Invito a nozze, (Wedding invitation), is a story in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic published by Rizzoli. It appeared in issue 37, 1991, of the Italian children's magazine "Corriere dei Piccoli".
Appearing in Invito a nozze[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
Species[]
- Human
- Mutant rhinoceros
- Mutant turtle
- Mutant warthog
Objects and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- New York City
- Giardino Fiorito
- Tecnodromo
Summary[]
Wearing news staff disguises, the Turtles attend a function where April O'Neil is receiving the “Golden Microphone” for the best reporter of the year. April turns and sees Michelangelo, but when she says his name, he shushes her so that no one else recognizes them. Raffaello tells her they are there incognito just for her and Michelangelo adds they are her secret admirers. A flower delivery man walks up and hands April a bouquet of flowers. Raffaello wonders who April’s other admirer could be and Leonardo says it’s someone more romantic than they are. Watching as April buries her face in the flowers, Raffaello comments on how she appreciates them a lot and to look at her ecstatic smile.
As the group heads for the building exit, Donatello tells April that the flowers made her happier than the journalist award. April acknowledges this to be true, because Shredder asked her to marry him. The Turtles react in shocked surprise as they read the note that came with the flowers. It asks for her hand in marriage and that the wedding party is set for tomorrow at the Giardino Fiorito. The note is signed “Shredder”.
Donatello questions how seriously she is taking the note and Leonardo asks that she’s not really going to marry him. April says yes to both questions and that she loves him. Michelangelo is astonished, saying it’s not possible and it’s as if the world was left without pizza.
Deep inside the Tecnodromo, Shredder brags that his pollen-shaped “Micro-Influenzatore” has acted on April’s brain waves. Rocksteady wonders how a pretty journalist could marry an annoying guy like Shredder. Bebop adds that sometimes he’s beastly to his partners. Shredder tells them to shut up and that the pollen only works on those who have brains. Though it wouldn’t work on the two imbecile mutants, he says, his future bride has a lot of gray matter – and also her four wedding witnesses.
Over the span of the next twenty-four hours, the Turtles are unable to convince April to change her mind. The Turtles ride in April’s convertible with her and continue to ask how she could marry Shredder. She tells them she’ll change him and then says not to speak badly about him to her anymore. Furthermore, she says, they are also her witnesses. Donatello snaps a rose from her bouquet off its stem and asks April to pull over to the corner for a moment because he has an errand to run. As Donatello leaps from the car, Raffaello asks if this is the time to go shopping. Donatello counters by asking if any of them have thought about a wedding gift. As they drive away, Michelangelo calls out for Donatello to find something tuboloso. Donatello claims he’s already had an idea for something and Leonardo says they’ll see him at Giardino Fiorito. April steps on the gas and Michelangelo says that car racing gives him an appetite.
They soon come to a screeching stop at the Giardino Fiorito building. No one else is there yet and Michelangelo thinks it’s an odd idea to choose a botanical garden for a wedding party. The group heads inside and Michelangelo complains that there is nothing to eat, not even pizza. Wearing her wedding dress and carrying the bouquet she was given; April calls out for Shredder. He replies and she locates him amongst the flowers. He is manning the Micro-Influenzatore machine and greets everyone, welcoming them to his wedding reception. Shredder asks if they don’t mind starting the party right away without waiting for any other guests.
The mechanized giant bee flies off its platform. Shredder says that a greenhouse is full of flowers and he wants to flower them with special pollen. The bee buzzes overhead and sprinkles pollen on April and the three Turtles. Shredder explains that when the pollen is breathed in, the Turtles will be under his control, just like April. Michelangelo says that he knew April’s tastes could not be that bad. Raffaello urges the others to move shell or they’ll be ruined too.
Shredder calls out that it’s too late. Just a few more inhales and… Donatello suddenly arrives and interrupts to say he forgot the wedding present, as he holds up several face masks. Then he tosses the masks to the other Turtles, who quickly put them on. Donatello turns back to Shredder and says the roses immediately appeared strange to him. By analyzing them, he understood the trick. Leonardo slashes at the mechanized bee and sends it flying towards Shredder while Donatello places a mask on April’s face. Working together, Raffaello and Michelangelo kick Bebop and Rocksteady back to where Shredder is standing.
The bee flies directly over the trio of bad guys and Bebop claims it has it in for them. Shredder shouts that the mutant pollen will affect his brain cells. At the controls to the Micro-Influenzatore, Donatello says he believes Shredder’s mental faculties are normally attuned to the brain manipulator. He switches the machine from “a friendly, suffocating feeling” to “interested in Bebop/Rocksteady”. Shredder immediately begins sweet-talking the two mutants, telling them to come to daddy so he can give them sugar. Both Bebop and Rocksteady state that they prefer him mean. Meanwhile, April comes back to her senses, but has no idea what happened. Leonardo says she doesn’t know what she’s missing and Raffaello adds that a story like this would have earned her another “Golden Microphone”. Donatello says she could have titled it “The betrothed runs away shortly before the wedding.”