Chapter 16: A Marbleous Attack

The Turtles and Trainers were confronted by Jessie, Bebop and Rocksteady controlling the marble statue of General Chen Chang of the China's historic Ying Dynasty. "You think a statue's gonna beat me?" grunted Leonardo. Chang drew his sword before they clashed. Neither side gave.

"Stand back, bro!" urged Michelangelo as he twirled his grappling hook like a lasso. "I got this!" Leonardo retreated back to his brother.

"Be my guest!" he offered. However, Chang had a grappling hook as well. Both swung, but Chang's weapon destroyed Michelangelo's.

"That's not good!" he gulped in shock. Donatello ran in.

"I got this!" he shouted and raced in. Chang stood as Donatello kicked it. However, Donatello flew back into the wall and fell after the impact. He sat up and rubbed his head. "That guy's made out of solid rock." Jessie and the other mutants were enjoying the one-sided affair.

"Probably harder than yours, green twerps!" she mocked. Raphael felt like the last line.

"I guess it's all up to me!" he sighed, but Chang threw a pair of sais and knocked Raphael's weapons out of his hands. "Or maybe not…" Ash had a guess to the Turtles' struggles with one foe.

"They still must be worn out from playing basketball with Master Splinter!" he assumed as he brought out his tonfa sticks.

"It don't matta too much," Bebop scoffed as Rocksteady used the remote to make Chang draw a bow and pulled out an arrow to shoot.

"It'll be Toitle Soup fer everyone!" he added. Chang fired an arrow, but Ash used his tonfa sticks to block.

"You still have to contend with us!" urged Brock. Rocksteady felt ready to attack.

"Dat won't be a problem!" he grunted as he controlled Chang to chase after Ash, Brock and Pikachu. Donatello retreated to a large grate. He listed the grate from the gap between ledges.

"Guys, get over here!" he shouted. The Turtles and Trainers reached the gap and cleared it. Michelangelo almost fell short, but Brock and Raphael hoisted him up. Chang raced after with Rocksteady in control.

"Careful, horn-head!" snapped Jessie. "That ionized marble is expensive!" Donatello heard Jessie and gasped.

"Ionized?" he repeated before turning to Pikachu who also wondered. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Chang!"

("Sure thing!") he squeaked before blasting the marble with Thunderbolt. After a few seconds, Chang was stiff as a statue. Rocksteady jammed on the controller with no result.

"Oh no!" he gawked. "It's not workin'!"

"Now while we have the tables turned!" urged Leonardo. Jessie, Bebop and Rocksteady felt outnumbered.

"Youse won dis round, Toitles!" snorted Bebop before he dragged Jessie.

"Unhand me, you slab of bacon!" she retaliated. Rocksteady followed. The coast clear, the Turtles and Trainers had a dilemma.

"Way to go, Donatello!" sighed Leonardo. "You too, Pikachu!"

("Thanks, but what's up with Chang?") squeaked Pikachu as the group approached Chang.

"This marble is no ordinary mineral," Donatello studied.

"I can understand Shredder wanting a rock-solid force," Raphael shrugged. "But why use the literal stuff?"

"Like Donatello said," Ash reminded. "The marble used to remodel the Ying Dynasty is affected by electricity. Should we bring it to the Lair to know what Shredder wants with this?"

"Good idea," Donatello agreed. "My lab might have the material to know what these statues were made with." In the museum, James helped Shredder with putting the devices on the other marble warriors.

"I feel better having you around to help me than your woman," Shredder compared.

"Jessie isn't my woman," James denied. "Our boss assigned us to work together. I had no control."

"That explains a lot. She'd be better off with General Traag knowing how hardheaded she is." After the last device was attached, Shredder felt ready. "I finished my end!"

"And I got the last one as well!" Returning, James stood to the side of Shredder who faced the statues.

"All marble warriors! You will obey my commands! Forward… march!" The warriors marched in formation with Shredder leading. "Your left! Your left! You left your wife and 48 kids!" James itched his head to Shredder's commands.

"I think I know why they call it a dynasty." Back in the Lair, Donatello and Brock studied Chang's statue thoroughly.

"We were lucky to have Ash around," Leonardo huffed. "I'll admit that we never faced an opponent like that."

"That's for sure," Raphael sided. "That marble warrior was a master of each of our weapons except for the tonfas." To Splinter, the answer was a little straightforward.

"Learning about the marble will explain what Shredder's after," he advised.

"And I've noticed that what Jessie claimed is true," Donatello started. "The statue's made from a rare ionized marble. Krang must have brought it to life with an electrical charge." Ash felt bothered while Pikachu climbed onto the statue to get a better look.

"And control it with this beauty," Raphael added while showing the controller Rocksteady dropped. Suddenly, there was a buzz.

"Oh, the Turtle Comm!" realized Leonardo as he answered the Turtle Comm, April on screen.

"Leonardo, there's a report that the marble statues have come to life!" she brought up. Leonardo had a guess.

"Do you mean those stone warriors in the museum?" he believed.

"They used to be in the museum!" corrected April. "Now they're marching all over the city!"

"Okay, we'll get right on it!" promised Leonardo.

"Somehow, Pikachu's Thunderbolt is our best weapon against those marble warriors," Donatello pointed out. "But we need more than that."

