Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Day of the Rat
A '90s movie universe story, set between movies II and III
Turtle vs Rat! Since the Turtles' public showdown with the Shredder (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze) the Ninja Rap craze has been and gone, but their image is out there now and every crank has a story to tell. Even so, the Turtles themselves – Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael – have disappeared from New York. Only the venerable Master Splinter knows why and where.
In their absence April O'Neil is keeping tabs on sightings of the Foot Clan, certain it's only a matter of time before they are back up to strength. Meanwhile, in the supposed safety of their disused subway station, Splinter finds himself falling under a malign influence... Something is down there with him.
It's high time the Turtles returned.
Above ground, April is captured by the Foot - under new leadership and out for revenge. Below, the Turtles are stalked by a formidable new foe - one that can turn even their beloved sensei against them. A new day dawns for New York.
The Day of the Rat...
GOLDEN HARVEST does not present With absolutely no involvement from GARY PROPPER An ALAN SMITHEE Nonfilm TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES DAY OF THE RAT Starring (Hypothetically) PAIGE TURCO LANCE HENRIKSEN PAM MAPPE MARK DOERR RAYMOND SERRA COVEY L BOYD STEVEN FENNELL SILAS BURKE JOSH GRASSE and TOSHISHIRO OBATA as Tatsu with COREY FELDMAN as the voice of Donatello Special appearance by JUDGE REINHOLD as Benny Based upon characters created by KEVIN EASTMAN & PETER LAIRD Animatronic characters (hypothetically) provided by JIM HENSON's CREATURE SHOP Screenplay by GENERIC SCREENWRITER's NAME Produced by GENERIC PRODUCER's NAME Directed by ALAN SMITHEE
DISCLAIMER: The Turtles and associated characters don't belong to me. The story is for my own entertainment and hopefully that of a few others. I don't own any of these toys; just playing with them.
Chapter 1: Once Up On...
Once, there was a town, and that town was overcome by a plague, a plague of rats so numerous and so fierce that nothing could be done. Food stores were devastated, and no man, woman or child dared walk the streets alone.
Till one day a stranger arrived, a man who promised to rid them of the rats. For a price...
Once, there was a princess, who lived in a tower and yet could still see clearly all the great wrongs in the world, and she knew that something must be done. All the dark deeds done in dark corners must be brought into the light, and the princess decided she would be the one who would shine that light.
Till one day the evil Baron Oroku, the worst wrongdoer of all, decreed the princess must be silenced...
Once, there were four warrior brothers, who lived in a great city, and they protected the city and overcame much hardship and strife. They were trained in the arts of war by a wise creature - half-man half-animal - who in his wisdom saw the brothers were not united. There was not harmony, and without that they could never achieve the true unity they needed.
As the forces of evil gathered around the city once more, their wise mentor sent the brothers forth on one final test. If they could succeed in that test, then and only then would the brothers be truly ready for their destiny...
New York, 1976...
He could hear it again. The scrabbling. Far off, but coming nearer. He opened his eyes, and closed them again against the intense glare.
"He's coming 'round..." He felt hands adjust the layers of cloth covering him.
Covering him - He was lying down. In a bed. He heard, faintly, a P/A system - What was that, how did he know what that was? - Where did that phrase come from…? "Doctor Howard... Doctor Howard to Ward C20... Doctor Fine to Cardiology… Repeat - That's Doctor Howard to C20 please..."
The scrabbling was still there. Coming nearer... Thinking about that could wait. His mind was being flooded, overwhelmed, with these sensations and he needed to cope with them one at a time.
One of the hands which weren't his took one that was. It felt his wrist, held his hand in the air... "I got a hundred and twenty-five... That's too fast... Golda...?"
"Yeah...?"
The scrabbling was still there. Coming nearer... He wondered if these others could hear it too.
