Mystic Resonance

Infiltrating the Museum

This was new for me; new for all of us. We're doing a job stuck as a giant turtle beachball. I'm so not telling Dee that. My poor twin has an irrational fear of beach balls. I took some blame for it. We went topside when we were still tots. Dad took us before Black Friday so we could pick one toy each. Dad was holding Mikey to get a baby toy while Raph took me and Dee to find ours first. I saw a big cage full of beach balls, but there was one bright blue ball that I wanted in there. I went over to open the cage. I didn't know Donnie was behind me, so an avalanche of beach balls came down when I opened the cage's door. I managed to escape; Donnie didn't. All the balls came crashing dow,n burying him. When I noticed how my brother didn't pop out, I rushed over to dig him out. When I got to him, Donnie was shaking and had wide eyes. I piggybacked my brother back to my family. I had a big scolding from Dad, but it didn't stop the guilt I felt that day. I'm still feeling the guilt. As long as no one mentions or reestablishes the double Bs, we're Gucci.

Anyway! My brothers and I are stuck together. It took us half an hour to walk straight. How were we going to stop some art thieves from stealing... well, art? Simple. We have substitutes. We called and picked up our last two members and arrived at the Museum of Art and Framing. And you're all wondering how we made it there in under ten minutes. I'll tell you: it involved a certain emo driving a tank, and we were tagged along on a wagon that surprisingly held us there (and in one piece).

As soon as we arrived, Merrill, Alex, Lydia, and Katie stepped out of the Turtle Tank. "See? I told you I could drive a tank. And you doubted me," my boyfriend proudly announced. He walked up to us and untied us from the wagon.

"Yeah... how did you learn to drive a tank?" Katie dared to ask.

"I was at a military camp one summer; hijacked a battle tank on my first day. Took that bad boy out for a spin. Fuckin' worth the two-week cleaning duty." Merrill managed to set us free. Dee's and Mike's legs tried to steady us.

"Wow", my little brother's eyes sparkled. "On your first try?"

"Hell yeah. Had to multitask between reading the tank's manual and driving. Again, worth it."

Raph tried to stand tall despite the circumstances. "I'm not going to ask how. Let's get down to business. This is a recon. There will be no action unless to retreat. Do I make myself clear?"

"I have a question. Why are we here?" Lydia slightly raised her hand. She was holding Mikey's mystic weapon. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I want to help you guys, but we're not... trained? Licensed? Is that the right word? I mean, we're not vigilantes or anything. I'm surprised we survived the adventures we went through."

"Follow-up question. Why are we equipped with your weapons?" Katie added. She was holding my sword. "My knowledge on weapons – including yours – is VERY limited. I could take my eye out or someone else's. Probably sliced a poor soul in half."

"Follow, follow-up question. Why do I have Donnie's stick?" Merrill asked, raising my brother's staff. "I should be the one holding Lee's sword, not stroking the stick." I'm not going there. 'I should be the one with your sword since we're, you know, dating.' Again. Not going there.

"SMD, focus up!" We all looked at Raph. "You like it? It stands for Substitute Mad Dogs. Since WE can't do anything, you four are subbing for us. Katie is Leo, Lydia is Mikey, Merrill is Donnie, and Alex is me... where's Alex?"

The blonde popped out behind our balled-up body and posed. He embraced his red theme: red trench coat, red buttoned-up shirt, red tight pants, red boots, AND red ski mask. The only thing that stood out was Raph's weapon attached to his belt. "Substitute Raphael! Reporting for duty!" he saluted.

Merrill rolled his eyes. "Alex, we're here to save the day, not rob the joint."

"Judging from his color schemes, not the most successful robber", Katie said.