14304/Introductions are in order!

Introductions are in order!
Date of Scene:	02 March 2023
Location:	Turtle Lair
Synopsis:	Raph introduces April to Mona. TCRI, Krang and the origins of Mutagenic Ooze are discussed as well as Oscorp's potential dealings with it, and April introduces Mona to Chinese food!
Cast of Characters:	Mona Lisa, Raphael, April O'Neil

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Mona Lisa has posed:
     Deep in the sewers, in the lair of the Ninja Turtles, the sounds of combat echo from the dojo within. This is not an uncommon occurance, though what is uncommon is the sound of a female voice in the practice arena. Today, Raphael holds his own against a new ally, the Alien Lieutenant Y'Gythgba, better known as Mona Lisa. She's strong, stronger than a human opponent, more agile, more... flexible, and that tail is an extra weapon the rebellious red-aligned reptile has to deal with.

     Raphael, however, is the defensive specialist of the four turtles, Master Splinter having taught him the art of the Sai as a counterbalance to his aggression. The two are evenly matched, it's actually not unlike sparring against Leonardo with the way she swings her sword, but right when April walks in is when both of them, getting tired, start to slip... only Mona slips first this round, her sword being deflected as Raphael gets close and thrusts a knee into her gut, making the sapient salamander give a choked sound as the wind is knocked out of her and she slumps, clutching her gut. Seems like a good time for a break... And April no doubt has several questions walking in on this scene...

Raphael has posed:
     It was different in ways besides his opponent being female and a salamander. Leo doesn't have that tail, adding a new element to things that Raphael has to dodge. He has a few broad whiplike marks on his tough reptilian flesh here and there. Nothing that slows him down. He usually has signs of combat somewhere on his body. He seems to be in full swing, blood pumping and sais whirring as he almost dances with the taller warrior. While she might have him beaten on reach and flexibility, he has the endurance. And he doesn't let the fact she's a woman make him hold back from planting that knee in her armored belly.

     He steps back with a grin, spinning his sais in his hands reflexively like he often does. "My point. So, ready for round...." Then his head tilts, and he glances towards the main area of the lair. He heard something. Familiar sounding footsteps at that. He slides the weapons away. "I think we have some company..."

April O'Neil has posed:
    April's doing as Aprils do. Well, one specific April. She has to figure most reporters don't find themselves carefully navigating the sewers. Or if they are, it's for some sort of one-off scoop, definitely not following a familiar path to the... can she consider it a house? The house of a friend. Lair? These are the sorts of thoughts you grapple with when you're trying to remember if the emergency valve up ahead is the one you turn right at, or if it was that one a few tunnels back.

    Or maybe that's just what you think when you had three cups of coffee in the morning and you're bored. But the tunnels become more familiar on a conscious level, less instinctive navigating as she picks out landmarks and slips in the hidden entrance into the abandoned Subway station. And that's when she hears the familiar sound of weapons clashing... metal on metal? Must be Raph and Leo. She sighs out and nods her head once sharply. Makes sense. They're the most focused on sparring. And April's all ready to announce her presence with a wave and a call out to her friends. It's just a shame it comes out as a startled noise. Leo's looking a lot more 'Not Leo, definitely a Lizard.' than she was expecting. That noise is shifted into a clearing of her throat, April raising her eyebrows. "So... _clearly_ missed someone's welcoming party? ...Oh god, did my spam filter eat my invite? It's just... it really thinks 'mutant turtle' is a phishing term or something."

Mona Lisa has posed:
Mona slowly stands, using her energy sword like a staff, set to this mode it doesn't damage the floor any more than Donnie's bo would, acting like a physical object. She then retracts it into its hilt with the touch of a button, catching her breath as that wide salamander head looks to the intruder with yellow, amphibian eyes separated by dark grey-blue scales.

     Mona blinks at what April says, saying "Welcoming party?" back to the turtle, "I suppose the other night was sort of an impromptu party... I assume this is another ally?"

Raphael has posed:
     That reponse from April makes Raphael reach up and scrub his three-fingered hand over his green scalp. "Hey April. Yeah, I guess we shoulda clued you in about our guest here. I've been... distracted." He glances over at the slender Salamandrian, then returns his eyes to the redheaded human. "Good to see you though. You should come by the lair more often." He moves over to the reporter, going in for a brotherly sort of hug with one arm. "Yeah, this is April O'Neal. She's actually the first ally we ever had. My favorite human." He turns back to the salamander. "And this, is Mona Lisa. She's a warrior from space. She's here looking for an alien criminal. They might be working with the Foot, so we're helping each other. April is a reporter. She investigates things and then does stories on them for the news. But she's kept our secret all this time, so don't worry about her saying anything."

