IX. THE FOOT (PART I)
Author's note: for this project, I interviewed four former members of the Foot. All of them have since put this part of their past behind them, but for fear of incriminating themselves, at their request, I refer to them only by number.
DONATELLO
I grew more and more desperate to find things to read. I couldn't get enough books, so I started bringing home old magazines and newspapers. Everyone else started reading them, too.
LEONARDO
They were almost never current. The papers were usually a day or two old, and the magazines were weeks or months out of date. But that hardly mattered to us. We weren't reading them to stay current, really.
MASTER SPLINTER
I read several articles in the New York newspapers that stated that there was a marked increase in burglaries, kidnappings and muggings in the city. I at first did not take much notice of this. It was regrettable, but it did not seem relevant to us. One day, I read an article - an attempted kidnapping had been broken up by the police. They printed a picture of a perpetratior. Although I did not know the man, I instantly recognized the uniform he wore. It bore the crest of the Foot clan, which in Japan had been led by Oruku Sake.
RAPHAEL
At first, I thought it was just coincidence - I mean, it was just a foot in a white circle. Doesn't mean that there's a link, right? Splinter wasn't convinced.
MICHELANGELO
I suggested that maybe some New York punks had simply copied the Foot uniform. You know, they saw someone with it, and thought it was cool.
MASTER SPLINTER
Michelangelo's theory seemed sound - it did seem very unlikely that Sake would travel so far to spread his evil. But then on the television, we saw them in battle. It was most assuredly the Foot style - not as refined, but still recognizable as such.
DONATELLO
At first, we were just sort of "Geez, how weird", y'know? But Sensei didn't let it drop.
MASTER SPLINTER
The police and city were obviously unaware of what they were dealing with. The Foot in Japan...they were not immoral so much as amoral. They were not criminals, but neither did they believe in purity of mind and soul, as my sensei had taught me. With them, the fighting skills were everything. So it was not surprising to me to see the Foot take a turn towards evil.
LEONARDO
Sensei would read an article on some crime, something where it was clear that the Foot was behind it. Or he'd hear something on the radio. He kep saying, "Something must be done."
RAPHAEL
I remember him saying, "I must do something." It took me awhile before I realized he was serious.
MICHELANGELO
When Sensei said he wanted to take these sleazoids out, we all said we wanted to help. (smiling) He wasn't prepared to hear that.
MASTER SPLINTER
While I appreciated the offer for help, I did not think they understood. They had to realize that this was an extremely dangerous game to play. Down in the sewers, we might be isolated but we would be safe. If we began fighting the Foot, some of us would definitely get injured, and there was a chance one or more of us would get killed.
LEONARDO
Our opinion was that if Sensei thought that they should be stopped, then they should be stopped. If he was going to take them on, the least we could do was offer our assistance.
MICHELANGELO
Looking back, I don't know really why we wanted to do this. It sure would've been easier, and safer, to let New York deal with it on their own. But we were starting to feel that New York was our city, too. If we wanted to be part of it, perhaps we needed to fight for it.
FOOT SOLDIER 1
I joined the Foot during my freshman year of high school. Even though I was good at martial arts even back then, I didn't immediately graduate into that circle. Instead, I got to hang around and play video games and stuff. They told me to keep training, and some day, I'd be able to help them out. That was their way.
FOOT SOLDIER 2
You ever read Tom Sawyer? You know that part where Tom gets everyone to paint the fence? That's kinda how it worked. They made it sound like there was nothing cooler than helping the Foot - hell, living for the Foot. And everyone sort of believed it. Soon, you were begging to begin training.
FOOT SOLDIER 3
I saw a TV show on religious cults last month, and about halfway through, I started to get this creepy feeling. It was like, wait a second! The Foot was a cult!
FOOT SOLDIER 2
The Shredder was in charge. We didn't see him much, and when we did, you kinda felt like he was honoring you with his presence. Like, he was that cool.
FOOT SOLDIER 3
We had this leader - and despite his mask and everything, he had that...I don't know. No one dared disobey him. And we'd do anything for him. Just like a cult.
