest spread out across the entire ship.
"You there! Freeze!" one of them shouted as he and four other spotted the two turtles, aiming their weapons at them.
"Well, shit." said Raphael.
"Everyone down on the floor! Now!" a soldier yelled as a dozen of them burst into the ball-room of the ship, and being at gunpoint the guests had no other choice but to comply.
"There goes the party." said Michelangelo.
"Silence! Down on the floor now!" one of the invaders yelled at the turtle.
A short while later, all the guests were laying face-down on the dance-floor, and a few soldiers arrived with Leonardo and Raphael, telling them to follow the others' example, which they reluctantly did, laying down next to their friends.
"You two okay?" April whispered.
"We're not harmed, but I think we are all far from okay at this moment." said Leonardo. "It seems that they have taken control of the ship. I've counted at least two dozen of them, and there's probably more in their sub."
"A sub? Who are these guys working for? Captain Nemo?" asked Michelangelo.
"Good question, they're not Foot-ninja, that much is certain." said Donatello. "But whoever they are, we can't do much now. While we might be able to avoid getting shot, there are far too many civilians here that might get caught in the crossfire."
"We could really use our weapons right about now." said Raphael.
"This is the boarding party." one of the invaders said, apparently speaking into some form of communicator inside his helmet. "We have secured the ship. The crew and guests have all been pacified and are being held captive as ordered. Everything is ready, Captain Filch."
"Filch? I know that name." said Monalisa.
"You do?" Sephie asked.
"Yeah, or I think so, maybe… it's so strange, it feels like I know the name, but I can't place it at all, almost like a dream you can't remember… all I know for certain is that it gives me a strong sense of deja vu."
"Strange, but I'm afraid that that will have to wait until we have been able to sort out this mess." said Leonardo.
Meanwhile, back at the lair, Splinter sat in an armchair by the TV and watched one of his many soaps when Tyroth walked in.
"Ah, Tyroth, you have finished your meditation I see. I did not want to disturb you."
"That's kind of you, master Splinter, even if I'm difficult to disturb at those times. I hope that you have had a good rest."
"It was, thank you for asking. And thank you for looking after the others at the time."
"Don't mention it, it was my pleasure."
"I do enjoy the calm moments I get when my children go on these kinds of activities, but it is nice to have some company once in a while as well."
Suddenly, the program on the TV was interrupted by a massive amount of static, and shortly after a new screen appeared with a middle-age man sporting brown hair, moustache and goatee with an eye-patch over his right eye.
"Citizens of America, I interrupt all broadcasts to bring you this message. I, Captain Filch, and my crew, have boarded and commandeered the cruiser Picka-Pecka off the coast of New York, and holding everyone on board as hostages. I demand 250 000 000 dollars in ransom. It doesn't matter who that pays, the president, the government, the citizens or whoever, but I shall have that money within three hours, or I will have one of the hostages executed every five minutes.
America, you have one hour to decide, after which one hostage will be executed every minute if no decision has been made. And should anyone try to attempt a rescue operation, our equipment will discover any ship, boat or aircraft that try to get close. If we notice anything like that, I will sink the cruiser with everyone on it.
Your hour starts now."
Filch disappeared from the screen, and a timer appeared instead, slowly ticking down from one hour.
"That was the ship that the masquerade was being held on." said Splinter, worried about his children and their friends.
"Aye, it seems the other are in trouble." said Tyroth. "I really should be surprised, but honestly, I'm not, stranger things have happened. Better go and help them out. I need a big bag to bring their weapons in."
"But how will you reach the ship? This Filch said that nothing could approach without them noticing, and that they would sink the ship."
"He said boats, ships and aircraft, so they must have some form of radar and sonar, hopefully whatever it is won't be able to detect me, maybe if I fly low I'll make it without any trouble."
"I hope you know what you are doing, Tyroth. The fate of many lives will be in your hands."
"I know, but I doubt that anyone else will be able to do anything in time, so I don't think there is much of a choice."
"On that, I have to agree. I will pray for your safety and safe return."
Once Tyroth had collected his friends' weapons, he left for the surface and flew towards Staten Island, hoping to catch sight of the cruiser once he got there. Landing on the highest point near the coast, he looked out over the bay with a pair of binoculars, searching for the ship.
"Come on, I know you're out there, but where?" he growled as he looked towards the horizon. Then he spotted it. "Got you! Hmm, that's quite far, hope I can make it there undetected."
Putting away the binoculars in the bag again, Tyroth took flight again, moving towards his target close to the surface of the water. He didn't like being so close to the surface, even though he had before, and even dived through it when he took the girls on a spin, but he did fly at a far higher speed then, something he couldn't do at that time, even though he was in a hurry.
