Tales Of The 90s Movie Turtles

Robyn and the Hoods

April put the phone down and turned to Splinter, trying to hide just how distraught she was. The Turtles' sensei - no, scratch that, the Turtles' father - looked at her expectantly. "That was his secretary..." she said with fake cheeriness, trying not to alarm Splinter unduly. "At least... one of them. She said she would, uh, give him a message."

Splinter's head bowed slightly as he thought. At last he responded. "You are not convinced."

"I think we've just been fobbed off..."

"I see."

"If I could just talk to Professor Perry... I know he would help us."

"What do you think we should do now...?"

"Uh..." April perched on the arm of the sofa Leonardo was lying on, looking down at him, then over at the others huddled unconscious on the sofa opposite. She was strangely touched by the quiet confidence Splinter's question placed in her, but also... No pressure, huh?

"You know..." she said. "Luckily, I got access to certain resources... Maybe I can just track down exactly where the Professor really is right now and approach him directly... Cut through the red tape."

"You must proceed as you think best."

"The only thing is, time... We may not have much."

"My sons are strong... And I will do what I can... Go, April. They will still be here when you get back."

April took a deep breath, and finally went over and laid a hand on Splinter's shoulder. "OK." Grabbing her coat and bag, she rushed to the exit. "I'll be back soon!"

As soon as she was up the ladder and out of sight, Splinter seemed to slump slightly. Suddenly looking very old, he moved over to stand between the two sofas and looked back and forth between his four charges. Then, sitting down, he closed his eyes and gave a long sigh, expelling all the air from his lungs. He stayed there, concentrating.


The Turtles advanced along the tunnel, weapons in hand and held in readiness. "Guys...?" Donatello ventured. "Does anybody find it strange...?"

"Find what strange, Don?" responded Leonardo.

"That we have these..." Donatello shifted his grip on his bo staff to show what he meant. Their weapons.

"Hmmm..." Raphael looked at his sais. "You know, you've got a point."

"Maybe..." began Michelangelo, and gathered his thoughts. "It's like Master Splinter always said. These weapons are a part of us... Make them a part of you, didn't he used to say that?"

"Yeah..." Leonardo confirmed, and looked closely at the blade of one of his swords. "They've still got the little scratches from combat. That's kinda weird."

"When did Mikey get philosophical?" pondered Donatello.

"I've always been philosophical... It's just you don't listen."

"Well, philosophilize this..." Raphael challenged him. "How do we get out of here?"

That had them all stumped.


"Irma... What are you doing in this early? In fact, isn't today your day off?" April left her bag and coat in her office and moved into the main part of the Channel Three newsroom, noticing the slight figure hunched over one of the desks.

"Well, hey..." Irma said lightly. "I could ask you the same question... If you, um, weren't my boss, that is."

"Ask away..." April said brightly, then added, rather more quietly "But of course, as your boss, I don't have to tell you the answer." She smiled. "Right?"

"Nope."

April sat at a nearby desk and switched on the computer, impatiently waiting for it to start up. "Really, though, what are you doing here?"

"Research... Uh, catching up on some research."

"Research, huh? Care to share?"

Irma shifted a little in her chair. "Not really... It's early days... Ever had a hunch?"

April just raised an eyebrow.

"So, just researching. Researching the heck out of it."

"Well, I approve." April tapped furiously at the keyboard, leaning over to look closely as information scrolled across the screen.

"Oh yeah, research is vital..." Irma asserted. "You don't wanna go on air with a few vaguely plausible-sounding phrases, while skimming over details and hoping your structure and a few jokes make it all work." April gave her a curious look, and even Irma herself seemed confused about what she had just said. "Anyway..." she continued. "Mine's hit a bit of an impasse. Can I help with whatever you're doing?"

"I'm trying to track someone down," April replied. "Kinda urgently. And it's... not going so well."

"Well, uh... My researching skills are at your disposal."

"You know what?" said April. "You're on."


Karai surveyed the assembled Foot ninja below her. She didn't go in for obvious displays of emotion, but anyone who knew her well, and that was definitely a short list, would have recognized the disappointment on her face. The warehouse currently housing the Foot in New York was vast, but really they didn't need that sort of space. In fact, it just drew attention to how depleted their numbers were.

More than half were the men and women Karai had brought with her from Tokyo. The others... She doubted them, to put it somewhat mildly. They were the dregs of the dregs. This was what she had to work with, to form a fighting force worthy of lord Shredder when he resumed his command.

No, she decided. It would not do.


April couldn't believe she was doing this. Leaving everything but the borrowed wire cutters back at Channel 3, stopping only to change to all-black clothing, she had made her way directly to the TGRI facility and now, crouched next to the wire fence, trying to stay unnoticed, she was cutting just enough of a gap to gain access. She experienced a moment of panic - This was criminal activity! Why was she doing this?!