FOOT SOLDIER 2
We saw him just rip a guy to shreds once - he didn't die, but we all thought he was gonna.
FOOT SOLDIER 1
I can't point to a day when I said, "OK, I'm gonna be a criminal." It didn't work like that. And I guess my case was sort of normal - it was kind of a slow process. First you hang around, sort of develop a loyalty to the team. Then they have you help out on some things, and before you know it, there you are. One day I looked up, and I was in the Foot.
FOOT SOLDIER 4
Everyone had their own thing. For a while, I was in protection. You'd go collect protection money from certain people. If you didn't, the muscle'd go lean on them. There were guys who drove getaway trucks, guys who did the martial arts, guys who worked chop shop - it was all broken up, and it all worked smooth.
DONATELLO
It took us about a week before we convinced Splinter that we were serious about helping him out. One night, he just stared at us, one at a time, and finally said, "So be it. Tomorrow, I shall begin your training anew." We weren't sure what that meant then, but the next day, we found out, all right.
MICHELANGELO
It wasn't exactly like we were slacking before. But suddenly, we were training extra hard, and extra long. Splinter cut study time down so we could train more.
RAPHAEL
Spinter's training was coming fast and furious. We worked our ever-lovin' tails off. But we didn't mind, 'cause now we had a new sense of purpose.
MASTER SPLINTER
When I first began my sons' training, it was simply to give them exercise, to train their minds, and perhaps for self-defense in the event that they were attacked. But then I found it necessary to change the focal point of my training, emphasizing the art of ninjitsu. They responded by learning faster, moving quicker, and fighting better than I had ever dared hope. My original thought was that, with some training, my sons could be somewhat beneficial aiding me in my battle against the foot. As the training progressed, I came to the realization that my sons would actually be a more formidable opponent to the Foot than myself.
MICHELANGELO
Sensei had shifted us over to ninja training - hitting quick and hard, then vanishing. He had us practice running away and hiding over and over.
RAPHAEL
That seemed kinda dumb to me at first. I mean, if we were so damn superior, why bother running away? But then I saw that that's how ninjas operate. Element of surprise. (smiling) Hit 'em 'n' quit, as James Brown says. It's what made us so successful.
DONATELLO
When we were coming to the close of our intense training, I had to repair Michelangelo's bed - the frame had come apart, and the rags had spilled out. We were going back through them, when suddenly Mike jumped up and ran out.
MICHELANGELO
I took this orange rag, ran down the hall, grabbed some scissors and cut some holes in it. Then I put it on and went back to Don.
DONATELLO
He had this orange mask on. "Look - I'm a real ninja now. Now no one can tell who I am." We both cracked up - I mean, like that mask was going to keep anyone from recognizing him. I said something like, "Who are you? And what have you done with Michelangelo?" We laughed so hard, the others came in to see what was so funny.
RAPHAEL
We were like, hey, make me one, too. So Mikey made one for each of us.
MICHELANGELO
It was just a joke at first, but we actually wore them to battles for some time. (shrugging) Just one of those goofy things.
MASTER SPLINTER
I realized I could not simply teach my sons how to fight, and then assume they were prepared for battle. Thus I had to give them a few demonstrations.
LEONARDO
After we'd been drilled for some time, Splinter took us topside to observe him in action. It was no problem finding Foot to fight then - if you waited in an alleyway long enough, one would come around. We hid up on the rooftops and watched how he broke up their actions, then scurried away. Even with his bad foot, he was incredible at it.
MICHELANGELO
(smiling) I tell ya, a couple times, I wanted to start cheering - he was amazing. These Foot guys would look at him, kinda laugh at him, and close in. Less than a minute later, they were all running away - or at least trying to.
MASTER SPLINTER
After a few demonstrations, I had them aid me in a few ninja attacks.
DONATELLO
To start off with, we were on back-up detail more than anything. We'd be covering Splinter's back in case backups arrived, which they never did.
RAPHAEL
It was exciting, helping Splinter out, but it was also kinda boring. He was doing all the work, and if I was lucky, all I'd get in was one hit as they ran off.
