by 3 Ninja Tales (The Rise of Tiger Claw; The Casey Chronicles; Mutants in Space!) (retail) (epub)
“We heard you might need some assistance,” Master Splinter said calmly.
Leo, Donnie, Casey, and Raph picked themselves up off the ground, thrilled to see their sensei and their friends.
More Triceraton soldiers were beaming down into the park, all armed with energy cannons. They started marching right toward the Turtles and their allies.
Staring at the advancing soldiers, April asked, “So what do we do?!”
Mikey stepped forward, putting on his toughest face. “We kick their Jurassic! Cowabunga!”
He leaped toward the Triceratons, leading the charge!
The Triceratons saw the defenders of planet Earth running straight toward them. Their commander bellowed, “Triceratons! TEAR THEM APART!”
The Triceratons opened fire, but Mikey didn’t slow down a bit. He hurled himself at the nearest Triceraton—who unfortunately was also one of the biggest Triceratons!
“BOOYAKASHAAAA!” Mikey yelled, whipping his nunchucks at the Triceraton. He got in a couple of hits, but the bulky alien swatted him away, knocking him to the ground.
Good thing turtles have shells… .
Raph and Donnie were busy dodging the Triceratons’ energy blasts. They saw even more Triceratons teleporting into Washington Square.
“They just keep beaming down!” Donnie cried. “We’ll never get past them all!”
Raph whipped a handful of shuriken at one of the Triceraton cannons, disabling it. “We’ve got one thing they don’t have—Master Splinter!”
As if on cue, their sensei leaped in and kicked another Triceraton, making it stagger back. Splinter landed close to Mikey and helped him up. “Stay strong, Michelangelo,” he said. Then he turned back and called to the others. “Second wave! Attack!”
The Mutanimals didn’t need any more urging. They were eager to fight these enemies. Roaring, they ran toward the Triceratons. “Mutanimals, ho!” Slash yelled.
Pigeon Pete, a mutant of both pigeon and human DNA, flew into action. But he got zapped almost immediately. Squawking, he landed in a pile of feathers.
“Pete’s down!” Slash cried as he bolted into the fray. “Cover me, Leatherhead!”
He reached his friend and picked him up. Dodging laser blasts, Slash ran back to a safer area, where he carefully laid the Mutanimal on the ground. “Rest up, Pete!” he whispered. “I get the feeling there’ll be plenty more chances for you to fight!”
Casey sprang forward, batting explosive pucks right at the head of a Triceraton. They detonated, but the Triceraton stood his ground, glaring. The little bombs had only made him mad.
Behind his hockey mask, Casey’s eyes widened. “Maybe I need an upgrade!”
Screaming like a wild man, Casey whipped his hockey stick around, whacking the Triceraton over and over. The furious Triceraton bashed him aside.
“Casey!” April screamed.
As the Triceraton loomed over Casey, April frantically looked around for a weapon. She spotted a laser cannon one of the Triceratons had dropped. It was so heavy she could barely lift it with both arms, but she managed, and fired it right at the Triceraton threatening Casey. BOOM! The alien was sent flying back, but so was April from the force of the laser blast.
As Casey helped April to her feet, Mondo Gecko sped by on his skateboard. Flipping his board and making a fist, he yelled, “Cowabunga! It’s time for Mondo Gecko to open a can of—”
WHOMP! Mondo Gecko ran right into one of the Triceratons. It was like running into the solid trunk of an oak tree.
Barely registering the impact of the mutant gecko, the Triceraton scratched his butt and turned around, seeing Mondo standing there, frozen. He and another Triceraton piled on, jumping up and down on the Mutanimal as if he were their personal trampoline.
Muckman, a mutated garbage man who looked like a pile of the garbage he used to pick up, saw the two Triceratons jumping on Mondo Gecko. “Mondo! No! Get away from my pal, ya alien freaks!”
Using all his strength, he picked up an overturned car and threw it at the Triceratons, knocking them off Mondo Gecko. The Mutanimal had been seriously stomped on, but he was still able to groan. Muckman ran to his friend’s rescue.
The Turtles and Splinter battled bravely, despite being vastly outnumbered by the Triceratons. More kept beaming down to join the fight.
