Solicit[]
It’s the Rat Queen’s turn to take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on behalf of the Pantheon, and her perfidious plan to do harm to the Heroes in a Half-Shell involves collaborating with the craven criminal called the Rat King! But can such a terrible team-up stand the test of time? It’s rodents all the way down in this issue of Saturday Morning Adventures!
Appearing in The Queen's Gambit[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
- Burne Thompson
- Drako
- Golgotha
- Irma Langenstein
- Krang
- Old Hob
- Scratch
- Shredder
- Splinter
- Vernon Fenwick
Species[]
- Anthropomorphic rat
- Disembodied brain
- Humans
- Mutant cat
- Mutant rat
- Mutant turtles
- Rats
- Tentacle being
Locations[]
Objects, vehicles, and weapons[]
- Bō
- Extraterrestrial energy enhancement device
- Katana
- Krang's second Android Body
- Nunchaku
- Sai
- Shuriken
- Turtle Line
Synopsis[]
Open inside Krang and Shredder's Secret Lair. The Pantheon and Shredder are seated around a table as Krang enumerates their failures. Not only was Drako defeated by the Turtles, but he lost his ability to breathe fire. Then Golgotha burnt out her hypnotic vocal chords. Krang says the two things are abundantly clear; more than one of them have powers that come out of their mouths, and that after so long at the top, they’re not used to single combat anymore. They are just weakening themselves by trying to take on the Turtles on their own. Krang insists they should have turned to him for new leadership, as he’s conquered worlds. Rat Queen interrupts to tell him she’ll be taking her shot at winning leadership before deciding to follow him. Shredder says she controls rats and the Turtles have already triumphed over an enemy that can do that. He asks what she can do that the Rat King can’t. Rat Queen winks and tells him to wait and see.
A few days later, the Turtles are walking through the sewers and Leonardo comments on how quiet it’s been these last few weeks. Raphael tells him not to say such things because the universe will give them a swift kick in the shell. Leonardo responds by talking about their defeats of Drako and Golgotha and they haven’t heard a peep since then. He says that they need to be ready for whatever… Before he can finish, Rat King races around a corner and barrels into him.
Rubbing his head, Leonardo asks Rat King how he got out of jail. Rat King replies that he escaped but that’s not important now. He says that he’s in danger and that they must help him. Michelangelo and Raphael each grab one of Rat King’s arms. Mike asks what kind of danger and Raphael asks why they shouldn’t just turn him in. Rat King shrugs them off and tells them that Rat Queen wants to destroy him. Knowing she’s one of the Pantheon, Raphael realizes it’s not a coincidence and asks Leo if they can let them fight it out amongst themselves. Leo replies that they can’t do that because the Pantheon is a danger to everyone. As heroes, they are sworn to help. Rat King says that he’ll lead them to her. Raph runs a hand over his face and says he feels like they’re going to regret this.
Meanwhile, at Channel 6, Burne Thompson shouts that his people are trying to give him an ulcer. In front of his desk are Irma, April and Vernon, who says he thought his boss already had an ulcer. Burne tells them that the Rat King escaped from prison this morning and instead of telling the station owners about their great ratings from reporting the story, he had to tell them they were scooped by a basic cable news outlet. He says that they are not getting scooped again. The second the Rat King shows his face, he wants Channel 6 to know.
As the Turtles follow Rat King, Raph whispers to Leo that this feels like a trap. Leo whispers back that it can’t be a trap if they know they’re walking into danger. Suddenly, Rat King stops and exclaims that they are here. This, he says, is where his loyal rodents told him the Rat Queen lies in wait. He warns them that following him will be dangerous. Raph mumbles that he can feel an “I told you so” brewing.
They reach a large, open area of the tunnels Donatello says he doesn’t see the Rat Queen. Rat King turns on them, calling them naïve fools. Thousands of rats gather beneath him, raising Rat King high above the Turtles as he informs them that he has brought them doom and they didn’t even question it. He tells them that the Rat Queen freed him from prison in order to learn all he knew about the Turtles. It became apparent they should join forces, so he fooled them with his superior intellect and lured them to this place. Don says he didn’t fool anyone; he told them he was bringing them to the Rat Queen. Raph adds that he should stop acting like he’s some manipulative mastermind.