LEONARDO
We began learning some of the more practical aspects of ninja fighting. We always chose different alleyways to start off in. We would usually escape up to the rooftops first instead of immediately going down into the sewers. We hoped that would keep them from linking us directly to there. We'd go at different times at night, so they'd never know when to expect us.
DONATELLO
This continued for a couple of weeks - we fought a few nights, took the odd night off. Then one night, they apparently had started playing it smart.
FOOT SOLDIER 2
A few guys would come back with their faces kicked in, or with a messed-up leg. And they'd say some large mouse in a bathrobe had attacked them. At first, we were like, "What the hell you talking about?" But more and more guys came back with the same story.
FOOT SOLDIER 1
Shredder didn't know what was going on, but he sure as heck didn't like it. At first, he'd just smack around the guys that came back like that - call them weak, said they didn't deserve to be Foot, the whole deal. But when some of his best fighters came back with the same story, he decided there was something to this thing, after all.
FOOT SOLDIER 4
The Shredder gathered us all together - told us there was some guy dressing up like a big rat, attacking his fighters. We all started laughing, 'til he gave us this stare. I tell ya - Shredder can shut up anyone with a look. He said he wanted this guy out of the way - the one who would bring in this guy's outfit would be rewarded.
FOOT SOLDIER 1
A few guys just ran out looking for him - they didn't seem to realize that this rat guy was a real threat. The few that found him got their butts kicked. But my group leader played it smart. He got us all walkie-talkies, and he said if we found him, don't attack, don't retreat. Stall. And call in the rest of us.
MASTER SPLINTER
The Foot had apparently been practicing what to do in case I attacked. On this particular evening, they intentionally slowed the battle down. They effectively stalemated the battle. I should have realized what was happening, but I did not. I thought that they were simply trying to outthink me. Soon, a large group of Foot soldiers arrived, and only then did I realize I had allowed myself to be outnumbered and trapped.
DONATELLO
They surrounded Splinter, and the lead guy said, "You're goin' down, freak." I was about to ask the others if we should do something when Leonardo leapt into the fray.
LEONARDO
I hardly knew what I was doing. I didn't even unsheath my swords - just started swinging them, sheaths and all, at this guys' heads and feet. While I was doing this, I shouted out directions to my brothers.
RAPHAEL
It was...wow. It was freaky, scary, and cool - all at the same time. Leonardo was just a monster out there. Before they could even react, he was yelling stuff to us between moves. "Mike, with sensei! Don - cut the retreat! Raph - take the side!", which...it hardly makes sense, but we all immediately knew what he meant. I leapt in, drew my sai, and started kicking butt.
MICHELANGELO
It was like a blur. It was probably longer than a minute, but not much more. We suddenly stopped, because there's no one left standing but us. I remember looking at my bros, and they all had this crazed look in their eyes. I thought that was weird. Didn't occur to me until later that I got that look, too.
MASTER SPLINTER
I was utterly stunned. One second, it appeared hopeless, and I hoped my sons could help me escape. Three minutes later, their first battle is complete, won so quickly, and so decisively! But I knew we must not tarry, so I annnounced, "Scatter!", and they all ran off in opposite directions.
FOOT SOLDIER 1
We thought we had it planned perfectly. We'd take this guy in the rat suit down, and that'd be the end of that. Then some guys in turtle costumes show up. And they just annihilated us. I could hardly walk for two weeks. My friend was out cold for a full day.
FOOT SOLDIER 2
We were like, what the hell? Guys dressing up as mascots and stopping us cold? It didn't make sense.
FOOT SOLDIER 4
I thought the Shredder was mad before, but that weren't nothin' compared to how he looked then. He just listened to (name) when he told him about these turtle guys, and he just got quieter and quieter. Finally, he got up, smacked him hard across the face, and stormed out. We didn't see him again for days.
MASTER SPLINTER
We did not go out the following night. Instead, I held a small celebration in honor of my son's first victory.
RAPHAEL
Splinter served us warm sake. He had had sake before, but had never given us any. (smiling) Not surprisingly, he only gave us a little. But still, it was really cool.