Getting closer, he could make out the cruiser, and the submarine next to it, giving him the answer to how Filch had seemingly shown up out of nowhere. Now he had to figure out how he would rescue the over one hundred civilians on board the cruiser.
"We got another heat-signature!" said one of the crew on board the submarine, tasked with maintaining surveillance on Captain Filch's orders.
"Another damned seagull? I swear, these instruments are too damned sensitive." said another one.
"No, this one is larger, too large to be a seagull."
"Well, none of the other scanners are picking up anything out of the ordinary, so it's no ship or plane, and gliders can't go that low."
"But, then what is it?"
"Must be a big pelican, can't be anything else. Just ignore it."
"If you say so, but it's your head that will roll if something happens."
"Relax, nothing can even get close to us. We got nothing to worry about."
But little did they know that they had every reason to be worried.
Tyroth was now close enough to be able to see people moving on the deck of the cruiser, which meant that they would be able to see him as well if he wasn't careful. Swooping across the water surface, he planned to stealthily land on the top of the cruiser and make his way from there, taking out any enemies he came across. But as he was about to land on the ship, he spotted two guards rounding a corner right in front of him.
With only seconds to react before they spotted him, the dragon was forced to turn around in the air and quickly descend below the edge of the ship. But due to the loss of momentum, he was forced to land on the submarine, and that proved to be tricky as it was very slippery. Sliding down the side of it, he coated his hands in mana and managed to dig his claws into the cold steel of the vessel, instantly coming to a stop.
'This could have gone better, but at least I think they haven't detected me yet. And now I got an idea of how to cripple this thing.'
Focusing more mana into his claws, they grew to a foot in length, easily cutting through the metal, and once he removed the claws, he could see that the holes led inside, hopefully that would stop them from submerging. But just to be on the safe side, he made several more, and then moved to the propellers, which luckily were at the surface, and carefully cut through most of the metal on the shafts, so that if they tried to go anywhere, they would break off, leaving them dead in the water.
Once he was done with the sabotage, he took a while to listen for patrolling guards on the cruiser's deck, and hearing nothing, he flew back to it.
Sneaking around on the deck, he tired to find his way to where everyone was being held.
'So far so good, now if I could only-'
"You there! Freeze!" someone shouted behind him.
'Of course.'
Turning around, Tyroth saw two guards approach with their weapons aimed at him. He had to think fast.
"Hey, nice costumes, you two. Could you maybe show me the way back to the party? I seem to have gotten a tiny bit lost." he said, pretending to be one of the guests and walked up to the duo.
"Would you look at that costume, it's awesome." the guard on the left whispered to his colleague, only to get an elbow in the side by him.
"Have I missed the 'Best Costume'-contest? I had signed up for it earlier, and I think my chances of winning are pretty good."
"Guess we'll have to take him to the ball-room." said the leftmost guard.
"Hold on, what's in that duffel-bag?" asked the other guard.
"Just some accessories for me and my friends." Tyroth held out the bag for the guards to inspect, but dropped it before they could touch it. He then proceeded with grabbing the rifle of one guard, while he punched the other one so hard that the helmet cracked upon impact and he was knocked unconscious.
Looking at his fellow guard in shock and confusion, the last guard turned his eyes back to Tyroth when he heard something cracking, and he was even more shocked to see that his rifle was being crushed in Tyroth's hand. The dragon quickly gave him a solid punch as well, knocking him out as well. He then tied up and gagged them before hiding them in one of the simple lifeboats, underneath the tarp.
"That takes care of them. Should take a while before anyone notice that these two are missing." said Tyroth as he picked up the bag. He also took a while to examine the rifles. "Hmm… Advanced stuff in here, too much for only shooting stuff. And the handle seem to have… is it? It seems that way, some form of recognition system, so no one else can use the weapons. Interesting."
At the same time in the ball-room, the team was starting to get really worried.
"How much time is it left?" April asked quietly.
"Seventeen minutes, give or take." said Donatello.
"Damn, is this really how it's gonna end? Not at all how I imagined it." said Casey.
"Got any ideas, Leo?" Sephie asked.
"None that we can do at the moment." He had spent the last forty minutes trying to think of a way out of that mess, but had not had any luck. The seven guards were placed out at the edges of the room, too far apart for anyone to be able to take down more than one at the time without some form of ranged weapon. While it wasn't impossible for the mutants to manage such a feat, they being placed in the middle of the room, together with the rest of the guests, placed them too far away from the guards, if they so much as moved the guards would shoot them instantly.