"This guy's pulse is a little fast and erratic. I think we should call"-
The voice choked off and gasped in pain. He wondered why, a moment before realizing it was because of him. He had grabbed the wrist firmly, a little too firmly, and he felt a delicate bone snap under the pressure. The nurse - it was a nurse, he could only be in a hospital - tried to snatch her hand away, only succeeding after a few seconds of struggle.
He didn't know his own strength. That was a cliché, he thought, then wondered what a cliché was.
The scrabbling was still there. Coming nearer... He also wondered what that was.
He felt he could bear the pain of the light now, and opened his eyes. A round face with large dark eyes, a woman around forty, stared back at him, nursing her damaged wrist. "He's awake" she said. "Mister Hynten... Can you hear me? Mister Hynten?"
Hynten. Was that his name? It didn't seem wrong, it seemed somehow incomplete. Like it was true, but only covered a tiny portion of who he was. He was Hynten, he realized - Lawrence Hynten had been his name. There had been other names before that. So many names...
The scrabbling stopped. No need to worry about it then.
He suddenly felt an unbearable urge to move, to get out of this bed, this prison. He clawed at the confining sheets, pulled the device out of his arm, scarcely noticing the pain, lurched to his feet and stood on unsteady legs, swaying.
"He shouldn't be able to do that... Golda...?! Need some help here. Mister Hynten, please listen to me. My name's - Ow - Nurse Marjean... You can't... You shouldn't be out of bed. Please don't touch the bandages, Mister Hynten. You were attacked, you've got some injuries, you'll be OK, you really will. But you have to leave those bandages alone..."
Attacked...?
Lawrence Hynten took a step back and wiped the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his overall. He smiled. "There. That's it done. Boy, I can't wait to get out of this place. It's like a sewer down here." He laughed, started to run a hand through his hair, and then remembered it was covered in gunk...
She was right about the bandages. His face was half-covered, wrapped around with soft bands of linen. Underneath... No, no, he had to leave them alone, leave the bandages alone, that was important, he must obey that.
Lawrence Hynten took off one glove and carefully sniffed the substance on it. "What is this stuff? Well, it's not toxic, that's for sure. Nice shade of green..." Hey, what was that noise? That scrabbling...
"What... What attacked me?"
"We're not sure. Look, sir, it's best you just lie back down right now. We've got you fixed up, you just need to rest now... Golda, hi, could you get... Mister Sanders, please?"
"Mister what? Oh, yeah, right..."
The creatures came out of nowhere. They were on Lawrence Hynten before he could call out, not that anyone could hear him, before he could even take a proper breath. He panicked as they climbed his body, as new waves of them covered him and enveloped him in a stinking furry mass...
He took a rattling breath, reassured to find he could breathe properly. The nurse looked concerned. "Can you remember anything about what happened, sir?" she asked. A sudden insight told him she was playing for time.
Time for what? Mister Sanders... An official euphemism, mustn't alarm people... Security. Security for what? Was someone around here dangerous?
Then he realized, and his eyes snapped round to the nurse with something new in them. The vagueness was gone. Lawrence Hynten was no longer alone in there. They wouldn't understand. He had to get out of here. But how?
That was when the vent in the wall launched itself across the room and the confined mass of creatures poured out. They had come for him again. This time, though, he wasn't afraid.
"Security? Hi, it's ward J54 here... We've got a patient who might be a bit of a problem. No, I don't think so, it's just a precaution. It's a sewer maintenance guy, he's had some kind of accident, a few bites, but he's traumatized... Yeah, please..."
Golda walked quickly back into the ward and stopped. Stared at the mess left behind; her colleague staring back at her, a detached look like she was hypnotized or something. There was no sign of the patient. "Marjean? You OK? What happened here?"
"Oh, it's OK." The blank stare. "They came for him. I think he's gonna be OK now..."
Next: Rat Rampage
In which Manhattan is invaded and Vanilla Ice falls in a puddle, but not everybody is kung fu fighting...