In April's apartment the next day, the Turtles were lazing around, watching television. For once, though, they weren't watching quiz shows, Gilligan's Island repeats, or soap operas. They were watching April being interviewed. She was telling all about being attacked by the ninja in the subway station. The Turtles thought she was very smart.
"I'm convinced that these men were affiliated with a secret organisation known as The Foot."
"The Foot?" June, another reporter, asked, confused.
April smiled. "Yeah, I know. It sounds like a funky club for podiatrists, but I've spoken with a lot of Japanese-Americans recently and they tell me this crime wave reminds them of a secret band of ninja thieves called The Foot. The evidence is convincing, but so far the police are treating this like a joke!"
Charles Pennington shuddered when he heard April say those words. It was just the kind of thing that would make Chief Sterns angry. And if Chief Sterns got angry, Danny Pennington would have to pay the price.
"Mr Pennington?" his secretary said, opening the door of his office softly. "Telephone call. It's City Hall."
Charles groaned and reached for the phone.
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"She's such a good reporter!" Leonardo said.
"She's smart," said Donatello.
"Shhhhhh!" said Michelangelo. "I think the best part is still to come."
The screen flickered as the camera got a close-up shot of April's lovely face. "There's another mystery, April," June said. "How did you manage to get away from those subway attackers?"
"Incredible as it may seem, a citizen of this city actually came to my rescue. So I'd like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude." April looked right into the camera. "Thanks, Raphael!" she said, winking.
"Woooooooo!" Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello all teased in a single voice. Raphael shrank into his shell.
"Hey, look! I think he's blushing!" Donatello said.
"I am not!" Raphael said, but he was sure he was turning red. He didn't like to be teased and sometimes it made him very angry. He loved his brothers, but he hated feeling this way, especially when there were more important things to think about.
"So what do we do now?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"What do you mean, 'what do we do now?'" Leo asked.
"Splinter's out there!" Raph said, reminding his brothers of the serious situation.
It didn't work, though. All the others wanted to do was eat. Raphael was too angry to eat.
"What can we do about it? April's our only link to these guys! We have to wait until she comes up with something!"
Raphael was steamed. "Oh, so that's the plan from our great leader, huh? Just sit here on our tails?"
Leonardo turned on him. "I never said I was your great leader!"
"Well, you sure act like it sometimes!"
"Yeah, well, you act like a jerk sometimes, you know that? And this attitude of yours isn't helping anything!"
That was as much as Raphael could take. He spun on his heels and stormed out the door. He just had to be by himself. He headed for the stairs and went up. The street was no place to be alone. Raphael needed a rooftop.
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It was a warm summer afternoon. A few blocks from April's apartment, Casey Jones was relaxing on his own rooftop, stretched out on a beach chair. He wasn't wearing his hockey mask, though it was handy - just in case. He took a sip of his soda and enjoyed the afternoon breeze. He sat up and looked at the city below him.
It was so hot that everything seemed to be still. Everything, that is, except a small green dot moving on a rooftop several blocks away. There was something familiar about that green dot. Casey grabbed his binoculars and focused them. It sure was familiar. It was the green guy who had attacked him in the park.
Then Casey looked again. The green guy didn't know it, but he'd been spotted by someone else. The fire escape that led to the rooftop where the green guy sat was positively swarming with black-clad ninja types.
The green guy was about to get into a lot of trouble.
Casey believed in fairness. No matter how tough the green guy was, this wasn't going to be a fair fight. It was time to go to work. Casey reached for his mask.