Splinter saw that the Triceraton scientists were close to completing their task of programming the Heart of Darkness. One Triceraton scientist nodded to another, seeming to indicate that they were almost ready to deploy the awful weapon.
“We must stop the black hole generator from being triggered!” Splinter called to his fighting comrades.
Though he was busy deflecting laser blasts with his two katana swords, Leo heard his sensei. He in turn called to their two biggest, most powerful fighters. “Slash! Leatherhead! Take that machine down! Now!”
That was all Slash and Leatherhead needed to hear. “Gotta trash that space gadget, Leatherhead!” Slash yelled.
“SPAAACCE GAAAADGET!” Leatherhead agreed.
Leatherhead hurled himself at the Triceratons guarding the black hole generator. As he fought them, he shouted to Slash, “I’ll hold them off! You destroy the weapon!”
Slash made his way toward the Heart of Darkness, intent on bashing it with his spiked weapon. Swinging it, he knocked one Triceraton out of his way, sending him flying!
But two more Triceratons were headed toward Slash. Doc Rockwell, a mutated monkey with psychic powers, saw that his comrade was about to be attacked!
“Oh, no you don’t!” he yelled, picking up two cars with his telekinesis. He slammed them into one of the Triceratons. The other just kept on going, until Doc Rockwell used his mutant mind to lift him up and launch him over a building!
“Ha!” Doc Rockwell laughed. “Think you can withstand my vast telekinetic power?”
At that moment, a Triceraton landed right behind Doc Rockwell. He spun around, but before he could focus his thoughts, the alien yanked the helmet off Doc’s head. Without it, the Mad Monkey couldn’t control his telekinetic powers.
The Triceraton stomped on the helmet, smashing it to bits.
“NO!” Doc Rockwell cried. “You vile, extinct …” He was so angry he started screeching like an ape!
In his rage, the Mutanimal launched himself at the Triceraton, but the alien knocked him to the ground and tossed a glowing pink pyramid at him. Doc Rockwell stared at the pyramid and covered his face with his arm, but the pyramid projected a force field bubble that captured him, lifting him off the ground!
With Leatherhead keeping the other guards busy, Slash had fought his way to the black hole generator. Roaring, he raised his spiked mace over his head and slammed it down on the metal device.
Nothing.
“Huh?” Slash said. He was used to seeing his mace reduce everything it touched to rubble.
He raised his mace again and again. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
If the black hole generator wasn’t totally destroyed, at least it was damaged.
A Triceraton tried to stop Slash, but he knocked the alien away with his mace. From the ground, the Triceraton tossed a glowing pyramid toward Slash—the same kind of pyramid that the Triceratons had used to capture Doc Rockwell. Slash raised his mace to smash it, but before he could swing his weapon, the pyramid projected a force field bubble that trapped him.
Leatherhead saw that Slash was captured inside the floating bubble. He ran over to the black hole generator and was about to smash it with his tail, when …
… Captain Mozar beamed down! He held a plasma cannon in one hand and a force field pyramid in the other. He hurled the pyramid at Leather-head, trapping him in a bubble before he could attack the Heart of Darkness.
“Nooo! Triceratons!” Leatherhead roared inside the bubble. “Let me go, alien!” He slashed at the walls of the bubble with his powerful tail, but the force field withstood his blows.
Captain Mozar growled, “This battle is over! You have all lost!”
The Triceraton leader grabbed Mikey and lifted him into the air, kicking and struggling. “Foolish little one!” Captain Mozar sneered. “You are coming with me!”
“Mikey!” Raph cried.
Casey skated frantically toward Captain Mozar and Mikey, swinging his hockey stick. “I got you, dude! RAAAAAH!”
But before Casey could reach them, Captain Mozar pressed a button, activating a transporter. SHWOOM! He and Mikey disappeared, beaming up over the stone arch into the Triceraton mother ship! As they went, Mikey let out one last scream.
“Michelangelo!” Splinter cried.
There was no time to think about where Mikey had gone, because at the same time Captain Mozar teleported away, many more Triceraton soldiers teleported in! They arrived in the park with their laser weapons aimed and started firing immediately!
