The Turtles landed almost silently on the rooftop of the TGRI laboratory.
Donatello looked around, checking out the unimpressive setup. He was disappointed to think that the answer to the question about his origins could lie in such a humble building.
"Not much to this place," he said.
Leonardo's thoughts were completely on the task, not its meaning. "Keep on your toes. It doesn't look like there's any security at night, but we'd better move in quietly-"
"Duhhhh," Raphael said. He was impatient for the hunt. He didn't have time for Don's emotional approach or Leo's leadership. This was a time for action. "Come on, let's do it," he urged his brothers.
Michelangelo found the open window. In a matter of seconds, all four of the Turtles were in.
Don was relieved to see the impressively large room. This was more like it. "So, what do you guys think we'll find? You know, about us? Whatever it is, I bet it'll be special."
Mike looked around. The room was big, but it didn't seem to have any answers. "Yeah, either that, or we got the wrong address." His eyes caught the glow of a computer screen. Then he saw a lot of impressive chemical equipment. "Hello!" he said. The foursome crept silently to the corner of the lab where, just a few minutes before, Professor Perry had been finishing his work.
Don's eyes lit up as they approached the area. He loved mechanical, scientific things. His brothers looked at him for an explanation.
"I've no idea what all this is for," he said.
"Mondo video games?" Mike suggested, pointing to a joystick.
Don made a face. This was no time for jokes.
"Hey, some of this stuff seems to be running," Leonardo said.
"Yeah," Raph confirmed, looking closely at the chemical apparatus. There was a whole network of beakers and tubes bubbling merrily - and mysteriously.
"Hey, Leo!" Don called from the professor's computer desk. "Look at this. There was some kind of fight here," he said, pointing to an overturned chair and a smashed glass beaker. Then they looked at the computer screen.
"What do you make of it, Donnie?" Leo asked.
Don scratched his head in thought. "Looks like just a bunch of serial numbers. Look, it says 'Disposed. Disposed. Disposed...'"
"Hey, dudes," Michelangelo said. They all turned to see what he'd found. It was a bin filled with completely empty canisters. And each one of them was identical to the canister Splinter had shown them!
"Like, no deposit, no return," Mike joked.
"Except maybe one," Don said, still looking at the computer screen.
"What do you mean?" Leo asked.
"Look." Don pointed. There, on the screen, one serial number didn't say "Disposed." It said "Active"!
"Can you find where it is?" Leo asked.
"Well, I could try," Don said. "But if the database is coded, the system might go down."
It was a risk worth taking. "Do it," Raph said. Don began.
He worked furiously, pounding away at the computer keyboard. His three brothers gathered behind him and watched. Don was simply a genius with machines of all kinds. They knew that if it could be done, he'd do it.
They were watching so intently that they never noticed the shadows on the wall behind them. They never heard the near-silent footsteps of approaching attackers. Only Don, spotting a strange flickering reflected on the computer screen, realized that a hand was being raised in attack.
"Look out!" he cried.
The four Turtles hit the floor so fast that Tatsu's wrist crossbow fired uselessly at the screen, smashing it to smithereens.
Leo glanced out from behind the desk. He couldn't see much, but he could see enough.
"The Foot!" he said.
Don looked on the other side. What he saw was Tatsu - and there was something in his hand.
"The missing canister - he's got it!"
"Get it!" Raph yelled.
The Turtles attacked.
As they appeared from behind the desk and headed for Tatsu, their target tossed the canister to one of The Foot. This was a job for somebody really athletic. Mike sprang into the air, executed two back flips, and intercepted the pass.
"Ah-ha!"
He was trounced on by a swarm of black-garbed Foot.
"Ah-haaaugh!" he said in the middle of his sacking.
The canister flew into the air. One by one, green hands grabbed for it unsuccessfully. Black-gloved fingers grasped it, and the next thing the Turtles heard were the words "Ninja! Vanish!"
The room was filled with smoke from ninja smoke bombs, but not with ninja. They were gone.
"Hey, they're getting away!" Raph said.
"Yo, duhhhhhhh," his brothers commented. They all scrambled to get to their feet and begin the chase. And then they all realized that it wasn't so much that The Foot were getting away. It was that they had got away. They had vanished!
Shredder tossed the canister gently in his hand, as if he were weighing it, testing its value. Rose looked on.
"And this was the only one?" he asked.
"Ngghhh," Tatsu assured him.
"Then it's time to find out exactly what this ooze can do. Isn't it, Professor?"
He turned. Professor Perry sat in a chair nearby, still wearing his TGRI overalls. That wasn't all he was wearing. He was also completely tied up with rope and he had a gag in his mouth.