Rat King states that he have a legion of rats at his command and a queen to rule them with. Rat Queen appears and leaps down at Leo, who meets her attack with his swords. Leo says he supposes she wants to brainwash them to help her take over the Pantheon, but she says she just wants to destroy them, as the rats are the only bodyguards she needs. Don informs her that they’ve fought Rat King and his rats many times and always defeat them. He swats aside rats and says this time won’t be any different. Cartwheeling away from Leo, Rat Queen says that’s where they are wrong. She lifts a little pistol type device and uses her new toy to transform a bunch of the rats into giant sized rats. When Don says this situation is not ideal, Raph reminds them he’s the one who told them he had a bad feeling about this. Leo tells him it was Michelangelo who said that, and Raph replies that he was thinking it.
Donatello points out that though the rats are Splinter-sized, they don’t have his skill. When he mentions the Rat Queen’s device, Michelangelo decides they’d better destroy it and throws a couple of shuriken before Don can stop him. A rat leaps in front of Rat Queen and blocks the shuriken with a brick. Rat King tells the Turtles surrender or be destroyed. Raph doesn’t like those options and asks Leo if he has a plan. When Leo says he’s working on it, Don tells him to hurry or they risk being overwhelmed.
Standing off to one side with Rat Queen, Rat King gloats about the Turtles being at their mercy. Once they’re out of the way, they can use their rat army to take the city and perhaps even the world. Rat Queen says that’s an idea, but there is no “we” in the equation. She tells Rat King he’s nothing more than a useful tool. Rat King grabs her arm and says they are both monarchs to rodentkind and they alone command their loyalty. Pulling away from him, Rat Queen says that his power compels them against their will. What the rats do for her is out of devotion. They are nothing alike and the only thing they have in common is an enemy.
Their arguing gives Michelangelo an idea. As he dodges rats, he tells Rat King that he should stand up for himself because he’s one of the toughest enemies they’ve ever faced. In a whisper, Leo asks what he’s doing, and Michelangelo replies in a whisper to trust him. Mikey then tells Rat King that he gave their dad, a ninja master, one of the hardest fights of his life. He insists that Rat King is the equal of Rat Queen and shouldn’t let her tell him otherwise. Raph doesn’t think this is the time to boost Rat King’s ego, but Rat King thinks that Mikey is right. He is the Rat King and bows to no one.
Using his mental powers, he tells the rats that Rat Queen is no friend to rodentkind and that she’s not an Earthling. He urges them to rise against her. Rat Queen delivers a hard punch to his face and tells the rat minions that those who are not with them, are against them. Rat King turns on her and as they begin to argue, the rats also turn on each other.
Don asks Mikey if he planned this. Mikey says two egomaniacs can’t be in charge at the same time. He twirls his Turtle Line and flings it at Rat Queen, snagging her extraterrestrial energy enhancement device, which he passes off to Don. Mikey tells him to end this because he’s starving. Don uses the device’s ray to turn the rats back to their normal size. Then he flings the device towards Leo, who slices it to pieces with his katana.
The Rat King and Rat Queen agree to a truce. Rat King uses his mental power to order the rats to attack the Turtles. Overrun by thousands of rats, the Turtles wonder how they’ll get to their two enemies. Leo suddenly has a plan. He says they’ll turn the Raphael maneuver against them. Raph doesn’t know what he’s talking about. As Leo leaps at Michelangelo, he pulls his body into his shell and tells his brother to throw him at the pair. Mikey catches him and flings him at Rat King and Rat Queen. Leo strikes each of them hard, knocking out Rat Queen, but only dazing Rat King. He decides he wants to remain free and starts to run away, but Don bonks him on the head with his bō. With both of them unconscious, the rats flee back into the sewers.
Later, the Turtles are back at the lair, watching April’s news report. Thanks to an anonymous tip, the Rat King was recaptured and returned to prison. Also apprehended was the Rat Queen, who allegedly broke the Rat King out of prison. Leo turns off the television and states that makes three members of the Pantheon now down. He says it’s too bad that Drako and Golgotha are still free. Loudly chomping on pizza, Mikey says the Turtles can’t be stopped. Splinter agrees that their enemies have tasted defeat, but that they may also be more desperate, which makes them even more dangerous. Mikey’s smacking and chomping gets to him and Splinter turns to tell his son to chew his food. Mikey apologizes as his brothers laugh.