That afternoon, Donatello flipped on the TV to watch Wheel of Fortune, but it wasn't on. Instead, there was a news conference going on. Police Chief Sterns was talking about the crime wave. The other Turtles joined him. They were interested in this news.
"We are presently executing a plan of redeployment that will minimize response times by maximizing coordination between patrol units in a decentralized networking scheme."
Nobody understood what the chief had just said. The Turtles didn't think even Chief Sterns had understood the gobbledygook!
"Would you mind repeating that, Chief?" a reporter asked. "In English?"
The camera pulled back to show the reporter. It was the same woman the Turtles had saved in the Channel Three car park. It was April O'Neil!
"Hey! That's her!" Donatello said.
Michelangelo couldn't believe how pretty April was. "I'm in love," he told his brothers.
"Shhh," Leo said. "Let's listen."
"Chief Sterns, what do you know about The Foot Clan?" she asked.
The chief squirmed. He didn't seem to like the question. "There is no evidence-"
"Then you deny that there is such a thing as The Foot?"
"I'm not denying anything," Chief Sterns blustered.
April had learned a lot about The Foot from some Japanese friends. It was an ancient ninja clan sworn to destroy orderly society with criminal acts. Its goal was total power. The city's current crime wave certainly looked like something a clan like that would be involved in. Chief Sterns didn't believe it at all.
"If you'll excuse me, I have more important matters to deal with."
As he walked away, April turned to the camera. "We can only hope that one of them has to do with solving these crimes!"
"She's great!" Michelangelo said. His brothers agreed.
"And she's got my sai," Raphael said. Before anybody could stop him, he grabbed his upper-world disguise and headed for the door. He knew just where he could find April.
The Turtles were not the only ones watching April's interview and Raphael was not the only one who wanted to find her. In another part of town a man called Shredder and an angel called Rose watched too. When she asked about The Foot, the man sat up, startled, angry. The Foot was a deep secret. He didn't want anybody to know about their mission, especially a nosy reporter. He lofted a ninja dagger at the screen. It hit April right between the eyes.
Then he turned to his second-in-command, Tatsu, and nodded. The man knew what must be done.
xxxxxxxx
April entered the subway Station near City Hall, just missing a train. She was alone on the platform - for a few seconds.
"We've been looking for you, Miss O'Neil," someone said. She turned and saw four men, dressed in black ninja outfits with hoods.
"What, am I behind on my television payments again?" she joked weakly.
The men didn't laugh. Instead, they told her to stop talking about things she didn't know anything about. Or else.
April didn't like the situation at all. The Foot began slapping her and it hurt. She could be in real trouble. Then she remembered the odd dagger that had saved her in the car park. It was in her bag. She reached for it, but before she could strike, The Foot knocked it out of her hand. It skittered along the subway platform. She was defenceless!
April swung her bag at her attackers. She managed to knock one of them down, but three more attacked. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was a green three-fingered hand picking up the sai.
Once Raphael had his sai back, he was at full strength. He didn't know who was attacking April or why, but he knew it was his job to save her. He fought like a cyclone, beating off April's attackers just long enough to reach her.
She was unconscious, but breathing. He had to get her - and himself - out of there. He liked to fight to win, but sometimes it was wiser to fight to escape.
A train was coming into the station. Raphael had an idea. While continuing to fight with one hand, he picked April up with the other. Just a split second before the train arrived, he dashed in front of it, going to the safety of the far side of the tracks. While the train blocked April's attackers from following him, he made the getaway, carrying April.
The subways in New York were just one part of the vast underworld of the city. The sewers were another. Raphael wasn't worried about finding his way home from there. He wasn't even worried about giving away the Turtles' secret. The only thing he was worried about was saving April O'Neil's life.
In fact, he was so worried about that that he never heard the footsteps that trailed him through the tunnels.