April O'Neil has posed:
    April laughs softly and smiles, bobbing her head to Mona, eying the alien woman curiously, hips cocking slightly, arms crossing over her chest. Classic 'I'm totally cool and casual' posture. Then again, she might be Alien bounty hunter looking for a criminal on Earth? She's covered weirder.

    When Raph comes in for that hug, she gives a snug of her arm around his shoulders and a pat on his shell, "Well, I've been a little busy myself. Did a little like, human interest story on that whole GIRL science lab thing out in Jersey. Got kidnapped by some criminals looking for an easy ransom by nabbing a reporter." Her shoulders shrug lightly and she rolls her eyes, "You know, typical New York stuff." She bobs her head to Mona and grins, "So, hunting down a space criminal who came to Earth? He didn't come to like... team up with our criminals did he?" She flinches slightly at the thought. Sure, that'd be a scoop.

    But also something possibly planet-endangering. And hey, she wants to win an award for her reporting some day, but she'd like to do it without the planet being at risk.

Mona Lisa has posed:
     Mona's big salamander eyes blink at April's questions, the taller alien looking to the side and then back as she says "That... I cannot say with certainty. Krang is a Utrom from Dimension X, so it would be more appropriate to call him an interdimensional criminal, though his dimension can be accessed from a point in space I believe, so... it is both, in a sense. And for his teaming up with other criminals, I have only linked him to two organizations... Oscorp and The Foot Clan. Both have been using the Mutagenic Ooze that he deals in, Raphael and I recovered an empty cannister from the Foot the other day and a while ago I recovered a full cannister from deep within Oscorp, I took advantage of a Hydra attack to break in and steal it from their lower levels..."

     She stands with her hand on her hip now, looking over April with scrutiny, saying "If you're an investigative journalist, that may be a lead for you, though there's also someone else making more mutants around the city... Sundance and a few others seem to have escaped their clutches but I haven't had the opportunity to question them further."

Raphael has posed:
     Raph gives April's waist a small squeeze, then detaches from her to walk back over to the salamander warrior. Yeah, this is certainly strange. But it's not like aliens are unheard of on earth. Or reptile people. So not THAT strange. At least this one isn't part of some invasion force looking to take over the planet... as far as they know. With his impression of Mona Lisa so far though, he trusts her. And he believes in his gut. "Krang seems to be a brain with a face and tentacles. She said he hides in fake human bodies. And has psychic powers. So. Could be anywhere, and definitely a threat. We gotta find him fast and shut off this Mutagen pipeline. As nice as it is having other mutants around, they don't always turn out as well as me and the others. And they usually don't ask for it."

April O'Neil has posed:
    April takes Mona's explanation in stride. Ultrom. Dimension X. Oscorp and The Foot she already knows, so they join them in her dictionary of Bad Things To Investigate. "Well, he sounds like he's keeping good company. Definitely something to keep an eye on. I thought Oscorp hadn't been in the news for dumping any chemicals recently, but... if they're involved in interdimensional crime, they probably don't want any undue attention." She frowns thoughtfully and nods, "Yeah, something's definitely going on, but... I haven't found any concrete leads yet. I might need to ask Ha... my roommate if she can get me in contact with anyone who can cast a wider net than me."

    She snorts and nods her head to Raph's point, "Yeah, reptile people are... I mean, hey, Killer Croc was on the news this morning. Him and Bane tried to break out of Arkham. Cheetah was involved somehow. ...Kinda weird that Killer Croc and Cheetah aren't mutants, right? Like... statistically?" She shrugs helplessly. Sometimes you just need to roll with things.

    And then sometimes 'things' are Raph just casually throwing out there's a living brain with a face that can inhabit fake bodies and has psychic powers. "Yeah... I mean, that's... we might need some help on that. Psychic powers? An enemy that could be anyone? That's... not just some ninjas trying to take over the city's crime economy. We might need to get everyone in. Have you told the others about all this?"

Mona Lisa has posed:
     Mona nods to Raph and then looks to April, saying "Yes, I was shocked to learn Raphael here is a mutant made from the ooze from how stable he is, frequently mutants will absorb parts of their environment during the mutation process, and Sundance as well is shockingly stable looking... but he may have been created intentionally. Still, if my reports are correct, Krang might have been on earth for close to twenty years... so as bad as this flow of mutagen is, rushing now won't help us, we need to methodically track down his contacts, his leads, and put an end to these experiments..."