Casey saw that they were now absolutely, desperately outnumbered! He turned and tried to skate away as fast as he could, but a Triceraton lobbed a force field pyramid right at his feet, capturing Casey in a floating bubble! “YAAAH!” he yelled, his screams muffled by the unbreakable walls of the bubble.
“Casey!” April cried. She ran toward the bubble, planning to free her friend … somehow!
“No, April!” Casey shouted from inside the bubble. “Run! Run!”
But April kept coming. Raph tackled her, pushing her out of the line of laser fire. “No!” he yelled. “April, you can’t! It’s too dangerous! There’s just too many!”
April saw that Raph was right. As they ran, dodging plasma blasts, she called to Casey over her shoulder. “I’ll come back for you!”
Now the firestorm of laser blasts was growing more and more intense. Leo tried to deflect as many of the blasts as he possibly could with his katana swords, but it was becoming far too difficult. If they stayed, they would surely die.
“We gotta go, Sensei!” Leo shouted to Splinter.
The rat master agreed. He gestured with his own sword, pointing away from the Triceratons. “Retreat!” he commanded. “Everyone retreat!”
They all ran, heading away from the Triceraton soldiers as fast as their feet could carry them. But as he ran, Donnie spotted something intriguing on a fallen Triceraton.
Hm, he said to himself. This little baby might come in handy… .
ZWOONK! A laser blast reminded him to keep running. “YIAAAH!” he yelled. But he still managed to snatch the object from the unconscious alien soldier before he went.
Nearly 100,000 miles overhead, the gigantic Triceraton mother ship hovered over the blue planet. On the bridge, Captain Mozar rematerialized with Mikey held behind his back, trapped in a force field bubble. Mikey was still screaming.
“Yaaah! Yaaaaah!”
Ignoring him, Captain Mozar strode across the bridge. Triceraton officers stood and raised their fists in a salute.
The last officer in the line was Mozar’s second-in-command, Commander Zorin, standing with his back to his captain. He turned and raised his fist. Then he looked surprised and spoke in a voice made gravelly by years of screaming at underlings. “Captain Mozar, sir! You have captured an Earth creature?”
Mozar gave a small nod, holding the force field bubble with Mikey inside in front of him for all to see. “A mutant species of some kind, rare to the planet.”
Mikey struggled inside the bubble, hoping it might eventually pop, setting him free. “I used to think dinosaurs were cool! But not you guys!” He turned around in the bubble so he could face Captain Mozar. “Why are you doing this, dino-dude? Why can’t you just leave Earth alone?”
The massive Triceraton leader glowered. “Why?” he snarled. “Because of the Kraang! We will not let them take this planet. They want it as a hiding place from Dimension X, a back door, where we Triceratons cannot detect them. So we will simply destroy your planet and all of the Kraang hiding there!”
Mikey desperately tried to think of an argument to make Mozar abandon his plan to destroy Earth. “But … but … we don’t want the Kraang here, either!” He remembered a wise phrase he had once heard. “Can’t we all just get along?” he pleaded.
“No,” Captain Mozar said in a tone that showed there was no changing his mind. “The decision has been made by the Triceraton emperor. It cannot be changed.”
While Mozar was talking, Mikey had formed his hand into a fist. He concentrated, calling upon everything Splinter had taught him, summoning all his energy and focusing it into one targeted blow.
“HIIYAAAH!” he shouted as he slammed his fist against the inside of the bubble. It gave way, and Mikey rolled onto the floor!
He jumped up to attack Mozar, yelling with rage! This dino-alien wasn’t going to destroy his planet! Not if he could help it! “YAAAAHHHH!”
Mikey flew at Captain Mozar, determined to attack the hulking leader. But before he could even reach the Triceraton, Commander Zorin snagged him out of the air and held him fast in one huge hand.
Mikey struggled to get free. “Lemme go! Get offa me, dorkasaurus!”
Commander Zorin ignored Mikey’s insult … but only because he was not familiar with the term dorkasaurus. “Shall I take him to the brig, sir?”
Captain Mozar considered this suggestion. Then he had an idea. He smiled—a cruel, cold smile. “No,” he said in his deep voice. “Ready the Psionic Extractor.”
