Author's Note:
This is a rewrite of the 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie with OC inserts. I did this mostly for myself, so if you don't want to read it, that's fine. I realize it's not the most creative thing to do, rewriting a pre-existing movie, but it still took time. An entire year in fact. And it's similar to using a base to draw or filling in a colouring book. So please don't leave any comments saying how this is lazy or anything. It was strictly for fun. Thank you.
...
April and Vern sat in the Channel Six news van, stuck in heavy, late night traffic. They had been sitting in silence for quite some time now, and April could no longer keep the thoughts on her mind to herself. "Eric Sacks was so inspiring," She told Vern. "I know this is a story that actually matters." Horns honked impatiently around them as Vern gave a quick glance at April before turning back to the unmoving vehicles in front of him.
"The super hero one? That's a good idea. You should chase that down," Vern's reply was laced with sarcasm. April rolled her eyes and continued to look out the window. She was tired of people making fun of her beliefs, but knew she didn't have anything solid to prove them wrong. Suddenly a large mass of people came flooding out of the subway entrances leading to the platforms below the city. Their screams of panic resonated in the streets of New York as they weaved between cars to get as far away as possible from the unknown danger. Vern watched in shock and confusion. His eyes flickered from side to side. "Where's everybody going?" He asked, not really expecting an answer. April mimicked Vern's expression. Her journalistic instincts took over and began drawing her towards the source of the story. She opened the van door, rushing into the crowd. "O'Neil, where are you going!?" Vern called behind her.
"Hey, hey. What are you running from?" April tried to ask the fleeing crowd. Vern continued to call after her, but it was all in vain.
...
Four shadows stood before a large array of computer monitors, each one showing a different part of the subway platform that was currently being overrun by Foot soldiers. Police chatter could be heard in the background from a make shift audio frequency scanner. "Surveillance uplinks are showing heavy, heavy Foot Clan activity upon a street platform," One shadow spoke. The sound of his voice had a slight high tone to it, but could still be distinguished as male.
"They've taken hostages, dude," Said another shadow; one with a deeper voice and slight gruffness to it.
"What? You know we're not supposed to go above ground," Said a third. His voice was more average compared to the others. It was strong, and yet gentle.
"We've done this before," the gruff voice spoke again. "We started something, we gotta finish it."
"This is insane," Spoke a forth voice, very playful in tone and nature. "That cat is playing chopsticks with chopsticks!" His voice elevated in volume as his excitement about the internet video grew.
"Don't be an idiot," The third voice told him, hitting a button that changed the cat video feed to more security footage of the subway platform.
"Awe," The playful voice moaned, upset is amusement had been cut short.
"Okay," The gruff voice spoke.
"Let's rock and roll, boys," The strong voice said, coming into agreement with the gruff speaker. The two bumped fists before the group of shadows began collecting their weaponry; katana, nun chucks, bo staff and sais.
...
April continued to fight the crowd, trying to make it down to the platform. She prayed that no one would try to stop her. After finally succeeded in getting to the top of the stairs, April pressed herself against the side wall to descend the steps without anyone getting in her way. She stopped at the bottom, peering around the corner. Looking back as people continued to flee up the steps, she wondered if she should turn around and follow them for her own safety. But that thought was brief as she quickly found her determination once again. She watched as the Foot soldiers, who had invaded the underground platform, disappeared further down the tunnel. She was now alone. She moved quickly, ducking behind large pillars in case anyone was still surveying the area. Loud bangs could be heard coming from where the Foot soldiers had disappeared to, and April moved even more behind her protective pillar. But she knew she couldn't stay there forever. She would end up missing this new lead if she did. So she mustered up all the courage and bravery she could, and slowly walked out into the open. Her heels clicked softly as she jumped the turnstiles and moved swiftly in the direction of the Foot soldiers. She moved behind another pillar for a quick moment before continuing. But another Foot soldier leapt out from behind her and wrapped his arm around her neck. She screamed as she struggled against his strength, unable to regain her freedom. The Foot soldier held onto the back of her jacket and led her down a second set of stairs, where they were keeping the rest of the hostages. He gruffly told her to keep moving. April looked around the platform at the large number of Foot soldiers waving guns at the innocent, and attaching bombs to the walls between them. Panic was evident in each hostage, and many of them most likely believed that they wouldn't make it out alive.
"On the ground!" The soldier demanded, shoving April down next to an elderly woman holding her hands to her head. "Nobody move!" April cautiously looked up at the soldiers. Karai was among them.
"We know you're out there!" She shouted down the subway tunnels. "If you don't surrender, we start executing hostages!" The Foot soldiers continued to threaten the hostages; the clicking of their guns the most prominent sound. April slowly reached for her phone.
"Don't do it," The woman beside her begged, drawing Karai's attention. She spun around to see what April was up to and grew even more furious at the sight of her camera phone.
She brought out her own gun and pointed it at April, "You! Stand up!" April raised her head quickly, fear showing heavily in her wide eyes. Karai slowly walked towards her with the intent to make her the first casualty of the evening.
