Chapter 14: New York City: 1st Visit: Part 1
“Much more than just a series of small, isolated incidents, it’s now apparent an organized criminal element is at work. And at the moment, business is good. So good, in fact, there appear to be no eyewitnesses to any of these crimes.”
New York City was crowded as ever, as people walked pass one another, merely hearing a bit of the news report on the television, before continuing on their way. An elderly man had stopped to listen to the report, when unbeknownst to him, a hand reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. The pickpocket quickly backed away from the elder man and walked off, as the news report continued.
“With complaints ranging from purse-snatching to breaking and entering, police switchboards have been swamped with angry voices of more and more citizens who have fallen prey to the recent surge of crime that continues to plague the city.”
The pickpocket had passed several news stands, seeing newspapers with the headline “Crime Wave Escalates” written large and in bold on the front. He held the wallet out as another teenager grabbed it out of his hand. It might have looked liked the pickpocket had been stolen from, but in reality, he was actually passing the wallet on.
The new pickpocket then walked into the entrance of alley and leaned against a wall, having put the wallet under his arm. A little while later, from the shadows of the alley, a gloved hand reached out and grabbed the wallet, before disappearing back into the shadows. The pickpocket, having felt the absence of the wallet, simply walked away, as he heard a television continue the news report.
“Instead of getting better, things have actually gotten worse. Even more alarming is the baffling and often bizarre nature of these crimes. Merchandise of every size and description, from skateboards to iPhones, have been disappearing from store shelves and storage areas at an alarming rate.”
Near the alley, an elderly woman was watching the news on television, expressing her opinion, believing that the police were just being lazy. She turned away from the television to answer her cell phone, only to turn back to find that her T.V. was gone.
She got up from her seat and saw a teenager running away with her T.V. She yelled at him, but the young boy just ignored her and kept on running. Being an advanced, battery-powered T.V. set, the news report continued.
“Even the victims themselves rarely catch a glimpse of the thieves. Many don’t even know they’ve been victimized, until it’s too late. In fact, police have yet to come up with a single eyewitness. Only a few vague reports of young boys or teenagers at the scenes have been filed. But whoever is behind these crimes, one thing is certain. These are much more than a series of random, isolated incidents.”
The T.V. thief had run into another alley, where a van was waiting. The back of the van was opened, with two masked men in tights waiting inside. These men were ninja, who took the T.V. set handed to them by the thief.
They then closed the back of the van and drove off. The thief walked off, as if he hadn’t done anything. He walked passed a T.V. store, with a bunch of T.V. sets in the display window. They were all set to that same news channel. The thief smirked, and decided to watch the rest of the report.
The news anchor was a young woman, with red hair and green eyes. She looked very serious about this report, as she finished the news report.
“Crimes without criminals? An invisible gang at work? Who we gonna call? Unfortunately, the police are the only ones available to combat what some are already dubbing the silent crime wave. But perhaps the most disturbing silence is that coming from City Hall.”
Her eyes were looking straight at the camera, as if she was staring at everyone who was watching her on T.V. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, opened her eyes again, and finished, “April O’Neil, Channel Three Eyewitness News.”
An hour later, at the Channel Three News Station…
“You got to stop working so hard,” commented the security guard as April was headed outside. She smiled and replied, “What, give up all this glamour?” They both laughed as she walked through the door and added, “Goodnight.”
It was nighttime as April started to walk through the parking lot. She suddenly looked up to see a shooting star. “Wow,” she said out loud, “you never see a shooting star in this city.”
Meanwhile, shooting out of the sky…
“AH!” screamed Sora as the gummi ship flew down towards the ground. Sora knew he was gonna crash, so he held on tightly to his seat. He watched as the street came closer and closer, when finally, the gummi ship crashed through the street, and skidded through the sewer.
Piece after piece of the gummi ship broke off as the gummi ship continued to skid through the sewer. The gummi ship was going about 28 mph, when it suddenly hit a wall, which finally stopped it.
The force of the sudden stop was so intense, that Sora’s buckle broke and sent him flying into the window. Sora hit his head so hard, that he was instantly knocked out.
Back at the Channel Three News Station…
April watched as the shooting star disappeared behind a building. “Well, it was fun while it lasted,” she said out loud. Suddenly, she heard a squeaking noise near her feet. She looked down to see a rat next to her feet.
She screamed and jumped onto the sidewalk, as the rat scurried off into a sewer drain. She was breathing a bit hard, having been scared by the rat. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths to help calm herself down.
