Man is this gonna be a long night. My name is Raphael and right now, I got two major problems. The first is these guys, your basic criminal-type thugs, which normally wouldn't be a problem at all.

Hand him over, now.

Except for the second problem.

Come and get me, creepo!

Some old guy once said, "Anybody who hates kids and dogs can't be all bad." Like I said... it's gonna be a long night.

Down in the sewer lair, training with the wooden practice dummy. He looked over to the others and his anger and frustration finally made him explode, catching everyone's attention.

"You okay, Raph," asked Leo.

"How can you sit around talking when he's out there somewhere maybe hurt bad?"

"Like I said, we have to organize the search. Look at everything we know."

"But we don't know anything!"

"Well, we know that when we were fighting the Shredder, Master Splinter took a major hit," said Mikey. "For me."

"Raph," Dante shouted. "Being angry about it isn't helping anyone. And Mikey, don't blame yourself for what happened. You would have done the same."

"Yeah, but I still feel so crummy about it."

"And when we looked for him after the fight, he just wasn't there," said Donny.

"I've been scanning the police band for anything like a giant rat sighting," said April. "Nothing."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the police aren't going to find a man-sized rat running around the streets," said Dante. "Even in an injured state, Master Splinter would never expose himself."

"So we should be out there looking for him," said Raph impatiently.

"We have been, Raph, but Master Splinter could be anywhere," said Leo. "How do you search an entire city?"

"One block at a time," said Raph as he took his sai blades out of the punching bag they were stabbed in.

"One block at a- Raph, do you know how large New York City is," Dante shouted. "There's no way we can cover that much ground!"

"Only if we sit here doing nothing!"

"Raph, not a good time for the hothead thing," said Mikey.

"The Battle Shell's a couple hours away from being street-ready after the beating it took," said Donny. "We could cover more ground."

"It's okay," said Leo. "Go blow off some steam, Raph. Maybe you'll find something out there."

"Count on it," growled Raph as he cracked his knuckles.

"I'm coming with you," said Dante, only to be pushed down by April.

"No," she said. "You're still recovering from your wounds."

"But, I have to go," Dante insisted. "Someone has to keep an eye on him!"

"Stay here," Raph said.

Dante sat down and folded his arms. "Hypocrite," he muttered as he watched Raph leave.

"Hey, I can tell there's something bothering you," said April. "And it's not your injuries."

"It's those kids," Dante replied. "The ones that obeyed that Dr. Nathalie Xavier woman. The Foot Sleepers."

"I can't believe the Shredder brainwashed a bunch of kids," April said in disbelief.

"It's not just that," said Dante, getting scared by the second. "Something about them looked familiar. And the way the Shredder said I was programmed by her..."

"Forget about it," said Mikey. "He probably said that to mess with you."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right," said Dante with a smile. Still, he couldn't help but wonder...

Meanwhile, Raph was running the rooftops and searching the city. He was still angry at the others' inaction, grumbling to himself, "Sit around talking all night." He jumped down to hitch a ride on top of a truck. As he looked down an alley, he spotted a familiar shadow. "Master Splinter?" He jumped off the truck and onto a bus in order to go back to where he saw the shadow. He leaped into the alley and ran over to the shape, but to his disappointment and anger, it was just a pile of garbage. He roared to the sky, "MASTER SPLINTER! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Retuning to the rooftops, Raph heard a noise down below. Curious, he looked down and saw, in an alleyway, men in suits carrying flashlight. "Hello. What do we have here?" These men were clearly looking for something. Or someone.

One of the men, a bald-headed man with a read goatee and wearing a red suit and sunglasses, said, "Hurry it up and find him. The boss needs this tied up tonight if he's gonna make his bid for the top. And when the boss moves up, we all move up."

Raph leaped down into the alley and ducked behind some garbage cans. He watched as the men walk away and then the lid of a dumpster opens slightly and a boy wearing a New York Mets baseball shirt and hat peeked out. Raphael gasped. The kid looked just as young as Dante! Was HE what these creeps were looking for?

"Need I remind youse what'll happen if we fails to recapture our quarry," the goatee man asked. "Find him!"

"He ain't here," one of the mobsters said.

"Then try the next alley."

When the men moved away, the boy slowly started to raise the dumpster's lid, much to Raph's horror. He whispered, "No, kid! Stay down!" Too late. The boy caused a lamp to fall over and break. The sound of footsteps made him duck back into the dumpster. The mobsters ran back into the alley and the goateed man said, "Come out, come out, wherever youse are."

