Ace
reporter of Channel 3 Eyewitness News April O'Neil is hot on
the trail of a huge crime wave occuring in New York City. Apparently,
the NYPD isn't doing much to obtain any leads as to who is behind
the crime spree. April has a few leads of her own. As she reports,
we see several instances where teenagers pick pockets and
After
leaving work one night, April is attacked by teenage thugs robbering
the staton's mobile unit news vans. As she is struggling to
escape their clutches, a three-pronged dagger flies at the street
lamp shrouding the vicinity in total darkness. We hear thuds,
whacks, groans, and finally a police car siren. Some citizens
of New York had actually saved April from being mugged, and
gift-wrapped the burglers for the police... but they were nowhere
to be found. April notices the one trace of evidence to follow
to her heroes -- a Japanese martial arts dagger -- a sai. A
pair of angry masked eyes stare at her from beneath a manhole
cover.
In
the sewers, four teenage reptilian crime-fighters are reveling
in the success of their first battle. All except one. Raphael,
the temperamental do-gooder lost one of his weapons in the battle.
Nonetheless, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are now open for
business!
As
they enter their lair, they approach their mentor -- a humanoid
rat by the name of Splinter. "we just had our first battle,
Master Splinter," explains Leonardo the unofficial leader
of the group. "Were you seen?" Splinter questions.
The answer is no. He goes on to deliver a depth of insight of
how the outside world would never understand who and what they
are. Meanwhile, Michaelangelo, the playful friendly and fun-loving
teen gets on the horn to order some pizzas. Splinter continues
saying that he will not be with them much longer, so they should
be prepared for whatever happens. They should learn the mysterious
powers of mind over matter and to be able to break free from
the binds of a physical body. "I suggest we all meditate
on the events of this evening," he says.With that, the
Turtles blare the song "Tequila" and begin their "meditation."
Raph, still upset over losing his sai, decides to break from
the group and see a movie.
Later
on, Donatello, the gadget-guy intellectual of the team asks
Michaelangelo if he gave any more thought to Splinter's words.
Evading the thought of life without their father, Mikey explains
that the pizza deilvery guy's time is up, and that the pizza
is now three dollars cheaper.
The
disguised Raphael comes out of the movie with a look of disgust.
"Where do they come up with this stuff?!" As he walks
home, he witness a pedestrian being mugged. As the thieves run
from the scene, They cross Raph's path. He sticks out his foot
to trip the two youths, and warns them to return the purse or
else. They scramble and run off into the park.
As
they try to come to grips with what they just saw, another crime-fighter
comes into the scene. Casey Jones, a street-smart vigilante
wielding baseball bats and hocky sticks attacks the two unsuspecting
thugs. Raphael comes into the area just in time to stop Casey
from breaking the kids' faces. They run off as Casey deals with
Raphael. As they brawl, Casey sees Raphael's true identity,
and knocks him to the ground. He calls him a freak and runs
off.
When
Raphael returns home, he finds Splinter waiting for him in the
dark. He asks Raphael not to harbor so much anger. "Turned
inwards it is an unconquerable enemy." He explains that
Raphael is not being part of the team, and that all of them
will suffer. He also lets Raphael know that he is there for
him.
The
next day, April is getting ready for work as her boss Charles
Pennington confronts her about the incident in the parking lot.
Not wanting to deal with Charles saying in so many words that
she can't take care of herself, April asks his son Danny how
school is going. Apparently, it is going so well that Charles
has to take him everyday to make sure he goes. It seems Danny
has fallen with a bad element, and Charles is concerned over
the crime wave's impact on his son. As they speak in the other
room, Danny swipes 20 dollars from April's wallet.
April
also reveals to her boss that she has been getting information
from the Japanese American immigrants that the events are reminiscent
of a ninja crime wave in Japan years ago. The ninja clan was
known as The Foot. She plans on asking Police Chief Sterns about
the organization in her interview, but again Charles is worried
because apparently April is in Sterns' face so much that he
blames Charles. He even has the mayor breathing down Charles'
neck!
But
April pushes his buttons at the interview anyway. As the turtles
watch their damsel-in-distress on television, Raph feels it's
the perfect opportunity to get his weapon back. He waits for
April outside of City Hall. She confronts Sterns about the Foot
Clan, and apparently, there is another pair of eyes watching.
"Find her! Silence her!" the dark figure exclaims.