"All aboard!" A voice called out from the tunnel, followed by a subway train. Karai's attention left April and snapped towards the tunnel. She knew what was coming. She shouted at her men in Japanese just before the power was cut, the passing subway being the only source of light. A large figure leapt off the train, silhouetted by its light. Karai fired her gun several times at the figure rushing towards her, but she was quickly knocked to the side and sent flying into the wall. She was unconscious in seconds. Three other figures leapt from the same train and sent the rest of the Foot soldiers into the wall as well. Cheers could be heard from the heroic figures as the soldiers' grunts echoed through the tunnel. April knew that this was the vigilante from the night before and feverishly tried to get footage of him, but the dim surrounding light made it impossible. Now Foot soldiers were flying everywhere; through the windows of the passing train, up into the lights on the ceiling. Karai looked up as she regained consciousness. She looked on in terror as the vigilantes took out her men with unsettling ease. When all the men were taken out, the vigilantes wasted no time in climbing towards the surface before they were clearly seen by the hostages. April, stunned for a moment, quickly got to her feet and rushed over to the yellow tarp that the figures had disappeared into. The hostages that weren't taking the advantage to flee the scene made their way to the tarp as well to discuss what they had just seen with each other. April had to move fast. She ran past the line of Foot soldiers, now tied up and sitting against the wall, and rushed up into the streets along with the other hostages just as the police showed up. She looked around, searching for some sign of where the vigilantes could have gone. She recognized the yellow tarp that led down into the tunnel; the same tarp that the vigilantes escaped into. She looked up at the top of the building and thought she could hear soft voices coming from the roof. She pulled down the fire escape and began to ascend the ladders as fast as she could. The voices got louder as she climbed, and she could hear them complimenting each other.
"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. This is our city! These are our streets!"
"You mess with us, you step into the roof! Woo Tang!"
"Awe, yeah. You see that guy's jaw connect with concrete?"
"He'll be drinking out of a sippie cup for months."
"Awe, that's what I'm talkin' about, brothers. Like shadows in the night; completely unseen."
April peered over the edge of the building. She saw four figures; three of them crowded around one another giving high fives, and the forth off to the side. April's camera flash illuminated the area for a few seconds as she took the picture, and what she saw shocked her into temporary paralysis.
"What was that?" The playful voice asked.
"It's a camera flash," the high toned voice replied.
"We know it's a camera flash. Who's firing the camera flash?" Demanded the gruff voice.
"By my calculations, it's a girl."
"Are we gonna kill her?" Again, the playful voice.
"What!?"
"With kindness."
April, finally able to snap out of her stunned state, began climbing down the ladder.
"I got this," The gruff voice said.
"Raph. No, no, no, no," The strong voice begged, but she already heard the sound of the chain being brought out and thrown. It wrapped around April, and she let out a cry of pain and shock as it pulled her into the air. She landed roughly on the cement roof, clutching her arm. One of the figures landed in front of her with a loud thud.
"Gimme the camera," He growled.
April surveyed what was in front of her as the playful one spoke once more, mimicking the tone of the one who previously spoke, "Ooh, look. He's doing his batman voice." The figure in front of April was not human. None of them were, as she had discovered when the flash on her camera went off. He had dark, green skin that was rough and scaled, two pudgy toes on each large foot, three-fingered hands, and a large, boney mass on his back. He wore several coverings around his ankles, wrists and biceps, with a red mask completely covering the top of his head. Something sharp and metallic reflected the moonlight as they sat at his sides. "Oh, she's so hot, I can feel my shell tightening," The playful one commented.
The figure standing in front of April turned quickly, "We can hear you!" He turned back to April, unsheathing his blades, "If you don't give me the camera, … I'm gonna-"
"Enough!" Called the strong voiced figure, leaping down from the top of the water tower. "Back off, Raph."
The red masked creature held up his hands in defense as he let out a few grunts of annoyance, "I only saw Batman once." He turned and walked off. April stared at the creature who had just landed in front of her. He had similar features as the other; green skin, three fingers, large mass on his back. But the mask this one wore was blue, and only wrapped around his eyes, leaving the top of his bald head bare. He held twin katana blades in his hands, and wore a blue coloured loin cloth. Shoes and fabric wraps covered his legs up to just below the knee. Dark pads sat on each of his shoulders and he had an unusual chest covering of what looked like horizontal stacks of sticks hanging around his neck.
"Ma'am. Hello. I apologize," He said as he leapt down from the ledge and slowly walking towards her. "My colleague here forgot to say please. So, would you please hand over the camera?" April began to back away as he got closer, until someone else jumped down right behind her from somewhere unknown. She gasped and spun around on hearing the thud of the landing behind her and sensing the new presence.
"Whoa, no, no. Whoa. Whoa," he said, trying to keep her from panicking. Her expression was a mix of confusion and terror as she frowned at him. He continued, Paying no mind to her obvious distress, "Chill. It's just a mask." He pointed with both hands to the orange fabric wrapped around his eyes and gave her a playful smile, "See? Don't freak out." He lowered his head to reach behind it and loosen the knot. Taking off his mask and holding it beside his head, he gave April a nod, "Right?" That was all she could handle. April felt her legs go numb as they started giving out underneath her. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell to the ground as everything around her went dark.
"Oh, I think that went well," the high toned voice was the last thing she heard.