Having finally calmed herself down, she opened her eyes, and continued to walk back to her van. As she walked across the parking lot, she saw that one of Channel Three’s News buses was parked in front of her van. She rolled her eyes and began to walk around the front of it.
When April reached the other side, she was met with a surprise. Four thugs were robbing equipment from the bus. They had just grabbed a camera when they noticed she was there.
One of the thugs body checked April and said, “Bad timing.” April gulped and replied, “You’re telling me.” The thug leader then ordered, “Get her purse.” Hearing this, April quickly attempted to run away. As she turned, she heard the thug leader yell, “Hey! Get her purse!”
One of the thugs was on top of the bus, when he jumped off, grabbed April, and pulled her onto the ground. The rest of the thugs caught up with them as they all began to pile up on her.
“Get away from me!” screamed April as she tried to wrestle free, “what do you think—help!” As she continued to try and get away, she heard the thug leader yell, “Get her jewelry!” Another thug proclaimed, “I got her watch!”
April kept screaming for help, ignoring the words of another thug, who had said, “Quit screaming lady!” All of a sudden, a whooshing sound was heard. The thugs looked up to see something hit and break the nearby street light, causing everything to fade into darkness.
April was scared. For a brief second, she thought she was dead. But then she realized she wasn’t when she heard more whooshing sounds, along with some voices that she knew weren’t the thugs’.
In fact, all the thugs were saying were either “OW,” “OH,” or “OUCH!” Then all of sudden, everything went silent. But not for long, as one of the new voices proclaimed, “Whoa!” Then the silence was back.
April didn’t dare to move. She had no idea what had just happened. It wasn’t until five minutes later that the police arrived. With the light of the police cars, the darkness faded away to reveal that all the thugs were tied up.
April was surprised to see this, as was one of the cops, who had said, “What the hell’s going on?” He examined the tied up thugs and added, “And I thought I’d seen it all.”
Nearby, a manhole lifted up, as a figure inside it examined the scene. A second cop came up to the tied up thugs and stated, “All right. Come on, tough guys.” A third cop went up to April and asked, “Are you alright, ma’am?” April nodded and replied, “I’m fine.” The cop smiled and replied, “Rest right here while we deal with these guys.” April nodded as the cop went back to help arrest the thugs.
April began to look around her surroundings and suddenly saw a sai. “This must be what broke the street light,” she thought as she reached for it. In the nearby manhole, the figure continued to watch as April grabbed the sai.
“Oh man,” whispered the figure, as he watched her put the sai into her purse, making sure the cops didn’t see it. Having seen April do this, the figure began to go back into the manhole, as he said, “Damn.”
In the sewers under the Channel Three News Station…
“Oh, spectacular!” proclaimed Michaelangelo, as he and his brothers, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael trailing behind, walked through the sewers they knew so well, being that they were all anthropomorphic turtles who lived here.
They had just won their first battle. Leo, Donny, and Mikey were all celebrating while Raphael was upset that he had lost one of his sais.
“We were awesome, bros,” shouted Donny, “Awesome!” Mikey replied, “Yes, dudes and dudettes, major league butt-kicking is back in town!” Leo jumped up and yelled, “Oh yeah!”
When he landed on the ground, he added, “Awesome!” Mikey jumped and landed right next to him and replied, “Righteous!” Donny jumped and landed behind them, shouting, “Bossa nova!”
Hearing this, Leo and Mikey stopped in their tracks and turned to face Donny. “Bossa nova?” questioned Mikey, who couldn’t believe what his brother had just said. Donny looked back and forth between his two brothers, feeling a little embarrassed, and replied, “Chevy Nova?” Leo and Mikey shook their heads, as Donny thought hard. He came up with something and proclaimed, “Excellent!” Leo and Mikey cheered as they all continued back through the sewers.
“Come on,” shouted out Mikey, “Let’s move it. I’m starving!” He turned to his brothers and added, “We’re talking major pizza attack here, dudes!” Donny replied, “Pizza! I need it! Oh, baby!” As they continued to walk home, Raphael was still trailing behind, beating himself up mentally for losing his sai.
They had just gotten to the entrance of their lair, when Leo jumped around to face his brothers, shot his arm in the air, and proclaimed, “Give me three!” All of them only having three fingers instead of five, this made sense. Donny replied, “You got it!” as he, Mikey, and Leo all high three’d each other. They then all entered the lair.
“Damn!” said Raphael, as he walked towards the entrance. Just before he entered the lair, he looked around, and suddenly saw something strange. It looked like some sort of ship, or at least, the front of the ship.