Then she remembered the reason - her friends. The Turtles. Without Professor Perry's help, they might die. That couldn't be allowed to happen. So calm down, O'Neil. Focus.

And she was through. She ran to the nearest access point to the main building. Both the Turtles and the Foot had recently snuck in here - How difficult could it be?

Actually, it was surprisingly easy. Soon, she was wandering through the corridors - No need to sneak around in here, she was alone. This place, this top secret facility, was empty. Where was everybody? A couple of times, when half-way along a corridor, she found herself turning, certain she had seen something move at the end - but every time there was nothing there.

Enough to give a ghost the creeps.

No, really, there definitely was something there that time! "Stop it!" she said. "Just come out and talk, OK? I know I'm not supposed to be here, but I have to see him." No one emerged, but she was no less certain of being watched.

Oh, what the hell - If that was how they wanted to play it. "Professor?! Are you there?!" she called. Realizing that might not narrow it down enough if the staff of this place really were here somewhere, she expanded that to "Professor Perry!"

Silence.

"Is, um, anyone there...?"


["Intruder alert."

"Show me."

"There. A human. I don't know which one. They all look the same to me."

"That's racist."

"Snowflake."

"You know very well that's an anachronistic reference, so stop it."

"Shall we destroy the human?"

"On no account... Yes, I know this one. Wait. See what transpires..."]


Very reluctantly, April found herself squeezing back through the gap she had cut in the fence, with nothing achieved. She felt so helpless. Without the Professor...

"Hold it right there!"

"Uh..." In her surprise, April found herself holding her hands up, before quickly putting them down again. "Hi...!"

"Hi, yourself," said the stocky figure who approached her warily. An NYPD cop, hand poised near his gun. Maybe she had been right to raise her hands. "I'll deal with this." The cop waved dismissively at someone off to the side, and April turned to see a couple of private TGRI security guards standing there.

Where had they come from?! "Officer..." she said. "Can I help you?"

"Can you help me? Yeah, I certainly hope so. You can tell me what you were doing in there."

"In there? Uh, I don't know. I was just out for a walk. Am I not supposed to go in there? Sorry. Won't happen again. Promise." She smiled again. Charm! I'm pretty, aren't I? And... Oh yeah, I'm a celebrity...! Come on, guy!

"All right," said the cop, losing patience. "What's your name?"

"OK. My, uh, name... Right..." April stalled. This situation was kind of getting out of hand. "Do you watch a lot of TV news?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"It's, uh... Robyn." April surprised even herself with this. Fortunately she had left everything that might identify her back at Channel Three, but even so this was unlikely to be a wise thing to do.

"Robyn?"

"Yeah, that's right..." She felt a little offended that he would doubt her word.

"You got a last name? 'Cause, y'know, I got forms to fill in, that sorta thing." The cop had a nice line in thinly-veiled sarcasm.

"Last name? Oh, yeah... Williams." April replied, and winced a little when she realized what she'd just said.

The cop looked at her skeptically."Robin Williams?"

"Spelt with a y," she added, then sighed.

"Which?"

"Would it help at all if I said both...?" The look the cop gave her suggested not. "OK, OK..." April clasped her hands behind her, and let the cop cuff her wrists. She half-listened as he recited her rights in a bored monotone, then nodded farewell to the security guards with an expression that said Thanks a lot, guys as she was led to his car.


["She's getting away. Shall I have the law enforcement operative destroyed, and bring her back for processing?"

"That will not be necessary. I believe I know a better way to proceed."]


"Hey, what's that...?" Leonardo peered ahead of them into the gloom of the seemingly endless tunnel. "I thought I could see some kinda light."

"I've never seen a sewer tunnel this long," said Raphael grimly.

"Or this clean..." added Donatello.

"I really don't think we're in Kansas any more, guys..." offered Michelangelo.

"I don't think we're in New York either," said Leonardo. "Wait, I really can see something up ahead. Look..."

"Don't look, Leo..." said Michelangelo. "Never look at the light, man... Never."

"I agree with Mikey, Leo..." said Raphael, then looked surprised at what he had said. "Don't go to the light."

"I don't know, guys..." Leonardo pondered. "Maybe that's what we're supposed to do."

"And when have we ever done what we're supposed to do...?" Raphael demanded. "If we wanna get out of here, I think what we gotta do is fight."

"Fight what?"

"Whatever there is!"

"Well, we must have these weapons for a reason..." offered Donatello. "It kinda makes sense..."

"The way I see it," said Leonardo decisively, "We got two choices right now... Either we wander here for who knows how long, or we take our chances with whatever's waiting for us up ahead... What do we do, guys? Forward, and face whatever comes...? Or retreat?"

"Well, if you put it that way..." said Raphael.

Leonardo did what he did best. He led them. Into the light.


Next: Limbo is a Place on Earth