"You took another picture?! Are you nuts?!" Spike howls as they sit inside their apartment, windows doors and windows locked, barricaded, and double checked. Spike still clenches the Taser in her hand. "You heard what Blue said. They'll find us. Then they'll kill us. Then they'll hide the bodies, they'll find us in cement in a few years."
April shakes her head. "We'll be fine. Also, his name isn't Blue. It's Leonardo."
Spike throws her hands in the air. "I don't care if his name is Puff. We're in trouble."
"I took the picture, not you," April reminds her. "They won't kill you."
"I'm with you. They said they'd take me too, I know about them! April," Spike's voice softens. "I promised I'd take care of you. I've done a good job up until now. I'm not gonna let a story get you killed."
April smiles and pats Spike's arm. "I'll be fine. Besides, don't the names Leonardo and Raphael ring a bell?"
"Italian painters. I paid some attention in school."
"I know, and yes, they were," April agrees. "But they were more than that. Remember those turtles Dad had?"
"Sure I remember. Way better than hamsters." She pauses. "You're not suggesting that those four Gamera wanna-bees back there were once those little tiny turtles, are you? Because you better have a great explanation for that."
"Well…" April sounds uncertain. "I have to do some research."
"I think this may possibly qualify as a very bad idea." Spike kneels down, still fully dressed and wearing her combat boots. "I don't think we should go after this one, April."
"I gotta find the old video camera!" April throws up her hands before letting them fall. She turns earnestly to Spike. "You've told me and told me and told me that I as meant for better things, bigger stories, and more respect. You don't get those without risks. You were all for it before giant mutant turtles showed up. I have that picture, remember? People might believe us now!"
"They said they'd find us."
"And I know you'll protect me," April said confidently. "Come on!"
~Shell-Shocked~
April's old 'lab notebook' and a notebook labeled "Project Renaissance" sit quietly and innocently on the floor before April pounces on them and attempts to flip through both of them simultaneously. Spike sits down and crosses her arms.
"Aha!" April points to a symbol on one of the pages. "That's the same one we found on the crates at the dock! Remember? The one spray painted onto the crate!"
Spike examines her hand. "Don't know if you're interested, but I found the camera and some tapes."
April drops the notebook and lunges for the device sitting beside her friend. She digs through the tape pile.
"I already put in one." Spike grabs April's arm. "Look." She holds up the camera.
"Good evening," six year old April's voice comes through. "This is April O'Neil, recording live from my dad's lab. I know it sounds pretty boring, but actually, there's some pretty cool stuff."
Spike's voice from off camera called. "April! Raphael is tugging on my hair again!"
The camera swiveled slightly as April turned. "Well, just tug it back!"
"Every time I do, he bites me."
The camera turned back to April.
"Time to put the camera away, April," a voice called.
"Awww, Dad."
April laughs sadly at the sound of her father's voice.
Spike wraps her arm around April's shoulder.
"I'm fine," April says unconvincingly. She slides in another tape.
"Now, I'm about to show you something amazing…it's supposed to be from a different planet in outer space! Mr. Sacks, what sort of experiments are you doing?"
"That's a complicated question." Eric Sack's voice sounded amused as he explained the concepts to a six year old. "We're trying to change the world."
Four little baby box turtles squirm as the scientists poke and prod. The camera shakes.
"Hello, Splinter," The camera focused on a little rat in the case. "And these are my little turtles."
"OUR turtles," Spike argued. "You said we could share."
"Our turtles," April allowed. The camera panned to the second case. "Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello. The fans wanna see you."
One of the turtles smacks against the glass and cracks it in an incredible show of strength for such a tiny animal.
April gasps. "I knew it!"
"No way, it can't be," Spike utters. "What all were they injectin' those suckers with?!"
"The vigilante," April continues. "We saw it, we saw them! I saw them! I've known them ever since I was a little girl, they were my pets!" She glances at Spike, beaming. "They were our childhood pets, and they were named after Italian Renaissance painters!"
"Wait, so Raphael, that's the one that smashed me," Spike says. "And he used to bite me and all. Stupid turtle is still hurting me after fifteen years." The bruise on her belly and ribs had been more of a case of wounded pride than actual pain.
"Oh...that doesn't matter! This is fantastic! What a story!" April runs out to the dining room with some of the notebooks.
"It matters to me!" Spike calls, still on the floor. She sighs and sits back. "So, Raphael thinks because he's bigger than me now, he can smack me around. I don't believe this."