DONATELLO
We honestly amazed ourselves. We knew we could fight OK, but we weren't expecting that complete domination. With some exceptions, that's how our fighting went from then on.
LEONARDO
Don't get me wrong - they had some guys who could fight. But those battles just took longer. We never lost a fight against the Foot.
DONATELLO
We went out as a group of five a few more times, and then Sensei tells us he's not going to go out anymore.
MASTER SPLINTER
I decided to remove myself from the battles for a few reasons. First of all, the fighting was aggravating my ankle. I found it necessary to bind it tighter, and I was limping more. And that was another reason - when it came time to vanish, I was easily the slowest one to leave. Without me there, my sons could disappear from the scene in a matter of a few seconds.
LEONARDO
It worried me to be without Sensei. But after the first few battles, it was clear we knew what we were doing.
MICHELANGELO
He did come out with us a few times - make sure we knew what we were doing. But after two, three of those, he just stayed in the lair.
MASTER SPLINTER
(smiling) This perhaps was worse. Although I feel I did the right thing, I also worried a great deal. I had faith in my son's fighting skills, but one cannot help but worry when your sons are putting themselves in danger.
DONATELLO
It was the four of us for a while, but the battles ended up being majorly one-sided. We'd run into two Foot soldiers, take them out in seconds flat, then leave. And Raphael was starting to be a pain.
RAPHAEL
I thought Leo was being a wuss. We'd take out two nobodies, and then we'd take off. I wanted to wait for the reinforcements to show up and kick their tails, too, but Leo wasn't having it.
LEONARDO
Raph didn't get it. This wasn't some sort of game - see how many Foot you could beat up. It was war. And we were fighting it with guerilla tactics.
DONATELLO
Splinter finally came up with a good solution - he broke us up into two teams.
MASTER SPLINTER
Since my sons were ending their battles so quickly, I decided to try fighting on two fronts.
MICHELANGELO
Problem solved. Leo and me were one team, usually, and Don and Raph were the other. A few times, just to break it up, it was Raph and me. (smiling) It never was Don and me, 'cause that woulda left Leo and Raph together, and they weren't getting along too good then.
DONATELLO
It worked pretty well, for awhile. Soon, we stopped seeing so many Foot soldiers walking alone. They were always in groups of four or more. We could still take them out, though.
LEONARDO
A few times, we were heavily outnumbered. We still might have won, but Sensei warned us not to take chances - if there was too many of them, run.
RAPHAEL
I hated running without giving all of them a little thrashing, but Don kept me in line. "He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day," he said. And he was right. (smiling) But you know how much I hate it when someone else is right.
MICHELANGELO
We didn't always come home with our heads held high. We all got bruises, a couple black eyes. Raph and I both got cut up a bit one night - we tangled with some guys with swords. We still won, of course, but we sat out for a few days 'til we healed up.
MASTER SPLINTER
Slowly, I felt we were making a presence known. And as the Foot turned their focus to us, they turned their focus away from crimes against others, which was most heartening.
FOOT SOLDIER 1
My group ran into them again a few weeks later. Not the rat, but two of the turtles. Late in the battle, one of them had dropped his bo stick, and I sort of dove at him from the side. I got him on the ground, and we wrestled around a bit. Then he got in a good shot at my neck, and I was out for the count. As soon as I came to, I knew I had to talk to the Shredder right away. He of course wasn't happy that we had lost yet again, but I told him I had information. I told him I had this one guy down, and I grabbed his legs, shell, and face before he took me out. (pausing) I was expecting it to feel like plastic, or spandex or something. But his face and legs felt rough and scaly. And it gave like...well, like there was muscle underneath. And the shell felt hard and smooth. (pausing) And the reason he got a good shot at me was that I managed to look him straight in the eye, from a few inches away. And I froze. Because even after feeling him, I still assumed this was a guy in a costume. But his eyes didn't look like a guy in a costume. They didn't look human. (pausing) I told the Shredder, "This is going to sound crazy, I know, but I don't think these are guys in costumes. I think that's really how they are."