Raphael walked slowly towards it, holding his remaining sai tightly in his hand. As he continued to walk forward, Raphael saw a figure in the cockpit, although it wasn’t moving. When he finally got to the ship, he saw that it was a teenaged boy with spiky brown hair. “Hold on, kid!” proclaimed Raphael, although he knew that the kid probably couldn’t hear him, “I’ll get you out of there!”
Meanwhile, in the Turtles’ lair…
The Turtles entered the main room with excitement, as they walked towards a figure in the shadows. “We have had our first battle, Master Splinter!” proclaimed Leo as he stopped and kneeled down in front of Splinter, an anthropomorphic rat, who was wearing rags, “They were many, but we kicked…” Leo suddenly paused, thought about what he had said, and instead replied, “…We fought well.”
“Were you seen?” asked Master Splinter as he walked into the light. “No, Master Splinter,” replied Leo as he and the other two Turtles shook their heads. Splinter took a deep breath, proud of his sons, and replied, “In this, you must never lapse.”
Splinter looked at his sons and continued, “Even those who would be our allies would not understand. Our domain is the shadow. Stray from it reluctantly. For when you do, you must strike hard and fade away…” He took a deep breath and finished, “…without a trace.”
Splinter looked around and finally noticed that Raphael was missing. “Where is Raphael?” he asked. Donny quickly replied, “Oh, he’s just sulking because he lost one of his sais.” Master Splinter sighed and shook his head.
Michaelangelo walked over to the phone as Master Splinter continued, “Your ninja skills are reaching their peak. Only one truly important lesson remains, but must wait. I know it is hard for you, here underground.”
Mikey had just finished dialing the number for pizza, when the other end of the line picked up. “This Sal’s Pizza?” he asked, and when he heard a reply, he continued, “Alright, good. I want a large thick crust with double cheese, ham, pepperoni…”
“But you must resist the temptation of life above,” Splinter had said while Mikey was ordering the pizza, “Your teenage minds are broad, eager. But you must never stop practicing the art of ninjutsu…”
“Sausage, green peppers,” ordered Mikey, “and put a lot of black olives on it.” Then Mikey thought about it, and replied, “In fact, put everything you got on it.” Meanwhile, Master Splinter had taken a deep breath and finished speaking, “…the art of invisibility.”
Having finished talking, Splinter finally noticed Michaelangelo, who replied into the phone, “Oh, but no anchovies. And I mean no anchovies. You put anchovies on this thing and you’re in big trouble, ok?”
Master Splinter had grabbed a nearby book, and threw it at Mikey, hitting him in the head. He then shouted, “Michaelangelo!” Mikey quickly replied into the phone, “Uh, that’ll do, and the clock’s ticking, dude.” Donatello and Leonardo looked at each other and laughed, as did Mikey walking back towards his brothers.
Master Splinter sighed, shook his head, and replied, “You are still young, but one day, I will be gone.” Hearing this, the Turtles quickly paid attention and had their entire focus on their master and father. “Use my teachings wisely,” Splinter said with a sound of wisdom in his voice, “I suggest we all meditate now on the events of this evening.”
Master Splinter sat down on the floor, legs crisscrossed, closed his eyes, and began to meditate. Leo joined his master and father, sitting down next to him. Mikey and Donny looked at each other, shrugged, and began to walk towards the radio. When all of a sudden, Raphael’s voice was heard.
“Master Splinter!” he yelled as he entered the lair carrying a teenaged human boy in his arms. “What’s the meaning of this, Raphael?” demanded Splinter as he and Leo stood up off the ground.
“Master Splinter,” replied Raphael as he walked over to the couch and placed the teen on it, “you’re not gonna believe this, but he was in some sort of strange ship nearby. The ship was in pieces and he was knocked out inside the cockpit.”
Splinter had walked over to the human boy and placed his hand on the boy’s forehead. “Go and bring me some material from the ship,” commanded Splinter, and his four sons quickly obeyed and ran out of the lair.
Outside the lair…
“Why did you lie to Master Splinter, Raph?” asked Leo, having stopped his brother outside the lair. “What are you talking about?” replied Raphael angrily. Donny and Mikey looked at each other, rolling their eyes.
“Fight?” said Mikey, which Donny quickly replied, “fight.” They both nodded, before Mikey said, “Go on without them?” Donny nodded and replied, “Go on without them.” Having agreed to each other, Donny and Mikey walked around their two other brothers and headed for the ship.
