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

Chapter 23: Rap Up

There was something he had forgotten. Bryan Bryant adjusted his tie for the fifth time since he had put it on. He was a nervous public speaker – he knew that – but he always seemed to manage to pull it together. This time, for whatever reason, it felt different.

There was something he had forgotten. Bryan stepped up to the microphone. The press and dignitaries were assembled. His notes were in front of him. He knew what he was doing. He believed in his program. He was confident it was what the city needed. All the same...

At the back, near one of the exits, Chief Sterns stood with the Deputy Mayor.

"Yeah, he's a good kid. Look, Chief, I wanted to say thanks. I can tell you, your predecessor wouldn't have kept digging the way you did, and that kid would be facing a custodial sentence... It wasn't looking good there, for a while."

"Well, you know... There was something about that I never bought anyway. And to tell you the truth, I understand all that technical mumbo jumbo proving him innocent about as much as I understood the incriminating stuff... But my tech guys assure me, whoever made off with all that money it wasn't him."

"It's good that it's turned out that way. You know, it's silly, maybe, but I got a feeling about that young man. The sky's the limit, it's like the stabilizers came off him the last couple'a days... He'll have my job one day, and then who knows... Maybe someday... President?"

"Have you been reading my mind...? I was thinking the same thing... Huh. What about that?"

"Yeah... Huh."

There was something he had forgotten. Bryan felt confused, sluggish, like he was carrying in his head the weight of something vast and unfathomable and... Inaccessible. He stepped up to the microphone. If he delayed starting his speech any longer, the crowd in front of him would think there was something wrong.

Yet, of course, that couldn't be further from the truth.

There was something he had forgotten. He made one last effort to remember. Never mind. It probably wasn't anything important.

The Rat King, imprisoned in the recesses of his mind, slept...

Bryan cleared his throat. "Good morning..." One particular face in the audience caught his eye, and again he lost his train of thought... A long solemn, deeply-lined face.

He blinked and looked again. Nothing there.

For now.

***

"...And with dawn this morning, perhaps it's not too much of a stretch to say, there's a new optimism..."

Microphone in hand, bathed in the weak early-morning Fall light, April was back in her comfort zone. "The people of New York have looked another crisis square in the face, and we're all still here... and with City Hall having just now revealed its broad plans for a wide-ranging program of refurbishment of New York's infrastructure, maybe we're standing on the brink of a new era for our city...

And, let's not forget, the events of the past few days have shown us that if you find yourself in trouble 'round here, you're not alone. Next time anybody tells you superheroes are a fantasy, the stuff of comic books, you can go right ahead and tell them, I'm from New York. We got ourselves the Turtles..."

She smiled into camera. "This is April O'Neil, for Channel 3 News, at City Hall. Have a very good day. I think we've all earned it."

***

Irma took the mic and headed to the back of the van to pack it away. April followed and leaned into the vehicle to talk to her. "What do you think so far, Irma? Is this the life for you?"