Author's note: for this project, I interviewed four former members of the Foot. All of them have since put this part of their past behind them, but for fear of incriminating themselves, at their request, I refer to them only by number.
DONATELLO
I grew more and more desperate to find things to read. I couldn't get enough books, so I started bringing home old magazines and newspapers. Everyone else started reading them, too.
LEONARDO
They were almost never current. The papers were usually a day or two old, and the magazines were weeks or months out of date. But that hardly mattered to us. We weren't reading them to stay current, really.
MASTER SPLINTER
I read several articles in the New York newspapers that stated that there was a marked increase in burglaries, kidnappings and muggings in the city. I at first did not take much notice of this. It was regrettable, but it did not seem relevant to us. One day, I read an article - an attempted kidnapping had been broken up by the police. They printed a picture of a perpetratior. Although I did not know the man, I instantly recognized the uniform he wore. It bore the crest of the Foot clan, which in Japan had been led by Oruku Sake.
RAPHAEL
At first, I thought it was just coincidence - I mean, it was just a foot in a white circle. Doesn't mean that there's a link, right? Splinter wasn't convinced.
MICHELANGELO
I suggested that maybe some New York punks had simply copied the Foot uniform. You know, they saw someone with it, and thought it was cool.
MASTER SPLINTER
Michelangelo's theory seemed sound - it did seem very unlikely that Sake would travel so far to spread his evil. But then on the television, we saw them in battle. It was most assuredly the Foot style - not as refined, but still recognizable as such.
DONATELLO
At first, we were just sort of "Geez, how weird", y'know? But Sensei didn't let it drop.
MASTER SPLINTER
The police and city were obviously unaware of what they were dealing with. The Foot in Japan...they were not immoral so much as amoral. They were not criminals, but neither did they believe in purity of mind and soul, as my sensei had taught me. With them, the fighting skills were everything. So it was not surprising to me to see the Foot take a turn towards evil.
LEONARDO
Sensei would read an article on some crime, something where it was clear that the Foot was behind it. Or he'd hear something on the radio. He kep saying, "Something must be done."
RAPHAEL
I remember him saying, "I must do something." It took me awhile before I realized he was serious.
MICHELANGELO
When Sensei said he wanted to take these sleazoids out, we all said we wanted to help. (smiling) He wasn't prepared to hear that.
MASTER SPLINTER
While I appreciated the offer for help, I did not think they understood. They had to realize that this was an extremely dangerous game to play. Down in the sewers, we might be isolated but we would be safe. If we began fighting the Foot, some of us would definitely get injured, and there was a chance one or more of us would get killed.
LEONARDO
Our opinion was that if Sensei thought that they should be stopped, then they should be stopped. If he was going to take them on, the least we could do was offer our assistance.
MICHELANGELO
Looking back, I don't know really why we wanted to do this. It sure would've been easier, and safer, to let New York deal with it on their own. But we were starting to feel that New York was our city, too. If we wanted to be part of it, perhaps we needed to fight for it.
FOOT SOLDIER 1
I joined the Foot during my freshman year of high school. Even though I was good at martial arts even back then, I didn't immediately graduate into that circle. Instead, I got to hang around and play video games and stuff. They told me to keep training, and some day, I'd be able to help them out. That was their way.
FOOT SOLDIER 2
You ever read Tom Sawyer? You know that part where Tom gets everyone to paint the fence? That's kinda how it worked. They made it sound like there was nothing cooler than helping the Foot - hell, living for the Foot. And everyone sort of believed it. Soon, you were begging to begin training.
FOOT SOLDIER 3
I saw a TV show on religious cults last month, and about halfway through, I started to get this creepy feeling. It was like, wait a second! The Foot was a cult!
FOOT SOLDIER 2
The Shredder was in charge. We didn't see him much, and when we did, you kinda felt like he was honoring you with his presence. Like, he was that cool.
FOOT SOLDIER 3
We had this leader - and despite his mask and everything, he had that...I don't know. No one dared disobey him. And we'd do anything for him. Just like a cult.
