The Manhattan Project, Part 1

The Manhattan Project, Part 1 is the thirty-ninth episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series). It was aired as a one hour special on March 14, 2014. Although the episode was released over a week and a half early on March 2, 2014 on Nick.com

Synopsis
Leonardo considers asking Splinter for help while facing Shredder's new assassin called Tiger Claw. Meanwhile, Donnie must put aside his rivalry with Casey in order to uncover a Kraang plot.

Major Characters

 * April O'Neil (Mae Whitman)
 * Casey Jones (Josh Peck)
 * Donatello (Rob Paulsen)
 * Fishface (Christian Lanz)
 * Karai (Kelly Hu)
 * Kraang (Nolan North)
 * Kraathatrogons
 * Leonardo (Jason Biggs)
 * Michelangelo (Greg Cipes)
 * Rahzar (Clancy Brown)
 * Raphael (Sean Astin)
 * Shredder (Kevin Michael Richardson)
 * Splinter (Hoon Lee)
 * Tiger Claw (Eric Bauza)

Minor Characters

 * Biotroids
 * 1987 TV series April (Cameo)
 * 1987 TV series Casey (Cameo)
 * 1987 TV series Donatello (Cameo)
 * 1987 TV series Leonardo (Cameo)
 * 1987 TV series Michelangelo (Cameo)
 * 1987 TV series Raphael (Cameo)
 * Baxter Stockman (Phil LaMarr)
 * Carlos Chang O'Brien Gambe (Jim Meskimen)
 * Foot-Bots

Plot Synopsis
This episode opens with Karai, several Foot-Bots, and Rahzar tracking down the Turtles and pausing to spy on them from behind a billboard. Rahzar then comments that The Shredder did not authorize or send for Karai's little operation, but Karai is quick to remind him that she is the one in charge while her father is having his little 4-month sojourn in Japan. She then goes on to tell him that, if they actually manage to defeat the terrapins this time, they might both get some credit for once. The villains then quickly confront our unsuspecting heroes and engage them in a pretty large fight. The Foot-Bots attack Raph, while Rahzar manages to busy both Mikey and Donnie with his unprecedented detachable claws. Meanwhile, Leonardo engages in a duel with Karai, as he frequently does during many of their encounters. Leo also views this as what is the perfect time to tell her about the true circumstances - How the Shredder is not her father, but that Splinter actually is her true, biological father, and that her actual name is Miwa - but Karai purposely chooses to act heedless to all of this and says that the only thing she's interested in is for Leonardo to beg for his own, dear life. Suddenly, an earthquake interrupts the two's conversation and catches all of them off-gaurd. Leo is able to quickly push Karai out of harm's way, but a nearby tower then literally falls right next to him...

The others quickly make haste to free Leonardo and they discover that he is fairly okay - but, as it turns out, the villains have already escaped from the scene, which upsets Leo alot, as he could've potentially changed everything by talking with Karai one on one. Back in the lair, Donnie is showing the others where the epicenter of all of the earthquakes seems to be - and that the recent earthquakes have been occuring in such a pattern that some form of Technology may very well be responsible for each and every one of of them. Elsewhere, Leonardo then approaches his sensei, informing him that he tried to tell Karai about the truth in an attempt to get her to venture over to their side, perhaps for a change. First, Splinter says that it could prove to be a danger to run his mouth, but he then commends him, saying that his heart is precisely in the correct place -- and he begins to think that it is just about time that she knew the truth. Leo also suggets that he should tell the others, so he does just that, explaining to Donnie, Raph and Mikey that fury turned to flame is ultimately what caused the Shredder to take Miwa away on that day and raise her as an elite assassin that would be deployed by the Foot, to which she lost the majority of her rectitude and sanity. The three brothers seem to have a very hard time believing this (and that Karai is their sister in a way), and Splinter understands them all too well. He then says that the truth must be revealed to her somehow - and that, it too, will have the repercussions of something similar to an earthquake.

Meanwhile, at Shredder's hideout, Karai, the two Mutants, and Baxter Stockman are all discussing when the Shredder will possibly be back with his new 'secret weapon'. Bradford then says that all he's heard is that the preposed 'secret weapon' was originally a child that got mutated by the Kraang many decades ago. Soon, the automatic door suddenly opens and, as the Shredder proudly enters, all of the Foot-Bots there arrange themselves and bow in unison. As The Shredder walks by Bradford (Rahzar), he swivels his head, and comments that he looks quite terrible. He then promptly walks up to his throne and sits on it, telling his men that he has just found a brand new lackey - "The most feared/revered warrior in all of Asia", in his eyes. Then, a menacing Mutant tiger (Tiger Claw) comes in right after him. All of the others seem to be rather stunned to see such a menacing-looking beast --- and Karai then coldly asks why The Shredder enlisted yet another freak, which the Mutant does not take kindly to. Karai then notices the little stub of a tail on the tiger's back and asks where he got it from. The Mutant is then quick to explain that he had lost his tail in a tough duel - and one day, he will find that very person who took it and make them pay dearly. The Shredder then tells Karai to try to treat her new ally with alot of respect, for he is Saki's brand new second-in-command. Karai becomes shocked when she hears this, saying that she earned that very position fair and square. Shredder then immediately tells Tiger Claw to try to find and capture both Splinter and the Turtles as well, commanding Karai to follow Tiger Claw's every instruction if necessary.