"What are we supposed to do?" said Monalisa, and that was what they all wanted to know.
Meanwhile, Tyroth had arrived just outside the ball-room, having taken out another pair of guards on his way there. Peeking through the window, he made note of all the guards there, and that's when he spotted his friends, feeling relieved that they were all right. Planing his attack, he knew that he only had one chance and he had to act fast, if anyone was able to alert the rest of their comrades, things would really get out of hand.
'Hmm… my new trick I've been working on might work, but it will take a lot to use it on seven targets at once. I hope the others will take the chance and help me deal with these fools.'
Silently moving to the doors, he carefully grabbed the handle while he collected a lot of mana in a sphere in his other hand. Taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind and made his move. Quickly opening the doors, he dashed inside, stopping just a few feet in.
"Here's the cavalry!"
Everyone inside was caught completely by surprise as the dragon suddenly entered the ball-room, and the guards didn't even have the time to react before Tyroth unleashed his magic.
"Incoming!" he shouted as he threw the mana sphere into the air in the middle of the room. As it reached the middle, it split into seven small bolts that all shot off against the guards, striking their weapons. The metal-casings instantly turned red-hot for a few seconds, more than enough to force the guards to drop them to avoid severely burn their hands.
As soon as they had been disarmed, Tyroth dashed to the closest guard and knocked him out with a well placed punch, and he wasn't the only one taking action. Seeing what happened with the weapons, the rest of the mutants quickly jumped onto their feet and dashed at one of the remaining guards each. Within seconds, all the guards were neutralized and the mutants quickly tied them up and gagged them.
With those invaders out cold, the mutants picked them up and either carried or dragged them out of the room to hide them in another lifeboat right outside. However, Tyroth quickly returned to the ball-room.
"We hope that you have enjoyed the show, sponsored by Sukiwara Traditional Technologies, developer of the holographic projector used during the show." Tyroth said out aloud to the guests. "We apologize for the inconvenience, and I for being late, we had some technical difficulties, but everything is fine now. Again, we hope that you have enjoyed the show."
It was almost dead silent for a while as the people got back on their feet, but that was broken when April and Casey started applauding, understanding that Tyroth was trying to calm everyone down without raising too many questions. One by one, the rest of the guests soon joined in, and the ball-room was filled with applauds and cheers, to which Tyroth bowed before he again left the room, heading back to the others.
"If you guys had told me that it was this kind of party, I would have tagged along despite the location of it." the dragon said. "By the way, love your costumes, they all look great, but you're lacking some accessories. Good thing that I brought just the things for you."
Opening the bag, he presented the others with their weapons.
"You sure got good taste in accessories, big guy." Raphael said as he picked up his two sai and gave them a spin before placing them in his belt.
"Yeah, thanks a lot!" said Michelangelo. "So, now what?"
"We take back the ship," said Leonardo. "and that means freeing the crew. I saw them being led below deck."
"Must be holding them in the canteen, it's the only place big enough to fit the entire crew." said Donatello. "I saw it on a map of the ship earlier, I know how to get there."
"I've dealt with all guards that I could find out here, so those guarding the crew should be the last ones." said Tyroth.
"Then let's hurry, it won't be long before they notice that something is wrong." said Monalisa.
It was a good thing that the team made haste, as the remaining invaders indeed had noticed that something wasn't as it should be.
"Beta squad, come in. Beta squad, do you read me?" one guard asked into his communicator, but he didn't get any reply. "Delta squad, I can't reach Beat squad, has something happened? Delta squad?"
"What's going on? Why can't we get hold of the other teams?"
"I don't know, but I don't like this. I'm going to try one more thing. Captain Filch, this is Alpha squad, do you read me?"
"Yes. Why are you calling me?" Filch answered.
"Captain, we can't reach any of the other squads, both Beta and Delta squad have gone silent."
"They've what?! How could that even happen? No-one could have gotten near us. I guess it doesn't really matter, the time is almost up. You have my authority to begin executing everyone on board. Filch out."
"You heard the captain! Time to put the prisoners on ice!"
Even though all the guards were wearing helmets that covered their heads completely, the crew of the ship was certain that the invaders were smirking beneath as they readied their weapons.
Suddenly, the doors to the canteen were kicked in, and a female punk-lizard armed with a bow dashed inside. With two arrows already drawn, she released them and drew a new one before the first two had even struck their targets. She kept firing arrows with almost lightning speed as she quickly darted from place to place, making herself a difficult target to hit. Yet, the guards never had the chance to retaliate, for as soon as the cylinder-tipped arrows struck them, they were incapacitated and rendered unconscious by the electricity released from the arrows. It was all over in just a few seconds.
