Leonardo da Vinci and His Fightin' Genius Time Commandos!

*Oh, come on, mom. Be reasonable. You can't destroy* everything. *Where would'ja sit? You've had your little fun; now it's time to go to jail.*
— **Tick**

**"Leonardo da Vinci and His Fightin' Genius Time Commandos!"** is an episode of the animated television series *The Tick.*

## Synopsis

A group of famous inventors are taken from their respective time periods by the Mother of Invention. Leonardo da Vinci escapes, and tries to save them, and history, with help from Tick and Arthur.

## Plot

We open with Tick and Arthur on yet another rooftop patrol. Tick is trying to teach Arthur to speak from his diaphragm, in order to sound more intimidating. However, Arthur is more concerned with the damage that Tick is doing to the buildings. As he s distracted with his lecture, Arthur crashes right into a man in a hang glider-like flying machine. They argue over whose fault the collision was until he reveals his name to them, not expecting them to be left aghast. They bring he and his broken flying machine to their apartment, where he tells them how, when he was painting the Mona Lisa (or rather neglecting to do so), he and Mona Lisa (real name Lisa del Giocondo) were pulled though a time portal, and placed in the captivity of the Mother of Invention, in a terrarium-like cage.

The Mother of Invention also captured Benjamin Franklin, the sassy inventor of the lightning rod and bifocals; Johannes Gutenberg, creator of the printing press; Thomas Edison, deaf businessman and inventor who devised the light bulb and motion picture camera; George Washington Carver, the botanist behind various peanut products; and Wheel, the cavegirl that invented, well, the wheel. "Mom" explains that he will put a huge bomb in the renaissance, blow everything up, and make them help create their famous inventions in present day, so that he can take the credit (a plan that Ben Franklin acknowledges is insane). They put together a flying machine designed by da Vinci, so that he could escape and return with help, and that's where Tick and Arthur come in.

After discovering da Vinci's absence, Mom brings a group of Mongols to present day, and enlists them to locate him (with help from a tracking device). They track him down to the apartment, only to be defeated by Tick with little difficulty. Mom has some of the Mongols that stayed at the lair interview other historical warriors, while Tick gives da Vinci Arthur's bike, so that he may fix his flying machine, understandably frustrating Arthur. Meanwhile, Wheel constructs a grappling hook, escapes their cage. knocks out the guards, and gives the others supplies. Arthur and Leonardo are carrying Tick through the air, to save the others, when Tick gets an itchy nose. When scratching it, Leonardo accidentally damages Arthur's wing, causing them to plummet into the Mother of Invention's lair.

There, they are attacked by ninjas, Huns, knights, centurions and a mahout and his elephant. They are assisted by the other inventors, in a combat vehicle they constructed. They defeat the leagues of minions, before making their way to Mom. Before he can be stopped, he places his giant time bomb in the renaissance, with Tick chasing after it. With seconds left, Tick locates an on/off switch, and is returned to the present by Arthur, using the time machine. With the villain stopped, Tick shares his customary words of wisdom, which the inventors heartily applaud. They return the inventors to their time periods, except for Wheel, who is living it up on back royalties from her invention.

## Characters

### Main Characters

* Tick
* Arthur
* Leonardo da Vinci

### Supporting Characters

* Fightin' Genius Time Commandos
	+ Benjamin Franklin
	+ Thomas Edison
	+ Johannes Gutenberg
	+ George Washington Carver
	+ Wheel
* Mona Lisa

### Antagonists

* Mother of Invention
	+ Mongols
		- Mongol leader
	+ Ninjas
	+ Knights
	+ Centurions
	+ Mahout

## Locations

* The City
	+ Arthur's apartment building
		- Arthur's apartment
	+ Mother of Invention's lair
* Italy
	+ Florence
* Unknown restaurant

## Notes

* The ninjas that Mom brings to the then-present as part of his army are identical to the "Ninja" from the first multi-issue story of the Tick comic.
* Arthur's apartment is labelled 14B, while in previous episodes it was 7B.
	+ 14B was actually Thrakkorzog and his roommate's apartment number (though Thrakkorzog no longer lives there, as he was transported back to *Dimension* 14B).