It took the Turtles and Splinter another few minutes to convince April she wasn't dreaming, but she finally came round. She even agreed to let them take her home.
When they got to her apartment, April told them the only thing she had to eat there was leftover pizza.
"Let's go for it!" Michelangelo said. That surprised April. She thought turtles just ate lettuce!
"So, what do you guys, uh, like on your pizza?" she asked.
"Just the regular stuff," Michelangelo told her. "You know, flies, stinkbugs, slugs-"
April gasped. Mike realized she wasn't into Turtle humour, yet.
"It was a joke," he told her. April laughed, a little.
The pizza was great and the Turtles found they could have a lot of fun with April. She learned that it was fun to be with the Turtles.
Mike did his Rocky impression. April laughed very hard. She never would have thought of Rocky as green!
"Wait, wait, I've got another one."
"Oh, no - not James Cagney!" Raph groaned.
Michelangelo crouched into a boxer's stance and began jabbing at the air with his fists. "You dirty rat!" he said. "You killed my brother. You dirty rat!"
It was a good impression! "Hey, that must be Splinter's favourite!" April said.
The Turtles looked at her for a second. They were surprised.
"It was a joke," she said, imitating Michelangelo. All of them laughed. The Turtles realized then that April was their friend and as long as she could laugh with them, she'd be a good friend, too.
It was time to go. "We'd better get back to Splinter," Leo said. "He worries." Sometimes it was hard to stop having fun just because Splinter might worry about them. Most of the time, though, it was comforting to know that he cared enough to worry.
"Will I ever see you guys again?" April asked.
"That depends on how fast you restock your pizza," Leo told her.
"Deal!" April said.
The Turtles left April's apartment building, climbed down the nearest storm drain, and made their way back to their den.
As soon as they got near the door, though, they all knew something was wrong. The door was open, flapping loosely, and when they went in, the place was a total shambles. The worst part, though, was that there was no sign of Splinter.
He'd been ratnapped!
They realized that the thugs who'd attacked April in the subway must have followed Raphael through the sewers to their den. But who would want to capture Splinter? Who would do something that evil? Maybe it was the kind of person who would mastermind a crime wave!
The Turtles needed help. They needed a friend. They needed April.
xxxxxxxx
At the same time that the Turtles found their troubles were beginning, Chief Sterns thought it was possible that his troubles were coming to an end. He had just the thing he needed to get Charles Pennington to keep that pesky reporter, April O'Neil, off his back.
He held in his hand an arrest file for Daniel B. Pennington. The teenager had been picked up for shoplifting in an electronics shop.
Chief Sterns reached for his phone and dialed a number. A man answered. "Charles Pennington?" he asked. He smiled to himself.