“How could a ship, even if it’s in pieces, be in a sewer?” snapped Leo. Rapheal quickly replied, “I don’t know, Leo, but it is. I’m not lying.” The two brothers began to stare each other down, when suddenly, Donny and Mikey proclaimed, “Got it!”
Leo and Raphael broke their stare down and saw that Donny and Mikey had indeed gotten some pieces of the ship, which Leo could now see. Donny and Mikey ran back into the lair as Raphael turned to Leo and replied, “Told ya so!” Raphael then ran into the lair, as did Leo, who was a bit upset that he was wrong.
Back in the lair…
When Leo and Raphael had entered the lair, Donny and Mikey had already handed the ship pieces to Master Splinter, who began to examine the material closely. “He’s not from this world,” he suddenly said, catching his sons by surprise. Donny quickly asked, “What do you mean he’s not from this world?” Master Splinter turned to Donny and replied, “When he regains consciousness, I will explain all.”
“How long do you think he will be out, Master Splinter?” asked Mikey while counting down the minutes until the pizza was supposed to arrive. “I cannot be certain,” replied Splinter as he turned to face the boy, “all we can do now is wait.”
“Well, I need to go and wait for the pizza,” said Mikey as he headed off into the sewers. Donny grabbed his skateboard and followed Mikey as he replied, “I’m gonna go skate.” Raphael grabbed his overcoat and hat and stated, “I’m gonna go see a movie.” He then walked out of the lair. “Well, Master Splinter,” replied Leo, “I’ll stay here with you.” Splinter nodded and replied, “Thank you, Leonardo.”
In the sewers, 28 minutes later…
Michaelangelo sat under a sewer drain, as he waited for the pizza guy to come. Off in the sewer, he heard the sound of skateboard wheels coming towards him. He turned to see his brother, Donatello, skating over to him.
Donny stopped next to Mikey before sitting down right next him. “How ya doing?” said Donny. Mikey replied, “Fine.” They both looked up through the sewer drain, spotting the moon in the sky. “Nice night,” commented Donny, which Mikey then replied, “Yep.”
Mikey then turned to Donny and added, “Pizza dude’s got 60 seconds.” Donny nodded, still looking at the moon, and replied, “Uh-huh.” He then looked at Mikey and said, “So what do you think about that kid?” Mikey replied, “I don’t know, all I can say is that the dude has nice hair.”
There was a short silence before Donny asked, “Hey Mikey, did you ever think about what Splinter said tonight?” Mikey began to look back through the sewer drain as Donny continued, “I mean, about what it would be like, you know, not having him?”
“Hmmm…,” Mikey began to think about it, but then quickly replied, “Time’s up. Three bucks off.” Donny sighed and shook his head as Mikey chuckled.
About two minutes later, they heard the sound of a scooter stopping near the sewer drain. The engine shut off as they heard the pizza dude say, “Now, 122…122 and an 1/8?”
The pizza dude began to look around for 122 1/8, walking on top of the sewer drain. He to talk to himself, saying, “122, and an 1/8?” He then spat, “Terrific. Where the hell is 122 and an 1/8?”
Mikey took this as an opportunity, and answered through the sewer drain, “You’re standing on it, dude.” Having heard the voice come out the sewer drain, the pizza dude jumped off the sewer drain. He then saw some money through the sewer drain, as Mikey replied, “Just slip it down here.”
The pizza dude looked around as he walked slowly towards the money, before he began to slide the pizza through the sewer drain. When the pizza box was halfway through, the pizza guy let go of it and snatched the money, saying, “Give me that.”
Mikey caught the pizza box as the pizza dude turned to walk back to the scooter. It was then that he noticed that he had only been given a ten dollar bill. He quickly turned back to the sewer drain, and yelled, “Hey! This is a 10!” He got on his hands and knees above the sewer drain, continuing, “The tab’s 13!”
Mikey smiled and yelled back, “You’re two minutes late, dude!” The pizza dude then begged, “Ah, come on! I couldn’t find the place!” Mikey laughed and replied, “A wise man once said, forgiveness is divine but never pay full price for late pizza.”
Hearing this, the pizza dude got back up to his feet, upset. “I need to get a new route,” he told himself as he walked back to the scooter, “And I thought I delivered everywhere.”
Ten minutes later…
Everything was black. For a second, Sora thought he died, but quickly realized his eyes were just closed. It wasn’t until a second later, that he also realized nearby voices. “Dude, that pizza was great!” Another voice replied, “I second that my brother.” Sora then heard their hands hit. He assumed they high-five’d each other.