FOOT SOLDIER 2
We saw him just rip a guy to shreds once - he didn't die, but we all thought he was gonna.
FOOT SOLDIER 1
I can't point to a day when I said, "OK, I'm gonna be a criminal." It didn't work like that. And I guess my case was sort of normal - it was kind of a slow process. First you hang around, sort of develop a loyalty to the team. Then they have you help out on some things, and before you know it, there you are. One day I looked up, and I was in the Foot.
FOOT SOLDIER 4
Everyone had their own thing. For a while, I was in protection. You'd go collect protection money from certain people. If you didn't, the muscle'd go lean on them. There were guys who drove getaway trucks, guys who did the martial arts, guys who worked chop shop - it was all broken up, and it all worked smooth.
DONATELLO
It took us about a week before we convinced Splinter that we were serious about helping him out. One night, he just stared at us, one at a time, and finally said, "So be it. Tomorrow, I shall begin your training anew." We weren't sure what that meant then, but the next day, we found out, all right.
MICHELANGELO
It wasn't exactly like we were slacking before. But suddenly, we were training extra hard, and extra long. Splinter cut study time down so we could train more.
RAPHAEL
Spinter's training was coming fast and furious. We worked our ever-lovin' tails off. But we didn't mind, 'cause now we had a new sense of purpose.
MASTER SPLINTER
When I first began my sons' training, it was simply to give them exercise, to train their minds, and perhaps for self-defense in the event that they were attacked. But then I found it necessary to change the focal point of my training, emphasizing the art of ninjitsu. They responded by learning faster, moving quicker, and fighting better than I had ever dared hope. My original thought was that, with some training, my sons could be somewhat beneficial aiding me in my battle against the foot. As the training progressed, I came to the realization that my sons would actually be a more formidable opponent to the Foot than myself.
MICHELANGELO
Sensei had shifted us over to ninja training - hitting quick and hard, then vanishing. He had us practice running away and hiding over and over.
RAPHAEL
That seemed kinda dumb to me at first. I mean, if we were so damn superior, why bother running away? But then I saw that that's how ninjas operate. Element of surprise. (smiling) Hit 'em 'n' quit, as James Brown says. It's what made us so successful.
DONATELLO
When we were coming to the close of our intense training, I had to repair Michelangelo's bed - the frame had come apart, and the rags had spilled out. We were going back through them, when suddenly Mike jumped up and ran out.
MICHELANGELO
I took this orange rag, ran down the hall, grabbed some scissors and cut some holes in it. Then I put it on and went back to Don.
DONATELLO
He had this orange mask on. "Look - I'm a real ninja now. Now no one can tell who I am." We both cracked up - I mean, like that mask was going to keep anyone from recognizing him. I said something like, "Who are you? And what have you done with Michelangelo?" We laughed so hard, the others came in to see what was so funny.
RAPHAEL
We were like, hey, make me one, too. So Mikey made one for each of us.
MICHELANGELO
It was just a joke at first, but we actually wore them to battles for some time. (shrugging) Just one of those goofy things.
MASTER SPLINTER
I realized I could not simply teach my sons how to fight, and then assume they were prepared for battle. Thus I had to give them a few demonstrations.
LEONARDO
After we'd been drilled for some time, Splinter took us topside to observe him in action. It was no problem finding Foot to fight then - if you waited in an alleyway long enough, one would come around. We hid up on the rooftops and watched how he broke up their actions, then scurried away. Even with his bad foot, he was incredible at it.
MICHELANGELO
(smiling) I tell ya, a couple times, I wanted to start cheering - he was amazing. These Foot guys would look at him, kinda laugh at him, and close in. Less than a minute later, they were all running away - or at least trying to.
MASTER SPLINTER
After a few demonstrations, I had them aid me in a few ninja attacks.
DONATELLO
To start off with, we were on back-up detail more than anything. We'd be covering Splinter's back in case backups arrived, which they never did.
RAPHAEL
It was exciting, helping Splinter out, but it was also kinda boring. He was doing all the work, and if I was lucky, all I'd get in was one hit as they ran off.