Raphael has posed:
     "My brothers and Master Splinter know. Kai knows. I haven't seen anybody else since Mona showed up." He crosses his thick green arms over his chest. "The Foot are bad enough on their own. Don't really like the thought of them working with aliens. Or Oscorp. Not that he's dealt much with the latter. But big corporations are always evil, right? Right. He frowns as he looks over at Mona. "Twenty years....?" So... he might be the source of the mutagen that created him and his brothers? That was... hmm. He thinks about that, head lowering.

April O'Neil has posed:
    April quirks an eyebrow, "Well, that's... mildly terrifying. If he's the source of it, and he's been around for twenty years... but hasn't made a move yet beyond... adapting the mutagen or perfecting it..." She presses her lips into a thin line, "You'd only do something for that long while keeping it undercover if it was to be prepared for something explosive."
    She nods to Mona and sighs out, "Yeah, there's no point rushing it, keep things lowkey, quiet. Maybe start checking on... not just corporations. Like, AIM is out there. HYDRA. Plenty of mad scientists who'd take it as a gift and not realize they're being duped into playing patsy for some bigger scheme. And if they're keeping their test subjects secure enough that only a few are breaking out tracking them down is going to take a lot of work."

Mona Lisa has posed:
     Mona nods, saying "Indeed, it was a rather unwelcome surprise to the Salamandrian Empire that he is not only still alive, but actively dealing with... well, Earth is a bit of a special case in a lot of regards. It's hard to abide by the usual laws surrounding contact with less advanced civilizations when there has been so much illegal contact, and with the sheer number of natural mutants occurring among humanity, any reports of mutants created by mutagen would be quickly lost in the sea of naturally occurring mutants... so it's a perfect hiding spot for someone like him."

     The tall salamander then approaches April, saying "If you wish to aid my investigation, seek out references to a company called TCRI. It seems to be a front for his services. In fact..." The salamander leads them back to the table, and a shoebox that Raphael and her acquired from the foot a few nights ago, "This here." She pulls out the glass cannister with metal caps on each end, saying "This is their logo..." Big block angular letters show "TCRI" across the front of the glass tube, which Michelangelo seemed to recognize when he saw it the other night.

Raphael has posed:
     Raphael frowns deeply at the glass canister. "Yeah. We all did. Not sure why. Can't remember where from. But it's familiar." One two-toed foot taps on the ground absently. "I know we have to take our time but... dammit! I want to kick some shell right now." This whole thing is giving him a lot of pent up aggressive energy. More than usual, even. He gives his head a shake, and then turns to start walking over to the punching bag. He launches a few hard blows into it, sending it swaying. "If you do find any suspicious places, April, let us know. We'll check them out." Thump thump thump.

April O'Neil has posed:
    April's got her phone out, fingers flying, clearly beginning to make notes, yet another file on her phone full of similar investigations. She's a little absorbed in it until Mona's speaking. "Yeah, the fact that there are... people with similar physiological changes from falling into science experiments or finding an actual magic artifact is... good cover."

    That glass cannister draws April's eye and that phone's flashing a moment later, snapping a few shot of the cannister overall, and the logo specifically from a co ple angles. She frowns thoughtfully and sighs out, "Well, that'd... make sense. If they're doing this undercover, and have been an established company for some time, they could be spreading things all over the place just to see what's happening." She grins almost wolfishly, "But if they're doing it undercover, that cover's actually going to be their weakness, companies need property, which needs paperwork... which means we can find where they are. And then we can find out _who_ they are. I'll let you guys know what I find, for sure. No sneaking in all alone... you know, unless there's no time."

    Gotta keep those options open, after all.

Mona Lisa has posed:
     At this, Mona smiles, walking over to put a hand on the sai-wielding turtle's shoulder, saying "Raphael, has anyone told you you're cute when you're angry?" She smirks at that, letting her touch linger on his shoulder for a bit as he stands in front of the punching bag, but then looks back to April, saying "Make sure those photos aren't geo-tagged, we don't want anyone tracing it back here..." Seems she has some information on Earth's tech and standard investigating proceedures here. "I have an intact cannister on my ship, the Guardians of the Galaxy are convinced the best thing to do with it is to sell it to a collector they know, but I'm not so sure..."