Elsewhere, April and Casey are exploring the rooftops in the city, while also keeping a sharp eye out for any occuring crime. However, April then hears and spots the Kraang down in a secluded alley way. They are all in a single file line stepping into some type of portal, one by one. The two then jump down, and they engage the very last one that is about to enter. While Casey acts as a diversion, April slices the exo-suit in half with her Tessen and Casey then hits the creature itself, causing it to hit a wall and it then crawls away. April then instinctively presses one of three buttons on the portal, which causes the device to dissipate and the little piece of Tech then falls to the ground. April remarks that they should bring it back to Donnie for him to investigate. Casey then asks what's keeping them from bringing it to an actual laboratory, but April responds that Donnie is suprisingly advanced. In the sewer lair, Donnie inspects the Tech and April then shows him the button to activate/deactivate the portal. Donnie is immediately intrigued by it, as expected. Raph then instantly jumps directly into it, also prompting Casey, April and Donnie to all join him. Mikey joins them as well, and thus, Leo is reluctantly forced to do so as well. Right after they go through, however, another earthquake makes Donnie’s lab rattle a little bit. Some falling debris hits the portal and causes it to deactivate itself, leaving all of them stuck on the other side.

Upon entering, everyone is greatly intrigued by the countless number of portal doorways and the suprisingly impressive views of what seem to be a variety of other dimensions. They then look into different portals to see an array of different dimensions. They even actually see the 1987 versions of the Turtles, Casey, and April in one of the portal views. They then spot one of the many portals there going back to Dimension X, the infamous home of the Kraang. However, a few large Bio-droids appear in front of it and exit out of the doorway, starting to aggressively attacking the Turtles. They prove to be a challenge (just like they were in "The Mutation Situation"). However, the entire team effectively works together to destroy several of the pugnacious droids, but the last remaining one manages to knock Mikey, Leonardo, and Raph through a portal. One floating Kraang then makes the portal disappear with an odd remote, but before the remaining trio can get their hands on it, the Kraang tosses it through another doorway!!! Meanwhile, the others are zapped back to New York City and land in a dumpster. They are fairly relieved that they are back in their home town, but Raph is upset that the others are still stuck back there. Meanwhile, both Tiger Claw and Karai are sitting on a nearby rooftop, and luckily for them, the Turtles happen to soon walk by and Tiger Claw reminds Karai of their plan, before jumping down and stopping the Turtles in their very tracks.

After promptly introducing himself, Tiger Claw begins firing his two modified revolvers at the Turtles. He is suprisingly powerful and the Turtles find themselves overwhelmed by both him and his artilery VERY quickly. So, Mikey advises that they should to take to the high ground and they end up doing just that, but Tiger Claw pursues them with the use of his jetpack.

Meanwhile, Casey, April, and Donnie manage to both grab and push the very last Bio-droid through one of the portals to Dimension X. However, several Kraang (who are simultaneously forcing an odd worm creature through an exit with a bunch of stunners) express that they are fully aware of the threesome spying on them - and so they send another large squad of ordinary Kraang droids through a portal to confront them. The Kraang then command the trio to simply surrender, much to the latters' total reluctance. They then take them into a random New York City subway through a portal.

Meanwhile, the Turtles are still immersed in quite a tough battle against Tiger Claw. In the chaos, Raph is easily pinned down with a net that Tiger Claw shoots from one of his weapons -- and all of them are subsequently incapicated for a brief moment. Tiger Claw thus uses this moment to seize hold of the bottom of Mikey's leg and picks him up, threatening to drop him down a very long chimney (that was seemingly wrecked by one of the several earthquakes). The other three brothers gape in shock when they see their little brother about to be killed. Obviously, Leo would never allow this to happen and demands to be given a choice of some sort. Leo is then given the opportunity to 'summon' his Master Splinter for some assistance. Leo clearly knows that it's a trap for his sensei, but he has little care at this point.