LEONARDO
We began learning some of the more practical aspects of ninja fighting. We always chose different alleyways to start off in. We would usually escape up to the rooftops first instead of immediately going down into the sewers. We hoped that would keep them from linking us directly to there. We'd go at different times at night, so they'd never know when to expect us.
DONATELLO
This continued for a couple of weeks - we fought a few nights, took the odd night off. Then one night, they apparently had started playing it smart.
FOOT SOLDIER 2
A few guys would come back with their faces kicked in, or with a messed-up leg. And they'd say some large mouse in a bathrobe had attacked them. At first, we were like, "What the hell you talking about?" But more and more guys came back with the same story.
FOOT SOLDIER 1
Shredder didn't know what was going on, but he sure as heck didn't like it. At first, he'd just smack around the guys that came back like that - call them weak, said they didn't deserve to be Foot, the whole deal. But when some of his best fighters came back with the same story, he decided there was something to this thing, after all.
FOOT SOLDIER 4
The Shredder gathered us all together - told us there was some guy dressing up like a big rat, attacking his fighters. We all started laughing, 'til he gave us this stare. I tell ya - Shredder can shut up anyone with a look. He said he wanted this guy out of the way - the one who would bring in this guy's outfit would be rewarded.
FOOT SOLDIER 1
A few guys just ran out looking for him - they didn't seem to realize that this rat guy was a real threat. The few that found him got their butts kicked. But my group leader played it smart. He got us all walkie-talkies, and he said if we found him, don't attack, don't retreat. Stall. And call in the rest of us.
MASTER SPLINTER
The Foot had apparently been practicing what to do in case I attacked. On this particular evening, they intentionally slowed the battle down. They effectively stalemated the battle. I should have realized what was happening, but I did not. I thought that they were simply trying to outthink me. Soon, a large group of Foot soldiers arrived, and only then did I realize I had allowed myself to be outnumbered and trapped.
DONATELLO
They surrounded Splinter, and the lead guy said, "You're goin' down, freak." I was about to ask the others if we should do something when Leonardo leapt into the fray.
LEONARDO
I hardly knew what I was doing. I didn't even unsheath my swords - just started swinging them, sheaths and all, at this guys' heads and feet. While I was doing this, I shouted out directions to my brothers.
RAPHAEL
It was...wow. It was freaky, scary, and cool - all at the same time. Leonardo was just a monster out there. Before they could even react, he was yelling stuff to us between moves. "Mike, with sensei! Don - cut the retreat! Raph - take the side!", which...it hardly makes sense, but we all immediately knew what he meant. I leapt in, drew my sai, and started kicking butt.
MICHELANGELO
It was like a blur. It was probably longer than a minute, but not much more. We suddenly stopped, because there's no one left standing but us. I remember looking at my bros, and they all had this crazed look in their eyes. I thought that was weird. Didn't occur to me until later that I got that look, too.
MASTER SPLINTER
I was utterly stunned. One second, it appeared hopeless, and I hoped my sons could help me escape. Three minutes later, their first battle is complete, won so quickly, and so decisively! But I knew we must not tarry, so I annnounced, "Scatter!", and they all ran off in opposite directions.
FOOT SOLDIER 1
We thought we had it planned perfectly. We'd take this guy in the rat suit down, and that'd be the end of that. Then some guys in turtle costumes show up. And they just annihilated us. I could hardly walk for two weeks. My friend was out cold for a full day.
FOOT SOLDIER 2
We were like, what the hell? Guys dressing up as mascots and stopping us cold? It didn't make sense.
FOOT SOLDIER 4
I thought the Shredder was mad before, but that weren't nothin' compared to how he looked then. He just listened to (name) when he told him about these turtle guys, and he just got quieter and quieter. Finally, he got up, smacked him hard across the face, and stormed out. We didn't see him again for days.
MASTER SPLINTER
We did not go out the following night. Instead, I held a small celebration in honor of my son's first victory.
RAPHAEL
Splinter served us warm sake. He had had sake before, but had never given us any. (smiling) Not surprisingly, he only gave us a little. But still, it was really cool.