“Hmm,” another voice sighed, this one sounding much older than the other two voices, “kids.” A short silence followed before the old voice said, “It seems our guest has regained consciousness.”
“Well,” thought Sora as he sat up and opened his eyes, “I might as well get up and see who they are.” Sora turned and almost jumped in surprise. The voices had belonged to three anthropomorphic turtles and one anthropomorphic rat.
“Don’t not be afraid, child,” spoke the rat as it walked up to Sora, “we mean you no harm.” Sora couldn’t help but trust this rat, who could tell just by his voice that he was wise. He took a deep breath and nodded.
“What is your name, child?” asked the elder rat, sitting down next to Sora. Sora replied, “My name is Sora.” Sora then bit his lip, and couldn’t help but ask, “can I ask you what your name is?” The rat nodded and replied, “My name is Master Splinter.”
“And these,” continued Master Splinter as he turned to the three turtles, who had walked up and sat on the ground next to Splinter and Sora, “are my sons, one of whom is not here at the moment.” Splinter turned back to Sora and continued, “Now, Sora, I have a question for you.”
Sora was a bit surprised at Master Splinter’s request, but quickly nodded and replied, “Go ahead, ask me anything.” Splinter nodded and asked, “Sora, you are not from this world, am I correct?” Sora was even more surprised that Splinter had already guessed he wasn’t from here. Sora answered, “Yeah, you’re right, I’m not from this world.”
“Another world?!” thought Leo, not believing what Sora had just said, “And Master Splinter knew there were different worlds as well?!” Donny was also thinking, “He’s from another world! This could be the greatest thing in UFO history!” But all Mikey could think of was, “I wonder if they pizza in space.”
“I had a feeling,” replied Splinter, as he sighed and turned to his sons. He then looked back at Sora and continued, “Now Sora, I don’t know if you have meet beings like us before, but please, let me tell you of our origins.” Sora nodded and replied, “Sure, go ahead.”
Splinter took a deep breath and began to tell their story. “For 15 years now, we have lived here, underground. Before that time, I was a pet of master Yoshi. Mimicking his movements from my cage and learning the secret art of ninja.”
Splinter paused, took a deep breath, and continued, “When we were forced to come to New York, I found myself for the first time without a home, wandering the sewers, scavenging for whatever I could find. And then, one day, I came upon a shattered glass jar and four baby turtles.”
It was at this point that Mikey interrupted Splinter and stated, “That was us.” Annoyed by what their brother had just said, Leo groaned and Donny replied, “Oh no!” Sora chuckled as Mikey turned to them, smiling back and shrugging.
“The little ones,” continued Master Splinter, ignoring Mikey’s interruption, “were crawling into a strange glowing ooze from a broken canister nearby. I gathered them up in an old coffee can and when I awoke the next morning, I received a shock, for they had doubled in size.”
“I, too, was growing, particularly in intellect,” continued Splinter, “and I was amazed at how intelligent they seemed. But nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. One of them spoke. More words followed, and I began their training, teaching them all that I had learned from my master.”
He took a deep breath and turned to face the his sons, before he continued, “And soon, I gave them all names. Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael.” Master Splinter sighed before turning back to Sora. “That was a cool story and all,” replied Sora, scratching the back of his head, “but how did I get here?”
“My son, Raphael,” answered Splinter, “was the one who saved you from your wrecked gummi ship.” Sora nodded and asked, “So where is he?” Before Splinter could reply, Mikey answered for him, stating, “Hothead’s gone out to the movies. You can thank him later.”
Sora nodded back before Splinter asked, “Will you tell us why you are here, Sora?” Sora turned to Master Splinter and replied, “Sure. You see, I was on my way to Destiny Islands…”
Meanwhile, above the sewers, in a movie theater nearby Central Park…
A crowd of people were in front of him as Raphael walked out of the movie theater. When he got outside, in front of the theater, he looked up at the sign, reading the title of the movie they had been showing.
“Son of the Mask?” said Raphael in his mind. He then groaned and commented, “Where do they come up with this stuff?” He didn’t really think about anymore and began to walk home.
He walked across the street, and just as he got to the other side, he heard the voice of an old lady scream, “Somebody, stop them!” Raphael turned in the direction where the plea had come from. It turned out that two thugs had just grabbed her purse and were running towards Raphael.
Raphael smiled and waited, as the two thugs got closer towards him. A split second before they would have run passed him, Raphael stuck his leg out, tripping the two thugs. The thug carrying the purse threw it up into the air and Raphael caught it. He then turned back to the old lady, and tossed her purse back to her before turning back to the thugs lying on the ground.