April's words and attitude anger Sterns, but she is undaunted
by his blown gasket. She takes off and heads into a nearby subway
station. Raphael follows her inside, but carefully hides himself.
April has just missed the train, and the station is deserted.
From nowhere, several men in ninja gear appear to deliver her
a message. "Shut it!" *SLAP* April gets into defense
mode and tries using the sai on her attackers, but they knock
it away. She begins flailing her handbag but is soon knocked
out by a back-hand. Raphael retrieves his sai and rushes the
ninjas. Soon, they are all knocked out, and Raphael takes unconscious
April to the Lair. But one ninja follows.
At
the lair, Splinter revives April. She is more than shocked at
what she sees, causing a terrible ruckus that spooks the turtles.
Splinter tries to calm her down, and begins by teeling her the
story of their origin.
15
years ago, while scavenging the sewer for food, Splinter --
an ordinary rat -- came across four baby turtles crawling in
a glowing green ooze. He gathered them in a coffee can and cleaned
them off. When he awoke the next morning, they had all doubled
in size. Over the next few weeks, they had all grown even in
intellect. He began training them and soon gave them all names:
Leonardo who wields the Katana blades, Raphael who sports a
pair of sai, Donatello master of the bo-staff, and Michaelangelo
who uses the whirling nunchaku.
The
turtles took April home and stayed for pizza. After they joked
around and got to know their new friend, the Turtles said goodnight.
Upon returning home, the Turtles found the lair ransacked and
their master gone. Not knowing what to do, they returned to
April's apartment for the evening.
That
evening, Danny was arrested, and Sterns played his cards just
right. In exchange for a leniency, Sterns would be guaranteed
that April O'Neil would not bother Chief Sterns anymore.
The
next morning, Charles and Danny paid a visit to April. As the
Turtles hid, Charles pleaded with April to drop the story for
a while, but April wouldn't budge. Meanwhile, Danny took note
of the strange things he was seeing in corners and mirror reflections.
Charles and Danny discussed his arrest on the way to school,
and Charles promised he would be punished when he got home.
At a red light, Danny got out of the car and headed to the Foot
hideout.
At
the hideout, the Foot Master, made his presence known. The Shredder
told his followers that they had a new threat -- freaks of nature
-- turtles! Danny spoke up about what he saw at the apartment.
April
was interviewed by a colleague at Channel 3. She explained the
details of the Foot Clan, and her mugging in the subway. She
also mentioned the lack of police involvement and the little
confidence she had in Chief Sterns. Immediately, he phoned the
station to harass Charles. April closed her interview by thanking
her rescuers, especially Raphael.
At
the apartment, the Turtles were watching the report, and commented
about Raphael getting praised on the air.Quickly, he changed
the subject to why they weren't out looking for Splinter. As
he and Leonardo fought over the details, Mike and Don went to
the kitchen for snacks. Raphael stormed out of the apartment
and went to the think on the roof.
Coincidentally,
Casey Jones was on the roof of a neighboring building and witnessed
the Turtle blowing off steam. He also saw that he was being
snuck up on.
When
April returned home from work, the Turtles thanked her for all
her help. She decided to give them a tour of her building which
included her late father's antique shop "Second Time Around."
Meanwhile Raphael was holding his own against a horde of masked
ninjas.He beat them off one by one, but they kept coming back.
Soon, they got the best of him and threw him through a skylight.
The others rushed to his side, discovering that he was barely
alive. They fought the masses of ninjas that flooded the apartment.
When the floor of the room was too weak to sustain the heavy
fighting, they all crashed into the shop below. Tatsu, the Shredder's
right-hand man lead the attack of more ninjas on the Turtles
and April. Finally, they had a little help; Casey Jones showed
up in time to help the brothers of his unconscious pal. As the
fighting continued, a spark ignited a rapidly growing fire.
Everyone scrambled to leave the building, and the Turtles, April,
and Casey escaped just in time. Danny overlooked the buring
building from down the street, teary-eyed.
They
headed to the country -- to April's family's old abandoned farm
house. Her van being unfixible after the long drive, April prepared
for a long walk to call her boss. Casey broke the news about
Charles calling after they had all got out of the building and
saying she was fired. April was appalled and upset, which sparked
bad-blood between her and Casey.
She
wrote of how each of the Turtles dealt with their losses. Leonardo
kept vigil over Raphael who still lay unconscious, Donatello
latched on to Casey Jones and fixing up things around the house.