DONATELLO
We honestly amazed ourselves. We knew we could fight OK, but we weren't expecting that complete domination. With some exceptions, that's how our fighting went from then on.
LEONARDO
Don't get me wrong - they had some guys who could fight. But those battles just took longer. We never lost a fight against the Foot.
DONATELLO
We went out as a group of five a few more times, and then Sensei tells us he's not going to go out anymore.
MASTER SPLINTER
I decided to remove myself from the battles for a few reasons. First of all, the fighting was aggravating my ankle. I found it necessary to bind it tighter, and I was limping more. And that was another reason - when it came time to vanish, I was easily the slowest one to leave. Without me there, my sons could disappear from the scene in a matter of a few seconds.
LEONARDO
It worried me to be without Sensei. But after the first few battles, it was clear we knew what we were doing.
MICHELANGELO
He did come out with us a few times - make sure we knew what we were doing. But after two, three of those, he just stayed in the lair.
MASTER SPLINTER
(smiling) This perhaps was worse. Although I feel I did the right thing, I also worried a great deal. I had faith in my son's fighting skills, but one cannot help but worry when your sons are putting themselves in danger.
DONATELLO
It was the four of us for a while, but the battles ended up being majorly one-sided. We'd run into two Foot soldiers, take them out in seconds flat, then leave. And Raphael was starting to be a pain.
RAPHAEL
I thought Leo was being a wuss. We'd take out two nobodies, and then we'd take off. I wanted to wait for the reinforcements to show up and kick their tails, too, but Leo wasn't having it.
LEONARDO
Raph didn't get it. This wasn't some sort of game - see how many Foot you could beat up. It was war. And we were fighting it with guerilla tactics.
DONATELLO
Splinter finally came up with a good solution - he broke us up into two teams.
MASTER SPLINTER
Since my sons were ending their battles so quickly, I decided to try fighting on two fronts.
MICHELANGELO
Problem solved. Leo and me were one team, usually, and Don and Raph were the other. A few times, just to break it up, it was Raph and me. (smiling) It never was Don and me, 'cause that woulda left Leo and Raph together, and they weren't getting along too good then.
DONATELLO
It worked pretty well, for awhile. Soon, we stopped seeing so many Foot soldiers walking alone. They were always in groups of four or more. We could still take them out, though.
LEONARDO
A few times, we were heavily outnumbered. We still might have won, but Sensei warned us not to take chances - if there was too many of them, run.
RAPHAEL
I hated running without giving all of them a little thrashing, but Don kept me in line. "He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day," he said. And he was right. (smiling) But you know how much I hate it when someone else is right.
MICHELANGELO
We didn't always come home with our heads held high. We all got bruises, a couple black eyes. Raph and I both got cut up a bit one night - we tangled with some guys with swords. We still won, of course, but we sat out for a few days 'til we healed up.
MASTER SPLINTER
Slowly, I felt we were making a presence known. And as the Foot turned their focus to us, they turned their focus away from crimes against others, which was most heartening.
FOOT SOLDIER 1
My group ran into them again a few weeks later. Not the rat, but two of the turtles. Late in the battle, one of them had dropped his bo stick, and I sort of dove at him from the side. I got him on the ground, and we wrestled around a bit. Then he got in a good shot at my neck, and I was out for the count. As soon as I came to, I knew I had to talk to the Shredder right away. He of course wasn't happy that we had lost yet again, but I told him I had information. I told him I had this one guy down, and I grabbed his legs, shell, and face before he took me out. (pausing) I was expecting it to feel like plastic, or spandex or something. But his face and legs felt rough and scaly. And it gave like...well, like there was muscle underneath. And the shell felt hard and smooth. (pausing) And the reason he got a good shot at me was that I managed to look him straight in the eye, from a few inches away. And I froze. Because even after feeling him, I still assumed this was a guy in a costume. But his eyes didn't look like a guy in a costume. They didn't look human. (pausing) I told the Shredder, "This is going to sound crazy, I know, but I don't think these are guys in costumes. I think that's really how they are."