Raphael opened his trench coat and revealed he was carrying his sai to the thugs. Seeing the weapon, the thugs got back up to their feet and ran away from Raphael, jumping over a wall into Central Park.
The thugs didn’t run that far through the park before stopping, catching their breath. “What the hell was that?” asked one of the thugs, looking at his partner. The other thug shook his head and replied, “I don’t know.” Suddenly, they heard a swooshing sound that came from behind them.
They turned around and came face-to-face were tall man with long, messy brown hair wearing a hockey mask. Without missing a beat, the man stated, “That was a crime, you purse-grabbing pukes.”
The man pulled out a hockey stick from a bag he was carrying, as he added, “And this is the penalty!” The man suddenly swings the hockey stick at the thugs, striking one thug across the face while the other thug ducked.
“Two minutes for slashing,” commented the vigilante as he positioned the hockey stick behind the other thug’s ankle and pulled, tripping him. “Two minutes for hooking,” continued the vigilante, first kicking the first thug in the stomach, and then began to raise his hockey stick into the air, “and let’s not forget my personal favorite, two minutes for high-sticking.”
But just before he could slash his hockey stick down towards the thugs, Raphael arrived at the scene and pushed the vigilante to the ground next to the thugs. “How about a five-minute game misconduct for roughing, pal?” said Raphael, as he focused on the vigilante.
His hockey mask had come off, revealing his brown eyes, as the vigilante quickly got back up to his feet. Upset, the vigilante stood face-to-face with Raphael and replied, “Hey, Numa Numa! Who died and made you referee?”
He poked Raphael in the chest and continued, “You did your job, now get out of here and let me do mine.” The vigilante then pointed to the thugs and added, “These JV lowlifes need to be taught a lesson.”
The thugs took this chance, silently got to their feet, and ran off as Raphael replied, “Not like that they don’t. Not from you.” The vigilante heard the sound of the thugs running off and turned to find them gone. He took a deep breath before turning back to Raphael.
“Well,” sighed the vigilante, “it looks like you’re the one who needs to be taught a lesson, pal.” The vigilante put his hockey stick back in his bag and pulled out two baseball bats. “Class is Pain 101,” stated the vigilante as he swung the bats around in the air before finally revealing his name, “your instructor is Casey Jones.”
Raphael sighed, shook his head, and replied, “Look, I don’t wanna fight you.” Casey shrugged, smiled, and replied, “Well, tough rocks, kid.” Casey quickly charged towards Raphael, swinging left and right with his bats.
Raphael easily dodged two swings before stopping Casey by catching one of the bats in his hand. He examined the bat before looking back at Casey and replied, “A Jose Canseco bat? Tell me, you didn’t pay money for this.”
Casey looked insulted as he let go of the bat Raphael had and used the other bat to hit Raphael hard in the back, knocking him to the ground. He looked at Raphael on the ground and replied, “Was a two-for-one sale, pal.”
Raphael’s hat had fallen off, revealing his head. Casey saw this and replied, “What are you, some sort of punker?” Raphael had gotten to his knee before he heard Casey’s comment, to which he turned to Casey and replied, “Huh?”
“I hate punkers,” explained Casey, rolling his eyes as Raphael slowly got back to his feet, “especially bald ones with green makeup, who wear masks over ugly faces.” At this, Raphael gripped the bat in his hand, stating, “That’s it!” He then swung the bat at Casey, shouting, “New batter!”
Casey jumped back, dodging the bat, and replying, “Strike one!” Raphael quickly swung the bat again, but Casey dodged it again as he added, “Whiffer!” It was at this point that Raphael jumped up into the air over Casey, landed on his feet right behind him, and swung the bat down across his back, sending Casey to the ground.
“Home run!” proclaimed Raphael as he walked over to Casey, dropping the bat from his hand, before placing his foot on the vigilante’s back, “Raphael wins! One-nothing!” Casey finally was able to roll out from under Raphael, grabbed his bats, and quickly got back up to his feet.
“New game, roundhead,” stated Casey as he put his bats back in his bag. He then pulled out a cricket bat, displayed it to Raphael, and replied, “Cricket.” Raphael couldn’t believe that this guy had just pulled out a cricket bat.