"Great work, Sephie!" said Leonardo as he and the other mutants came into the canteen.
"Thanks. I don't think I've taken that many shots at so many different targets, in such a short time before, wasn't sure I'd make it actually."
"You did great, babe, I knew you would fix it." said Tyroth and gave Sephie a quick kiss on her cheek.
"What is going on? Who are you?" asked the captain of the cruiser.
"That's top-secret, and if we told you, we'd have to kill you, and since we're here to rescue you all, that wouldn't be very good, now would it?" said Michelangelo.
"We've taken care of all other of these invaders, so all we have to do is tie these ones up and you can hand them over to the local authorities once they get here." said Monalisa.
Said and done, the mutants quickly tied up the unconscious soldiers and left them with the still very confused crew before heading back to the deck of the ship, they still had a certain captain Filch to deal with. But as they reached the deck, they saw that the submarine was starting to move, for Filch had figured out that something was very wrong and decided to cut his loses.
"Fuck! He's getting away!" Monalisa cursed.
"He won't get very far." said Tyroth with a smirk. "I took the liberty to sabotage his vessel when I got here."
"Sir! We have sprung multiple leaks and are taking in water in the aft!" one of Filch's crew-members reported in a half-panic.
"Activate the bulkheads! Seal off the area before we drown! Full speed ahead! We must get back to base before-"
Suddenly, there was a hefty jolt, shaking the entire submarine.
"What the hell was that?!"
"I don't know, sir, but… we… we're not moving any more."
"What?! I said full speed ahead!"
"Our engines are running at full effect, sir! There must be something wrong with the propellers!"
As they had started the engines, and they in turn turned the propellers, the strain on the damaged shafts quickly became too much to the point that they bent and slammed into each other, breaking off, and leaving the submarine dead in the water with only one option left.
"All hands, this is the captain speaking..." Filch said with a sad voice through the loudspeakers. "…prepare to surface, we have been defeated… it is over..."
Back on the cruiser, the team saw how the submarine resurface and lay almost completely still in the water.
"There she blow, me hearties!" Michelangelo shouted in his best pirate impression.
"What's wrong with you?" Raphael asked, though no-one noticed.
"I guess that takes care of that then." said Donatello.
"There you are!"
April and Casey hurried over to the mutants.
"Hey! You guys just missed the end of the party!" said Michelangelo.
"It's not over yet!" said Casey. "The coast guards are on their way here."
"Someone of the crew must have called them. That sure complicate things." said Leonardo. "They will take care of Filch and his goons, but we don't want to have to deal with the authorities, and I don't think they take well to seven mutants."
"Our thoughts exactly, that's why we came looking for you guys." said April.
"We need to get out of here. Any ideas?" said Sephie.
"How about you take one of the lifeboats, they got plenty of them." said Casey.
It didn't take long until they had launched an… unoccupied lifeboat, and the bay's currents soon carried them away from the cruiser. Being far from the coast, and in a simple lifeboat without engine, the team had a long way to row before they would get even close to home, but there was one problem.
"I can't believe it! Out of all the lifeboats we could have taken, we manage to grab the one without any oars! Why didn't we check that?!" said Raphael.
"We were in a hurry, but I agree, it was very sloppy of us." said Monalisa. "Anyone got any ideas?"
"The wind is blowing the right way, if we only had kept the tarp, we could have made some form of sail." said Donatello.
"Guys… I think I have an idea." Michelangelo said smiling, causing the others to look at him in confusion.
"This feels ridiculous, but I'm pleasantly surprised that it works." said Tyroth. Michelangelo's idea had been to let Tyroth us his wings as sails, and to everyone's surprise it actually worked.
"I told you it would! Ain't I a genius or what?" Michelangelo boasted, feeling very sure of himself. "This is foolproof, I even dare say that if my idea doesn't get us all the way to shore, I'll personally push the boat there."
However, as with any boats and ships equipped with sails, Michelangelo's plan was dependent on the winds, and they just so happened to die down shortly after, leaving the mutants dead in the water.
"Ah man! Me and my big mouth!"
"Shut up, Mikey, and keep your word and start paddling your feet." said Raphael.
"Okay, okay, I will. But I'm calling dibs on the shower when we get back home."
Told you it was a long one. I've had this bubbling in my head for the longest time and I finally got it done. Really hope that you all enjoyed it as much as I did.
And just in case anyone wonders, Monalisa's constant deja vu feelings were because of the homage to her original debut.
Well, with this out of the way, I'd better get back to my other projects. See you around. :)