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

Chapter 12: Freddy's Revenge

Jake halted awkwardly at the doors of the workshop as the sentry turned to look at him. His gaze faltered as he spoke to his comrade. "Uh... I just need to... I forgot something in there, OK..." After a suspicious moment, the other ninja nodded him past.

As he went in, hurriedly pulling the mask over his face, Jake became aware of a creaking sound which abruptly stopped as April looked up to watch him warily.  A sound like... well, like a wooden chair and rope under stress. He was strangely pleased that she wasn't accepting her captivity meekly, though he still felt bad about his part in putting her in this situation.

Jake moved over to a work bench, and started awkwardly moving objects around, trying to look busy. He could feel April's eyes on him, glaring at him accusingly. Or was that just his imagination? Eventually, when he finally had the nerve, he moved over to her.

"Uh... You OK?" he asked hesitantly. Her eyes wide with surprise, April glanced to either side. He was talking to her. Wasn't he...?

"No, no, sorry..." Jake continued. "Of course not. Look... I'm sorry about this, OK? I didn't want to bring you here."

April considered this Foot ninja carefully - He was one of the two bogus cops turned angle grinder operators... What was going on here? Was this some weird interrogation technique? Bad cop, good cop, nervous conflicted cop? Only without the good cop part? And the really being a cop at all part? Well, if the Foot wanted to interrogate her that might at least mean-

-"I wish I could do something..."

"Mmm-mmmmmm-mfff...?" A horizontal crease formed in the shiny silver strip as April mumbled pleadingly through her gag, and Jake looked troubled by the kidnapped reporter's plaintive suggestion.

"Uh, I'm sorry, I really can't do that," he said regretfully. "But if it was up to me, you wouldn't be all..." Jake broke off. "Yeah, so, I'm sorry. Just thought you should, um, know..."

April continued to look at him blankly, and Jake wished he could take the tape off her mouth, but Matt hadn't been wrong about the consequences of that - A Foot ninja did not take Master Tatsu's commands lightly, even when he wasn't around.

"No, you're right," he continued, more decisive now. "That's no help at all. Look, uh... Just forget I was here, OK?" Pulling the mask over his face again, Jake hurried out of the workshop, leaving April more than a little confused...

Was it something I said...?

***

Nice apartment. It wasn't the first time that thought had crossed Irma's mind, since she and Donatello had arrived at April's, but if a truth is worth expressing it's probably worth expressing again. She looked round the large open-plan space and tried not to compare it with her own tiny lodgings.

Also, when it came to her place, she spared not a thought for the regular teeth-rattling tremors caused by passing trains. Or the damp patch. Or the neighbors shrieking at 3am. Or... No. She didn't think about any of those things at all.

"I think, uh..." Turning to Donatello, she wondered just how to say what had to be said. There was no need. It looked like he was on the same page.

"Yeah, I know," he said, downcast. "They're not coming, are they? Something's gone wrong..." He hopped down from the tall chair he had settled on when Irma had finally persuaded him to stop pacing. "Let's go."

"Go where?"

"I, uh, I'll think about that on the way..."

As Irma followed him toward the window, she heard the quiet murmur of the switched-on TV back there in the sitting area. Hey, it might not be that important in the big scheme of things, but it would be a waste of electricity to leave it switched on. She scampered down the couple of steps, poised to switch it off, and stayed there for several seconds, mouth open in surprise at what she saw.