“Cricket?” Raphael replied mockingly as Casey walked slowly towards him, “Nobody understands cricket. You got to know what a crumpet is to understand cricket.” Casey took this chance and swung the cricket bat up across Raphael’s face, uppercutting him into the air. Raphael then landed head first into a nearby trash bin as Casey smiled and mockingly replied, “Six runs.”
Casey decided that now was a good time to leave. He placed his cricket stick back inside his bag before running off, shouting, “So long, freak! I got work to do!” Raphael struggled to get out of the trash bin. When he managed to get out, he yelled, “Freak?! Freak?!” and began running after Casey.
Raphael chased Casey out of Central Park, and was catching up to him, when all of a sudden, he ran into a car. But he was able to slide across the hood of the car and continued running after Casey, yelling, “Come back here! I’m not finished with you!”
But soon, Raphael had lost Casey amongst the crowd of New Yorkers. He tried looking around for any chance of the vigilante, but with luck. It was at this point, Raphael yelled, “DAMN!” before he decided to forget chasing Casey and head back to the lair.
Later, at the lair…
Raphael was still upset at having lost the vigilante as he walked into the lair. The lair was dark and Raphael assumed everyone had gone to sleep as he hung up his hat and trench coat. Just then, a spark lit off and brought light into the room. Raphael turned to find his Master Splinter was sitting in a chair, awaiting his son’s arrival.
“Raphael,” spoke Master Splinter as he lit a nearby candle, “come sit by me.” Raphael sighed and complained, “Couldn’t this wait till morning?” Splinter quickly snapped back, “You will listen now!”
Raphael took a deep breath before walking toward his father and sitting down next to him. As Raphael sat down, Splinter began, “My master Yoshi’s first rule was possess the right thinking.”
Raphael hung his head down and stared at the floor as Splinter continued, “Only then can one receive the gifts of strength, knowledge, and peace.” Splinter placed his hand on Raphael’s shoulder as explained, “I have tried to channel your anger, Raphael, but more remains.”
Splinter then took Raphael’s chin and made him look into his master’s eyes. “Anger clouds the mind,” spoke Master Splinter, great wisdom heard in his voice, “turned inward, it is an unconquerable enemy.”
Splinter took a deep breath before continuing, “You are unique among your brothers, for you choose to face this enemy alone.” It was at this, that Raphael began to hang his head down again, but this time he began to cry.
“But as you face it, do not forget them,” added Splinter before place his hand on Raphael’s head, “and do not forget me. I am here, my son.” Raphael cried a bit more, before replying, “Thank you, father.”
Splinter smiled, nodded, and got up from his chair before replying, “Now, my son, come with me. There is someone who would like to thank you.” Raphael was confused by this request, but followed his master into another room.
It was then that he saw the kid he had saved from that space ship. He had totally forgotten about him. The kid sat up from his make-shift bed as Splinter said, “Raphael, this is Sora. And he wants to thank you for helping him.”
Sora smiled, scratched the back of his head, and said, “So you’re Raphael?” Sora reached out his hand and added, “I’m Sora, and thanks for helping me.” Raphael smirked before taking Sora’s hand and replying, “No problem, kid.” And they both shook hands.
The next day…
“This Xemnas guy sounds really tough,” replied Leo, having listened to Sora’s story about his adventures, while Mikey, Donny, and Raphael, who was standing in the shadows, watched the news. “He was,” replied Sora, “In fact, if Riku wasn’t there, I’m sure I would be toast.”
“She’s on,” Mikey suddenly cried, “she’s on!” Sora turned to see what the commotion was all about. He discovered that a redheaded female reporter was about to go on. He walked with Leo closer to the TV set and sat next to Mikey.
Raphael looked at the news reporter and realized that she was girl who took his sai. Making sure his brothers and Sora weren’t paying attention to him, Raphael grabbed his trench coat and hat, and quietly snuck out of the lair.
Sora and the rest of the turtles watched as it was announced that the reporter, Ms. April O’Neil, was about to interview the Chief of the New York City Police Department about the recent crime wave.
“So, things are really bad in this city right now?” commented Sora as he turned to Leo, who nodded in return. Sora then asked, “How long has this been going on?” Mikey chuckled and replied, “Like forever, dude.”
Mikey then looked back at the reporter on the screen before moving towards it and kissing what would be her lips on the TV set. He then stated, “I’m in love!” Donny lightly punched his brother in the arm as he, Leo, and Sora chuckled.
Meanwhile, in a seemingly abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city…
A shadowy figure sat in a chair in a dark room that was only lit up by a group of TV sets on top of one another. The figure watched as the news reporter, April O’Neil, began her interview with the chief of the New York City Police Department.
