Crown Jewels Caper is a Fleetway comic, published in TMHT Adventures #50 in December, 1991.
Appearing in Crown Jewels Caper[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
- Bebop
- Beefeaters
- Footbots
- Rocksteady
Species[]
- Human
- Mutant rhinoceros
- Mutant turtle
- Mutant warthog
- Robot
Objects and vehicles[]
- Bō
- Crown Jewels
- H.M.S. Belfast
- Katana
- Police Launch
- Sai
- Turtle Blimp
Locations[]
- England
- London
- River Thames
- Tower Bridge
- Tower of London
- Trafalgar Square
- London
Summary[]
In London, England, a guided bus and coach tour treats the tourists to the sights, passing by St. Paul’s Cathedral. As they approach the Tower of London, a passenger calls out for the bus to be stopped. Three passengers get off, even though the tour is not finished. The mystery trio are Shredder, Rocksteady and Bebop, wearing scarlet hoods and cloaks. Bebop is an excited tourist, taking pictures as they walk, until Shredder points out he’s holding the camera the wrong way around. Shredder tells them to come along, because they have somewhere close by to hide up until tonight. Their actual mission he keeps to himself.
Much later, Shredder and the two mutants speed down the River Thames in a stolen police launch piloted by a Footbot. As they approach the river side of the Tower of London, Shredder orders the Footbot to turn off the boat’s searchlight and to slow the engines. Bebop begins spinning a grappling hook, nearly hitting Shredder with it. Moments later, in the Tower, two of the Beefeaters hear an odd scraping sound. They go to investigate and are knocked out by Bebop and Rocksteady. Shredder then sends the pair to deal with the rest of the Beefeater guards. While the mutants handle with the guards, Shredder robs the Tower of the Crown Jewels. Krang had ordered him to steal them because crooked collectors will pay a fortune for them and they can spend the money on new weapons’ technology.
Shredder tells the mutants to stop wasting time so they can leave before the Tower’s burglar alarms go off. When they suddenly start ringing loudly, he realizes it’s too late. He says it’s time for their emergency escape plan and orders the two mutants to blast a hole in the wall. Using their laser rifles, they punch a hole through the wall and then Shredder shoves them out into the water. He leaps after them carrying the stolen jewels as guards regroup to try and stop them. The launch roars away and Shredder gloats at having committed the crime of the century. Rocksteady tries to tell him something, but Shredder shushes him in order to keep bragging. Rocksteady finally insists he listen and then points upwards at the Turtle Blimp.
Leonardo tells his brothers that it looks like their info was spot on. He then shouts for Shredder to hand over his ill-gotten gains. Shredder refuses and tells the two mutants to blow the Turtles out of the sky. They begin shooting and Donatello says that they are too big a target in the blimp, so he separates the Turtle Glider. As Shredder fusses at Bebop and Rocksteady for not even getting one hit, Leo says it’s time for a wave level attack. The glider sweeps down at the launch and Bebop, still wearing the crown, jumps overboard. Shredder shouts for him to come back with the crown and then orders the boat to be turned around because he’s not leaving without the crown. Leo sees his chance and three of the Turtles leap into the water. Michaelangelo calls for some fast swimming and Shredder says not to let the reptiles get aboard. Two Footbots are in the process of pulling Bebop out of the water.
The Turtles are fast swimmers and holding onto the boats side, Leo slices the head off of a Footbot. Shredder tells Rocksteady to use his laser gun as the three Turtles climb aboard, but the mutant manages to shoot a Footbot. Shredder then orders the Footbots to attack and protect. Raphael ducks below a punch, but Mikey is not so lucky and gets knocked down. Leo and Raph throw weapons at the Footbots, but they dodge and deflect, which makes the Turtles think they’ve taken an unarmed combat course. Leo’s katana, though it missed the Footbot he aimed for, does however strike the Footbot pilot.
Mikey makes it to his feet and dispatches one of the Footbots and then Raph and Leo toss the remaining one overboard. Don is still following the launch with the glider and hopes his brothers deal with Shredder and the mutants before they crash into something famous. Just then, the Turtles steer the launch away from the Tower Bridge and then it bounces off the hull of the H.M.S. Belfast. Raph urges his brothers to help him move the Footbot off the wheel so that they can better control the launch. However, It’s too late as the launch speeds towards and then hits a mudbank. The launch comes to a jarring stop and Shredder and his two mutants are thrown overboard. They grab the bags of jewels and run for a set of stairs while the Turtles are still dazed. When Shredder reaches the street, he accosts a cabbie and demands his taxi. The cabbie asks if he thinks he’s the queen and tells him to push off. Bebops steps up next to Shredder, who points out that he’s wearing the crown. The cabbie shrieks at the sight of a mutant monster and flees the cab. Shredder takes the wheel and speeds off just as the Turtles reach another taxi. Leo tells the driver to follow the first taxi. The chase is on as it speeds past Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. As the Turtles’ taxi finally roars into Trafalgar Square, the driver informs them that almost all his fuel is gone. Leo tells him to do something fast and ram the other taxi. The driver thinks he crazy, until Leo informs him that they are going to escape with the crown jewels. That does the trick and the driver smashes into the back end of Shredder’s taxi.
The two teams of combatants leap out of their vehicles and Leo tells Shredder that they are taking the gems back. Then Don sweeps down and uses his bō to snag Bebop and Rocksteady’s laser guns. To wrap things up, Leo, Raph and Mikey toss the three villains into a fountain. The Turtles grab the two bags containing the crown jewels and the crown from Bebop’s head before driving back to the Tower of London. With ninja stealth, they return the jewels unseen and then go off to do some sightseeing before heading home. Meanwhile, Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady are also heading for home… in a row boat.