Raphael has posed:
     Raph grunts out, "Yeah, we'll try. No promises there. You know how they can be." Yeah. It's definitely his brothers and not him who have a tendency to rush in half-cocked. Not him. A thick leg is swung into the bag, several more punches, then he turns back to thim looking slightly disgruntled. Didn't really help. "You know. With how many of the other kinda mutant and supertypes there are running around looking stranger than we do. I sometimes wonder whether we should keep hiding... probably. But maybe we could start lookin for other folks to work with." Then Mona approaches him, touching his shoulder, and the red-clad turtle... blushes. "Uh. Thanks, Mona. Not really."

April O'Neil has posed:
    April quirks an eyebrow ever so slightly as Mona puts her hand on Raph's shoulder... and calls him cute. But April's not entirely incapable of hiding her reaction, so there's no noise of an 'Oh my god, did I see that?' noise. ...Although it's entirely possible Harley is making one wherever she is in some sort of strange psychic roommate entanglement. But probably not. Raph's point gets a nod and she sighs out, "I mean, it's... a good point, Raph. It's not like you're any different on a... conceptual level than any of the others who get to live in the open. Though I suppose it's also... being hidden _does_ hide you from the Foot. Probably why Batman doesn't live out in the open, big lineup of angry bad guys waiting to cause trouble."

Mona Lisa has posed:
     Mona furrows her brow at this, saying "Well, that's the thing... I've actually kept to the shadows a lot myself when not interacting with the... What's the word... Metahumans you have around this planet, mutants tend to be hated and feared. Ironically there's another community of mutants living in the sewers here, The Morlocks they call themselves, but I think they're some distance away. No, I don't think walking in open daylight is necessarily advisable unless the community has grown to know you... I know I've been mistaken for a mutant here, even though I'm simply an extraterrestrial... Interacting here with the Turtles has been the warmest welcome I've received since I arrived here on earth. Nothing against your Green Lantern or Blue Beetle, but when I spoke with them, they simply gave clearance and said good luck, they had their own problems to handle."

Raphael has posed:
     Raphael nods to April with another frown. "Yeah. That's why probably not." The blush on his cheeks has faded. Mostly. He's not used to women calling him cute, alright! Or anybody really. Except maybe Mikey when he wants to tease him. His frown fades and he gives a little smile to Mona. "You seem like good people, Mona." Then he sighs. "But anyway. Yeah. Investigate the bad guys, find out who we have to pummel to stop all this. At least the last part should be fun." He stretches, and glances between the two women. "I didn't sleep much last night. I think I'm gonna go grab a quick nap... you two should hang out though. Talk about... stuff." Ah, stuff. The univeral interest.

April O'Neil has posed:
    April nods and sighs out at Mona's point, "Yeah, you'd think the spaceport and... alien visitors would get people to realize that we're all similar and the hate is pointless. But it's hate, it's not logical, even when its practitioners try to coach it as logic. Maybe especially then." She laughs just a touch bitterly, "Green Lantern just gave you a 'Hey, it's not my problem' like a beat cop? That's..." She trails off and heaves out a sigh. It's sure something. Raph's suggestion her and Mona hang out earns a crooked smile and a shrug, "Well, I could hang out for awhile. Maybe we can grab a bite to eat. Discuss... yes, stuff."

    It's probably not going to be April interrogating Mona for clearly having some sort of connection to Raph. April's not that protective... besides, Raph and Mona were sparring when she showed up. So she knows the turtle can handle himself. And he does tend to get huffy when people get protective over him. Like he's some kind of teenager or something.

Mona Lisa has posed:
     Mona shrugs, saying "So... April, was it?" as she looks around, saying "I actually don't know what's good to eat in this area, if you do want to get something to eat..."

April O'Neil has posed:
    April looks thoughtful for a moment. Well, there's one very good way to screen this alien warrior and her compatibility with Raph. Or the Turtles in general. And also, one foodstuff you can usually only get a few blocks away from a decent example of in New York. "Pizza? ...Like... traditional toppings?"

Mona Lisa has posed:
Mona Lisa ohs, saying "I mean, I've eaten almost nothing but pizza and leftover pizza since I met them a few nights ago, so I feel like I should... try some other things in the area? Not that I'm sick of pizza at all, it's just..." She looks to the side at a pile of pizza boxes that almost reaches the ceiling.

April O'Neil has posed:
    April shares the glance to the boxes and has to fight a grin, "Yeah, not sick of it, buuuut.... okay, hmm... Chinese food! We'll grab some takeout and just kind of chill out and such." She glances around like she's working out which way out of the lair would be the quickest to her favorite place, and then motions over her shoulder, "This way! I'll phone the order ahead, a couple of combinaton dinners... maybe an appetizer platter. Let you get the full experience."