Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Day of the Rat (A 90s Movies Story)

Chapter 8: Rendezvous With Irma

The Turtles made their plans. "OK. Two priorities," said Leonardo. "Rescue April. Find Master Splinter, find out what's going on."

"Well, April's gotta be first," said Raphael.

"I dunno, Raph, if Splinter wanted us back here enough to call off that big plan of his"-

-"You think we should leave April with the Foot? Yeah, great plan, Donny, I'm sure she'll be just fine. I bet they're having coffee and... cupcakes right now, I bet she's having a swell time."

"I didn't say that," said Donatello, genuinely hurt.

"Look..." Leonardo cut in. "Donny's lost his staff. I think he should go back home for a spare, and find out what the deal is from Master Splinter. The rest of us find April, and then the four of us meet up and rescue her."

"Leo-!" Raphael might have been about to say something scathing, but the look on his brother's face stopped him.

"Look, guys, I gotta be honest, if any of you have any better ways of going on with this, I wanna hear 'em. I really hope you do. I'm just coming up with a plan as best I can, here..."

The others all nodded. Raphael patted Leonardo's arm in non-verbal apology.

***

"Bring her forward!"

With an insistent hand pressed flat against her back, April had to clamber awkwardly over the rough ground of the yard to avoid stumbling. Something she really didn't want with her hands still tied.

"Master Tatsu welcomes you to our humble abode, Miss O'Neil." That was the one standing on Tatsu's right, masked like the others, his voice American, sardonic and strangely familiar... Freddy. Her short-lived assistant. The spy.

"Hi..." Smiling nervously, April was glad her voice didn't let her down and alert them to how scared she really was. "Uh... He must be a really quiet talker. I didn't hear anything." One good thing - no Shredder. Looked like Leo was right about that, but the ominous-looking Tatsu wasn't much less scary.

"Well, the Foot Clan is an ancient organization. Its protocol is complex, and often strange to outsiders." Freddy took off his mask and smiled at her, cold-eyed. "I speak for Master Tatsu."

"OK... Freddy... Long time no see... But, you know, not nearly long enough... So why have I been brought here...?"

"We would really like to talk to the remaining members of the Hamato clan, Miss O'Neil," he said, undaunted. "We thought you might be able to help us do that." Freddy's voice was mellow and reasonable-sounding, and it took a couple of seconds for April to catch on.

"The Turtles? You want to talk to the Turtles?" She couldn't conceal her astonishment at this. "That's talk, not fight...? Since when?"

He shrugged. "Circumstances have changed."

"Yeah..." April was tired of this, and decided to cut through it. "But I'm a hostage, right? It's just, something here is definitely giving me that vibe." She turned to show them the rope binding her wrists. "Maybe it's this!"

Freddy glanced sidelong at Tatsu, but the Foot Master just stood there, arms folded over his chest, his face giving away little.

"The whole tied up thing - Kinda cramping my style!" April impatiently moved forward a couple of paces toward them. Strong hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her back to her original spot, and she shot an annoyed glance behind her, wriggling in the Foot ninja's grip.

"You prefer to be straightforward. That's OK. But beware"- Freddy stopped as Tatsu leaned closer and said a few terse words, too quiet for April to hear, and she got the impression he was as tired of this as she was.