The boy shifted the lid again. "No, kid, no. Stay down," whispered Raph.

But the mobsters had already surrounded the dumpster. "Time to stop playing hide and seek, kid," said the goateed man.

Enough was enough. Raph came out of hiding, bouncing off the top of the dumpster to confront the mobsters. "How's about it's your turn to hide?"

The kid saw this and whispered, "Whoa."

"I'll give ya' three," said Raph as he twirled his sai blades. "One..."

"Wrong time of the year for Halloween, freak," said the goateed man.

"Two..."

"Okay, boys. Time to peel this guy out of his monster suit."

"THREE!" Raphael attacked, barreling his way through the mobsters with little effort and took them down one by one, much to the goateed man's shock and the boy's amazement. "Next? Don't be shy, boys. There's plenty for everybody."

"What are you," the goateed man asked, afraid.

"I am Green Vengeance," answered Raph.

"Green Vengeance? What?" The goateed man and one of his cronies glanced at each other, confused.

"All right, never mind. Don't like green, huh? How about black and blue?"

"G...Get him!"

Two mobsters rushed at him with pipes. Raphael kicked one and swung a door into the second's mobster's face just as he rushed at him. Three more mobsters advanced toward Raph, who noticed they were just underneath a neon business sign. Raphael threw his sais, breaking off the bolts anchoring the sign to the wall. It fell, slamming all three mobsters to the ground. As Raph bent down to pick up his weapons, the mobsters took off running. "Oh, no. Let's book!"

Raph grinned and said, "Come on, we're just getting started."

As the mobsters ran off, the goateed man hid from behind an alley and made a phone call. "Boss, we got us a problem."

In his office, the boss, a man with short brown hair and wearing a white suit, spoke on the phone. "Just tell me you got the kid. ... What?! How many of them were there? ... One?! Hey, you listen, Weasel, and listen good. You get an army if you have to, but bring me that kid. There's a gang war coming now that the Shredder's out of the picture and nothing's gonna stand in my way. Nothing!"

Back in the alley, Raph approached the dumpster. "Kid, it's okay. I won't bite. I'm one of the good guys, honest." The boy climbed out and stared defiantly at Raph. "Come on, let's get you outta there. Don't be scared. What's your name?" The boy didn't respond. "Well?" And then the boy punched him in the face. Ow! Cute. Real cute. Now just calm down." He punched Raph again. "Ow! Man, I hate kids. Okay, so we're past the scared part." He punched Raph again. "Aah!" He tried to punch Raph again, but this time, he caught his fist. "So far, we're kid three, Raph zero, but that's gonna even up real quick if you don't keep your hands to yourself."

"What's your name, turtle," the boy demanded.

"Raphael. So, kid, what'd you do to tick off those goons?"

"Don't call me kid! I'm Tyler. I can handle this myself, turtle!"

Raph turned around and folded his arms. "Fine. Don't tell me. I'm in the middle of something else right now anyway. I'm just gonna get you to someplace safe, and then I'm outta here." The sound of retreating footsteps made him look over his shoulder and he saw Tyler was gone. "Oh, great. Just great!" Raph caught up up with Tyler; he didn't really get far. "You can't sneak away from a ninja, kid."

"Leave me alone!" Tyler snapped.

"And you can't go messing with those mob goons on your own. You're just a kid. You're gonna get hurt."

"I told you, don't call me kid! And you're not the boss of me!"

Raph got in Tyler's face. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh, yeah?!"

Raph dragged Tyler to the mouth of an alley where a police station was right across the street. "There's the police station. For obvious reasons, I can't go in there." He knelt down to Tyler's level and said, "Tell 'em where you live, and they'll get ya' home."

"But..."

"Get going! And no funny stuff. I'm right here watching."

He turned Tyler around. The kid looked both ways and crossed the street. He climbed the stairs and then looked back. Raph signaled him to keep going. Tyler opened the door and entered the police station. "Ah, kids," muttered Raph. "He reminds me of Dante a little." He turned to leave.

Tyler opened the door and peeked out. When he didn't see anyone, he left and ran down another alley...only for Raph to suddenly appear and grab the collar of his shirt and lift him up. The turtle had had enough. "Tell me what's going on with you, or I'm gonna keep taking you back all night. And I'm gonna get more honked off every time."