In the lair, Splinter answers his son's urgent phone call and tells him that he will be on his way very shortly. Meanwhile, Tiger Claw has already tied up the four Turtles, and, having suffered through plenty of patience in his lifetime, he claims that their lives will end here and now. He then very slowly begins pushing them towards the chimney opening, with Mikey apologizing to Raph for eating his brother's very last slice of Pizza earlier....Just when all seems lost, Splinter arrives on the scene and demands his sons to be let free. Tiger Claw then begins firing his inimitable weapon at Splinter, who dodges all of the attacks. Splinter then jumps down to where Tiger Claw is below, but the latter easily moves out of the way by using his jetpack. While being shot at, Splinter weaves through the blasts and is then able to toss some pieces of brick right towards Tiger Claw. This actually does knock the latter off-balance for a second, but he then takes his large sword out of it's holster and claims that he will now slice Splinter into nothing but bite-sized morsels....

Meanwhile, April, Casey, and Donnie are still being lead by the Kraang to go somewhere (which is completely unkown). Casey then falsely says that the Kraang mentioned feeding them something, but April corrects that they probably mentioned feeding them to something earlier. Casey, unwilling to have such a thing happen to him, decides to make an abrupt move and defeats one of the Kraang droids right behind himself. April and Donnie then both join in on the action as well -- and Donnie manages to hit a nearby sewer wheel with his staff, causing a bunch of gas to immobolize and incapacitate all of the droids. They then successfully escape through a door (which Casey uses a cricket bat to bar), which leads the three into a large and wide, yet short tunnel. At the very end of the tunnel, four gargantuan creatures, along with a bunch of Kraang come into their view. April then quickly takes note of the fact that the Kraang are seemingly 'milking' one of the giant worms for Mutagen!!!! And Donnie quickly comes to the conclusions that these imported creatures are what have been causing the quakes and that this is exactly where the Mutagen comes from - and the idea obviously disgusts each and every one of them. However, unbeknownst to them at first, a smaller worm is actually sitting right behind April and it alerts the Kraang of their presence. The Kraang then release one of the larger creatures (which are known as 'Kraathatrogons') and it quickly begins to attack Donnie, April and Casey at once.

Meanwhile, dozens upon dozens of ninja shurikens and other weapons are being thrown at one another within Splinter and Tiger Claw's duel. Tiger Claw then disarms Splinter and lets loose yet another net out of his gun, but Splinter manages to leap over it and he then catches it, throwing it right back towards Tiger Claw. Tiger Claw easily evades this, but Splinter then seizes his sword and then starts slowly pushing him backwards towards the very edge of the building. Master Splinter then aims the sword directly at Tiger Claw, intent on finishing him off, but, just out of sight, Karai is holding a blowgun in her hands and she fires a dart right out of it, managing to hit Splinter right in the back of the throat. At first, Splinter merely tugs it out and examines it briefly, but he then begins to loose his balance and he falls over, sprawled on the ground. Karai herself then makes an appearance and stands over him, and all that Splinter can possibly say is "MIWA...", before falling unconscious. She then turns her attention to a desperate Leonardo, whom tells her to spare her real father's life. However, a very cantankerous Karai views this only as a way to get Splinter in the clear - but Leo tries to assure her that it's not. Having heard enough of him, Karai then raises her sword and prepares to deal the finishing blow to him....

To be continued...

Trivia

 * The title used in television listings for this episode, as well as on nick.com, is "Wormquake!". However, both Pt. 1 & 2  in-show title is "The Manhattan Project".
 * The Manhattan Project was the research and development project that developed the first atomic bombs for use in World War II. It is also the subtitle of the third TMNT NES video game.
 * The episode released a week early (March 2, 2014) on official distributors for the series, including nick.com
 * When the gang was looking through the portal to Dimension X, the screen shot was reversed as April's bangs were swung to the left side instead of the right.
 * A sneak preview for this episode was revealed in the 2013 NYCC.
 * Rahzar uses his spike throwing ability for the first time.
 * Kirby Bat appears on a Paranormal news magazine, it's also a reference to the infamous "Bat Boy" article in the defunct Weekly World News magazine.
 * A new version of the opening sequence was shown in this episode, with new mutants like Rahzar, Tiger Claw, Mutagen Man, Slash and the Newtralizer in the "the bad guys lose" segment.  The Rat King was removed from the opening, but oddly Metalhead is still there, a non-mutated Slash still rests on Raph's shoulder, and Mutagen Man isn't frozen. And Instead of being shown fighting the Kraang the turtles use their grappling guns instead. This marks the third version of the opening sequence in the series so far.

Errors

 * The entire scene where Shredder is trying to finish of Splinter, Baxter's mutagen collar is gone.

Gallery
The Manhattan Project/Gallery