The other officers on the bridge exchanged surprised glances, though they said nothing. They dared not speak up against Captain Mozar.
But Commander Zorin dared. “The Psionic Extractor? But, sir, we only use it on our greatest war criminals. It is too horrible and cruel even for the likes of—”
Horrible? Cruel? Mikey didn’t like the sound of any of this.
“SILENCE!” Captain Mozar roared, leaning his face in close to Commander Zorin’s. “Do not presume to lecture me on the use of the Psionic Extractor! I am well aware of its … effects. DO AS I COMMAND!”
Commander Zorin stared for a brief moment. Then he turned and nodded to one of the seated officers. The Triceraton pushed a series of buttons on the control panel in front of him.
A section of the wall opened slowly. A device resembling a chair bristling with blades and prongs emerged into the chamber. But it was no chair. It was the Psionic Extractor.
Sweating, Mikey nervously said, “Wow. Heh. That looks like it’s really gonna hurt. Probably a lot.”
Captain Mozar put his massive face right next to Mikey’s. “More than you can possibly imagine, creature.”
On a roof several stories above a New York City street, Splinter stood by a water tank. Leo, Raph, Donnie, and April were with him, hiding from the Triceratons, keeping to the shadows.
“We gotta go back for ’em, Sensei,” Leo said urgently. “We can’t just leave ’em there!”
Two Triceraton raptors screamed by overhead. The Turtles ducked out of sight.
“And what about Mikey?” Raph demanded. “What are they gonna do to him up there in that freaky ship? Probe him?”
Splinter looked grim. “I, too, am concerned about Michelangelo and the others. But first we must destroy the black hole generator. That is the priority. If we cannot stop this weapon, the entire world is doomed!”
“Sensei,” Donnie said, “I think it’s gonna take some time for the Triceratons to fix all the damage Slash caused… .”
“We gotta go after Mikey!” Leo insisted. “Even if we stop the black hole generator, we still have to get him back!”
Splinter leaped down from the water tower platform, landing among the Turtles. He thought for a moment. Then he spoke gravely.
“Go, then,” he said. “Save your brother. April and I will stop the Triceratons and rescue our friends.”
April looked surprised. “You and I? By ourselves?” She couldn’t believe what Splinter was saying
. “You’re, um, kidding—right, Sensei?”
But Splinter didn’t look as though he was kidding. He looked deadly serious.
“We will ally ourselves with someone even more powerful than the mighty Mutanimals,” he said.
“Who, Sensei?” Leo asked.
Splinter closed his eyes, as though it was painful to state the answer out loud. “The Shredder.”
April gasped.
On the Triceraton mother ship, Mikey was strapped down, his arms held tight by thick metal restraints. The long, sharp extractor was pointed directly at his skull. He was trembling, though the cuffs severely limited his movement.
“Hold up, dino-dudes!” he squeaked. “Let’s talk about this! For reals, though!”
“There is no need for talk,” Commander Zorin scoffed. “This machine will drain all of your knowledge of Earth and the Kraang.”
Captain Mozar leaned in, almost touching Mikey’s face with his metal beak. “And in the process, your psyche will be sliced, diced, chopped, and removed from your puny brain.”
“I don’t have the biggest psycho,” Mikey wailed, “but I like what I got!”
Mozar turned to one of the officers seated at a nearby control panel. “Activate the extractor!”
The officer pressed a button. Lights flashed. Ropes of energy crackled around the long extractor as it began to spin. It moved closer to Mikey’s skull, focusing a triangle of light on his forehead.
A beam of glowing energy pulsed through his skull. Mikey screamed …
… but then his screaming turned to hysterical laughter!
“BWAAH! HA HA HA HA HA HA! WOW! YEAH! SO COOL!” Mikey laughed.
Captain Mozar’s cruel smile turned to a frown.
Mikey kept giggling and laughing, kicking his feet in delight. He clearly was enjoying the Psionic Extractor, feeling no pain whatsoever!
“Turn it off!” Captain Mozar barked. “TURN IT OFF NOW!”
The officer hit a button. The machine powered down, releasing Mikey from his metal cuffs. He sat up, his eyes wide, looking spaced out but happy.