"All right! All right. Okay." Raph set Tyler down and he told his story. "It started today after school. I got my homework done, so my sitter let me watch my favorite movie of all time. Then my mom came home. She was real happy. She's a reporter, and she got a tape recording of a bad guy that was gonna put him in jail, and she was gonna be famous. But I guess the bad guys found out about the tape. And they wanted it real bad. But Mom knew they'd get rid of us if she gave it to 'em, so she didn't. They kidnapped us and took is to their car. She told me I had to be brave. She gave me the tape and told me to run. I promised I'd come back for her and ran, but those guys chased after me. And that's pretty much when you showed up."

"You're not making this up," asked Raph. "They really got your mom?"

"Yeah, and I'm going back and kick all their butts!"

"Bad idea. Look, kid—" Raph stopped when the boy scowled at him and he corrected himself. "Uh, Tyler. Look, if your story is true, I promise I'll get your mom out. But first, I gotta get you to a safe place."

"No way! You're not dumping me!"

"Oh, what does it take to get through to you? It's way too dangerous! You wanna get—" Raph stopped shouting when Tyler started to cry. "Oh." He face palmed and said calmly, "Look, Tyler, I...I know how you feel. My dad's missing. I...I was out there trying to find him when I found you."

"Really?"

"Really."

Suddenly, a voice said, "Aww, this is truly touching. Is the poor little freak missing his daddy?" It was Weasel, and his goons. "Hand him over, now."

"Come and get me, creepo," Tyler shouted. "I'll kick their butts! Hyah!" Raph hooked his shirt and pulled him back before he could attack.

The mobsters rushed Raph and he took them down. Weasel pulled a device from his pocket and activated it before throwing it directly at Tyler. The kid backed against a wall and Raph dove in front of him. The device exploded and when the smoke clears, Raph was on all fours, coughing and rubbing his stinging eyes. He stood up and looked around, but there was a problem. He wasn't able to look. "Kid, we got a problem. I can't see a thing!" The mobsters started to circle them, and Raph started to panic. "Kid, where are ya'? I'm dizzy and I can't see! I'm blind!"

"Right behind you," Tyler said.

Raph picked Tyler up and said, "I gotta get you outta here."

"If you run straight, there's a skinny guy dead ahead," Tyler whispered. Raph raced forward and the mobsters moved aside. "Whoa! Watch out! Turn that way!"

"Which way that way?" POW! Raph slammed his head into something hard.

"That was the wall," said Tyler.

"I needed to know that one second earlier."

"They're coming for us! Get going! Left! The other left!" With Tyler tucked under one arm, Raph ran with the mobsters right on his heels. Tyler spotted a fire escape and shouted, "Put your left hand up."

"Why," asked Raph.

"Just do it!"

"Just do it!"

Raph reached up and grabbed the fire escape. "Got it!"

"Climb," shouted Tyler, hopping onto Raph's back.

"Hang on, kid!" Raph said as he climbed up. When they reached the top, he asked, "Tyler, where's this thing bolted to the wall?"

"Here!" He took Raph's hand and guided it to the bolt. Raph inserted a sai under the bolt and said, "Okay, you go up first." Tyler climbed and Raph pulled at the bolt. The mobsters gasped when they saw what he was about to do. Raph managed to pry to bolt loose and then grabbed the ladder as the fire escape fell, taking the mobsters with it.

Weasel, who was down on the ground and watching the whole thing, shouted angrily, "Losers! Find another way up! They're getting away!"

Still carrying Tyler, Raph ran across rooftops. "Okay, keep going straight. There's a step coming up," said Tyler.

"Hey, Tyler, where you taking us, kid?" Raph asked as Tyler held his hand.

"Just a little further," said Tyler. He stopped to look over a roof's ledge while Raph sat down. He saw a building across the way and said, "This is it. This is the place where they got my mom."

"Okay," said Raph. "Tell me everything you see."

"I see a couple of goons whose butts I'm gonna kick!"

Raph grabbed Tyler before he could take off. "Whoa there, quick draw! You better take a breath and think before ya' act. You can't just go storming off like a hothead." Raph realized what he said. "Hey, listen to me. Hothead."

"What?" Tyler asked.

"Nah, just something my brothers were trying to tell me."

Tyler looked at the building again. He saw, through a window, a woman in a room tied to a chair. "Hey, Raph, look!"

"I can't look," Raph reminded him.

"There she is! It's Mom. I gotta get down there."

"Ty, wait up here! I'll—"

Tyler snapped at Raph, "I'm not waiting here! I can't. I promised her. I promised I'd come back for her! I promised."