"Right, Pikachu can't do it alone," Ash agreed. At the station, Burne checked in on April's assignment.

"Are you sure you can cover the Stone Soldier story?" he asked with Vernon and Pete joining.

"I am," April confirmed. "I'll need a closed channel, a remote standby and a credit card for the news van!"

"No need, I filled it up before you got here," Pete claimed.

"He likes being on top of things," Vernon sighed. "But you'll also need me along for the ride. I don't want to see you foul things up." April gawked to the claim.

"Foul things up!?" she loudly repeated.

"Not so fast, Vern!" protested Pete. "I've been watching April and she hasn't fouled anything up. If anything, I'm going!"

"Oh yeah!?" countered Vernon.

"You can't stand up to a little mouse!" reminded Pete. "What makes you think stone soldiers are nothing to rock you!?" April snickered to Pete's pun.

"Good one…" she laughed.

"Just because a mere rodent spooked me," Vernon proclaimed. "It doesn't mean anything!" Meanwhile, the Turtles and Trainers filed out of the sewers to see about the rampaging army. They viewed the stone warriors walking about.

"Everywhere we go, those soldiers have it all covered!" mentioned Leonardo.

"So now what?" wondered Ash.

"I have one idea," Leonardo suggested. "We can use the pizza parlor escape route."

"I guess," Raphael sighed. "It doesn't look like we have a choice." They left as Jessie, Bebop, Rocksteady and some of the warriors came across a pizzeria.

"Mongolian Pizza!" awed Rocksteady. "I enjoyed dis place!"

"Sure, but we came here to stop the Turtles and get Pikachu," Jessie mulled.

"Yeah, we don't have time fer somethin' to eat," Bebop warned. "Besides, we got plenty of backup." After passing Mongolian Pizza, the Turtles and Brock emerged.

"So, how do we deal with the soldiers?" asked Brock.

"We need to reserve our strength for Shredder," Leonardo clarified. Seeing the pizzeria, Michelangelo seemed interested in a pizza.

"How about we wait for them while we grab a quick snack?" he suggested.

"Hey, Shredder now, snacking later," Raphael denied as they reached a dead end.

"Apparently, they might have been waiting for us," Donatello gulped as the warriors came out.

"Stupid shellbacks!" taunted Bebop as he, Jessie and Rocksteady appeared. "Ya fell fer our trap!"

"Oh yeah?" snapped Michelangelo. "How do you know you didn't fall for our trap!?"

"Please, like you guys don't think we've seen traps you've laid out," Jessie mocked. Donatello blinked to Jessie's wording.

"Can we get that in Layman's Terms?" he requested.

"Not like it matters," Leonardo grinned. Ash appeared from the fire escape and threw a large fishing net onto the warriors. The evil mutants and Jessie gasped.

"Thunderbolt!" ordered Ash. Pikachu's Thunderbolt traveled down the rope and zapped the net. The warriors stopped moving altogether.

"No fair!" complained Rocksteady. The Turtles drew their weapons.

"Turtles, fight with honor!" they roared. Jessie and the other mutants gawked. At the museum, James sighed.

"I got the last one!" he announced to Shredder.

"Much appreciated," Shredder sighed before he got a call and brought out his hand-held. "This had better be good, Bebop!"

"It's not," Bebop admitted. "We might need some more soldiers."

"What do you mean? How can you be losing to the Turtles and those Trainers!?" After a bit of static, Bebop appeared with a bucket on his head.

"Well, we kinda undaestimated dem." The contact disconnected, Shredder palmed his helmet.

"I think Jessie blew it as well," James believed.

"I knew taking her in would cause trouble," Shredder mulled. "I need to think of something."

"You have nothing to think with!" snapped Krang from the device. Shredder and James came to see Krang. "And once again, I have to come to your rescue!"

"Well, what are you waiting for!?" snapped Shredder. "Do it, already!"

"Whoa, hold on!" halted James. "We still have a chance to get the upper hand!" Shredder and Krang turned to James.

"We're listening…" muttered Krang.

"Knowing the disturbance we caused, Channel 6 would come to cover it," James pointed out.

"You're right!" awed Shredder. "And April O'Neil would be in on this. We can kidnap her like we did at least 30 times already, but who's counting?"

"At least he's got a good head on his shoulders, unlike me," Krang nagged. Just as predicted, the news van rolled down the streets with April, Pete and Vernon inside.

"Why did you drag me into this mess anyway?" complained Vernon.

"We dragged you!?" scoffed Pete. "You begged to come along! Now I ask again, what are you going to do when we face those marble statues?" Suddenly, they crashed into the army. They gasped to the unfortunate encounter. "Like now!?" April and Vernon began to panic.

"What can we do!?" shrieked Vernon. April grabbed her Turtle Comm.

"Turtles, we need help!" she pleaded. "We're surrounded by the statues!"

"We're a little busy right now!" claimed Leonardo.

"When you're not, we're on the corner of 6th and Spring!" informed Pete. The warriors broke through and crushed the Turtle Comm. Pete gritted the outcome. "Well, we're on our own!" Can the Turtles and Trainers save April, Vernon and Pete?

TO BE CONTINUED...