“Chief,” spoke April, with determination in her voice, “have you investigated any of the rumors that a gang known as the Foot Clan is behind this recent crime wave?” The police chief looked a bit ticked off as he replied, “No, Ms. O’Neil, we have not looked into these rumors, because there is no solid proof that such a gang is involved.”
“So, you are denying that such a gang exists?” quickly replied April, making the police chief bite his lip. “I’m not denying anything, Ms. O’Neil,” replied the police chief, “And I don’t like you trying to put words into my mouth.”
The figure soon grew annoyed at this news reporter’s constant questions. He felt she knew and spoke too much. He grabbed a nearby dagger and threw it into one of the TVs, breaking it into pieces.
He turned to face several black clothed men, as well as smaller creatures with bright yellow eyes. “Find her,” the figure spoke in a dark, menacing voice, “silence her!” The men bowed down, as did the smaller creatures, before they set off. The figure then simply turned back to watch the news reporter continue her interview.
Later, at the NYC police station…
“O’Neil!” yelled the booming voice of the police chief from his office, “get in here!” The interview had just concluded as April and her news team began to pack up their equipment. She knew she had really pissed off the police chief during the interview.
She also knew that has pushed his buttons countless times before. Having this knowledge, she walked up to one of the crew, and stated, “Time me,” before entering the chief’s office.
“What is it that you’re trying to do out there?” yelled the chief as April closed the door behind her, “besides pissing me off!” April rolled he eyes and replied, “I think you know just about as much as I do about this Foot Clan, and I don’t think you’re doing anything about it.”
“What is it you want me to do, Ms. O’Neil?” the police chief shouted back as he threw his arms in the air, “go and waste time searching for a stealth-based gang just because some immigrants think that this crime wave is similar to something that may not have happened, years ago in Japan!”
“Is that what you want me to do?!” yelled the police chief with eyes like daggers, staring straight at April. April simply sighed and replied, “Do you have anything else?” That was it for the police chief, who slowly got up from his seat, before yelling, “Are you telling me how to do my job?!”
It was after this that the police chief yelled April out of his office. The door slamming behind her, April walked up to the crew member she had talked to earlier, and asked, “What was my time?”
The crew member smiled, looked at his watch, and replied, “45 seconds, a new record.” April smiled and thanked the crew member before walking out of the police station.
April walked down the steps in front of the police station, unaware she was being watched from the shadows. She then walked over to the subway station before entering it. She had just got down to the end of the staircase to see the subway car seconds away from departing. She tried to catch it, but was too late, and the subway car took off.
“Just great,” moaned April as she rolled her eyes. She crossed her arms as she waited for the next subway car to arrive. Then suddenly, for some strange reason, she felt as if she wasn’t alone. She hesitated for a moment, before spinning around to find that she was surrounded by ninjas.
“We have been searching for you, Miss O’Neil,” spoke one of the ninjas. April thought this was some sort of joke, chuckled, and replied, “What, have I been texting too much on my cell?” She quickly stopped laughing after the ninja had snapped his fingers, and black ninja-like creatures with yellow eyes and a weird heart-shaped symbol on their chest appeared from clouds of black smoke.
“Your mouth may get you into much trouble, Miss O’Neil,” stated the ninja, who walked up to April before displaying his hand to her. “Our master has a message for you,” explained the ninja before slapping her across the face, “shut it!”
At this, April reached into her purse and pulled out the sai she had found at the scene of her mugging. This surprised the ninjas, but they quickly recovered as one of the ninja-creatures leaped at April and knocked the sai out of her hands. The sai slide across the room, as April then tired to use her purse to fight her attackers, but she was then hit hard by one of the ninja-creatures, which sent her knocked down onto the floor.
Their full attention on the knocked out news reporter, the ninjas and ninja-creatures did not notice that the sai had been picked up by a three-fingered green hand. Suddenly, they heard a battle-cry-like roar and turned to see Raphael charging towards them at full speed.
Raphael slashed through the ninja-creatures before dropkicking one of the ninjas in the chest. Raphael then swung around, slicing through three ninja-creatures, and then roundhoused kicked a ninja in the head.
Raphael continued to fight off the ninjas and the ninja-creatures, take them out one by one. It wasn’t long before all of them were defeated. Raphael took this chance, ran over to the unconscious reporter, and picked her up. Raphael looked around before carrying April off into the sewer.
As Raphael began to venture through the subway systems, in the shadows, a Neo-Shadow began to follow them, making sure it was to remain undetected.