Hearing himself in the boy, Raph said, "Okay, all right. But we do this together. You're gonna have to be my eyes. And no steering me into walls this time, right?"

"Yeah. Right."

"We gotta get our signals straight first. Here's what we do."

With Tyler clinging to his shell, Raph pushed open a window and climbed in. He dropped to the floor and then sniffed the air. "Good thing these guys wear a lot of aftershave." They tiptoe behind some boxes, and then Raph stepped out, catching the mobsters' attention. "My advice, give up now. Save yourselves a world of hurt."

The mobsters laughed, not intimidated by the threat. "Hey, I should thank you for making things so easy," said Weasel. "We just had to wait and you brought the kid right to us. We got him, boss!"

The boss stepped forward, taking off his jacket and putting on a pair of brass knuckles. "So this is the costumed freak who caused me so much trouble," he said as Raph approached him. "Do you know what I do to people who cause me trouble? I make 'em pay personally."

"Talk to me, kid," Raph asked Tyler. "Where is he?"

"You're blind as a bat," the boss laughed and punched Raph, sending him onto his back. Tyler pushed Raph up as the mobsters start cheering.

"Now, kid, now!" shouted Raph.

"Two o'clock!" Raph dodged a punch and kicked the boss in the stomach. He got back up and circled behind Raph. "Five o'clock!" Raph kicked the boss again. "Duck and roll!" Raph did so and kicked the boss in the back.

"Somebody shut that kid up!"

Weasel snuck up behind Tyler just as he said "Three o'clock!" and put a hand over his mouth. "Nice little game, but now we're playing blind man's bluff," Weasel said.

Raph looked around frantically. "Kid! KID!" The boss clobbered him with an uppercut which put him to the floor. The mobsters started cheering as Tyler struggled to free himself.

"All that karate stuff don't mean nothing if you can't see," said the boss.

"Kid, what's happening?" Raph shouted only to get the wind knocked out of him by the boss's fist. "This is so easy," he said as he punched Raph again.

Tyler bit Weasel's hand, freeing himself and shouting, "One o'clock!" Raph kicked the boss. "Seven o'clock!" Raph kicked and punched as Tyler shouted, "Three o'clock! One o'clock! One! One! One!" With that last kick, the boss landed on his back.

"Don't just stand there," Weasel shouted. "Get him!"

The mobsters rushed at Raph, but Tyler grabbed his hand and pulled Raph towards some crates. "Push these over!" Raph managed to dislodge the crates, making them fall on and into the path of the mobsters. Tyler once more led Raphael by his hand to a locked door. "I think they've got my mom in here, but there's a big lock on the door we have to break. Then we can—"

Raph stopped him. "Tyler, one sec." He got down on one knee so he could be at Tyler's eye level and said, "It might not be the best thing for your mom to see a big green turtle right now. You promised you'd come back for her. Now go ahead and get her, pal."

"But...what about you?"

"I'll follow you out. But remember, head straight for the police station."

"Got it!"

"Hey, we did pretty good for a couple of hotheads." Tyler smiled at that comment.

Meanwhile, the mobsters were moving the crates out of the way and Weasel shouted, "Hurry it up, you stupid dopes!"

Raph inserted his sai into the door lock and jimmied it open. He hid as Tyler rushed into the room to get his mother. "Mom!"

"Tyler," his mother exclaimed. "But how did you—"

"Later, Mom," said Tyler as he began to untie her. The mobsters were still moving the crates out of the way. Tyler freed her mom and urged her to run. "Come on, let's go!"

As soon as they were gone, Raph came out of hiding and rubbed his eyes. Then, he felt the stinging fade away as his vision became less and less blurry. With his sight back, he snuck up behind weasel and gave him a tap on the shoulder. "Well, if it ain't Mr. Blind, Green and Ugly!"

Raph growled at him, "You got some nerve talking about ugly, pal, wearing a tie like that."

Weasel looked down at his tie, then his eyes widened when he realized what that meant. "What? You can see?"

Raph smiled evilly and said, "I can see. Though looking at you, I'm already kind of missing the blind thing." He grabbed Weasel and threw him into the crates causing them to fall on him and the other mobsters. The sight of this made Raph laugh.

From the rooftop, Raph watched Tyler and his mother approach the police station with the tape recorder in hand. Tyler paused to look up and smile at Raph, who smiled back before retreating. The pair then entered the police station.

Raph returned to the lair where Dante was the first to greet him. "Raph, where have you been?"

"I needed time to clear my head and...let's just say I made a new friend. Someone you would have liked, Dante."