She also described Casey's attitude -- "a nine year old
trapped in a man's body."
Raphael
pulled through, and the Turtles were reunited, more focused
on their training than ever. Leonardo shifted his attention
to meditating in order to contact Splinter through the astral
plane. He succeeded, and soon the Turtles joined to call on
Splinter's spirit. He said that they had passed the final lesson
by realizing that which brought him to them "love."
The
Turtles returned from their retreat, finding April and Casey
getting along more easily. They announced it was time to return
to New York.
Upon
returning, they found Danny Pennington camping out in their
trashed lair, not realizing that he was the one who lead the
Foot friectly to them. He looked at April's portfolio and asked
to keep a drawing. When he awoke from a disturbing dream that
night, he decided to return to Foot Headquarters -- but to visit
Splinter. Casey noticed and followed.
Splinter
decided to tell him the story of how he had come to New York.
His master Hamato Yoshi had been one of Japan's finest shadow
warriors. He was in love with a woman named Tang Shen, but a
man named Oruku Saki was also in love with her. Shen's love
was only for Yoshi, and Saki wouldn't have it. They fled to
the US to escape the wrath of Saki, who ultimately hunted them
down. Saki killed Shen and then Yoshi. In the struggle, Splinter's
cage was knocked down, freeing him. He leapt to Saki's face,
biting and clawing, but Saki threw him to the floor and sliced
off his ear with his katana.
Danny
asked whatever had become of Saki. Splinter told him that no
one really knew, but that Danny and his fellow misfits all wore
his symbol upon their brow. Realizing that the Shredder was
Saki, Danny removed his bandana, and threw it on the floor,
just in time for Shredder and Tatsu to find him. Shredder also
found April's drawing in Danny's pocket, and alerted that they
had returned, and that this time he would go himself. Tatsu
launched the attack, and Shredder gave the order to kill Splinter.
As
the Foot prepared for battle, Danny was ambushed by Casey who
asked what was going on. He told Casey that they were planning
to kill Splinter, and that they needed to free him. When they
freed Splinter, Tatsu and the unoffocial Foot were ready to
fight. At first Tatsu had the upperhand, but Casey got the better
of him, and made the others realize that they were looking for
family in the wrong place. They escaped.
Meanwhile,
the Turtles had prepared for the onslought of Foot. They fought
hard and sent the Foot running. The fighting moved atop a nearby
building, where the Shredder made his appearance at last. The
Turtles fought fiercely, but he was too skilled for them. He
captured Leonardo and threatened that if they wanted him to
live, they should throw down their weapons. They did so, but
Shredder decided to kill Leonardo anyway. As he was about to
kill him, Splinter appeared on the roof.
Splinter
told Shredder that he knew who he was, and that they had met
many years ago in the home of his master Hamato Yoshi. Shredder,
enraged, took off his mask to reveal a scarred face. He rushed
to spear Splinter. Calmly, Splinter took Michaelangelo's fallen
nunchaku from his robe and whirled it around Saki's spike. Saki
flipped over Splinter and over the ledge of the building. He
grasped the spear tightly as it was entangled in the strap of
the nunchaku that Splinter held.
"Death
comes for us all, Oruku Saki. But something worse comes for
you. For when you die, it shall be -- " Splinter's words
were cut off as Saki reached into his belt to retrieve a throwing
dagger. He threw it at Splinter who had to release the nunchaku
to catch it. Shredder fell to his demise into the back of a
garbage truck. "-- without honor." Casey made sure
the job was done by turning on the compacting mechanism in the
truck.
The
Turtles welcomed back their mentor and watched as the police
and media arrived down below. Sterns ordered that the police
bring in as many of the punks that they could get, and arrest
anyone in ninja dogis. Charles pleaded with April to have her
back on the news team to cover the story. He promised her a
corner office and better pay, so she accepted. Danny reunited
with his father and reimbursed April with a 20, and told his
dad that he would prefer to be called just "Dan."
Casey
found April, "Oh hi, Casey." "Hi? I look like
I just called Mike Tyson a sissy and all you can say is 'Hi?'"
"Casey, just shut up and kiss me!" and soon they were
kissing -- the Turtles not far above shouting in approval.
"We
were awesome!"
"Bodacious!"
"Bitchin'!"
"Mega..."
Splinter
comments, "I have always liked 'Cowabunga!'"
"COWABUNGA!"
"Hahaha!
I made a funny!"
