So Good To Be Bad [Donatello]

Chapter 41

The minute April said those words, Vern knew she had him. He muttered under his breath for a moment about how crazy this new idea was, yet he hung up to grab a jacket and the all-important Key to the City. Luckily it was the weekend. The security guards at the desk easily allowed him into the building up to Baxter's private lab. Without an escort. Unfortunately, another guard stood at the door, but the cameraman easily turned on the charm. Vern managed to get him to leave in search of a cup of coffee with a promise to wait patiently for Dr. Stockman to arrive. For a special meet-and-greet.

The second the guard disappeared, he searched for a hidden camera that may have captured the whole incident at TCRI that April was accused of. The real version.

"Come on, Vern, you're a cameraman," he muttered to himself. "Where would you hide..."

His eyes landed on a clock high up on the wall.

"Bingo."

The compartment to the small device was hidden in an electrical box directly under the item of interest. He inputted a USB Donatello gifted him for his birthday and downloaded all the contents.

The officers at the front desk of Police Headquarters greeted the cameraman like an old friend. And wondered what brought him around again so soon. An officer led him to the upper levels in search of the Bureau Chief, the woman escorting him pointing to a blonde woman in the open room.

"Chief Vincent?" he questioned. She turned away from Jade to study him in a questioning manner. "I'm Vern Fenwick. You might know me as 'The...' Doesn't matter. Listen. You need to see this."

The man handed over the USB.

"Upload this," the woman instructed an officer at their computer. "What am I looking for?"

"The same footage that Baxter Stockman altered to frame April O'Neil."

Her brows narrowed as to how he knew that information. No one knew the reporter was here in the building. They scrolled through the footage that wasn't out of the ordinary in any way. Just a few shots of Baxter coming and going from the facility. Until a group of individuals arrived on the same night. Individuals not on the recording she possessed in the database. The Foot Clan. Karai. Bebop. Rocksteady. And Shredder. April and Casey told the truth, much to her irritation. The old footage had been flawless when checked over by their team. The criminals bested her and the department.

"Get me April O'Neil and Casey Jones," Bureau Chief Vincent ordered. An officer nodded and left for interrogation.

"You're gonna want to watch this part," Vern pointed out.

Bebop and Rocksteady transformed before their very eyes into beastly creatures, different from the turtles that broke into their facility. Now they weren't just hunting down human individuals. The department needed to figure out a way to arrest and bring in beings three times their size, which displayed incredible strength.

April and Casey arrived right as the audio spoke, "Hey, Rock, who's that?"

The reporter rushed into the frame, the second individual still just out of sight of facial recognition. April ripped the purple ooze vial from the machine, before the Foot Clan gave chase to retrieve it. The woman looked between her suspects. If they were right in regards to this incident, then when it came to the turtles...

"Let them go," she instructed. Then to Vern added, "Thank you, 'Falcon'."

She walked away to try and figure out the next course of action to handle the escaped convicts. "Uh, Chief," Casey spoke up. He uncomfortably handed over the stolen phone. "You might need this."