Parasitica

Parasitica is the 23rd episode of the 2012 TV series.

Its airdate was initially set for May 11, 2013, but was replaced with The Pulverizer Returns! An airdate was set in the UK for the episode, on June 15, but The Pulverizer Returns! was shown instead. It finally aired in the UK on June 22. The US airdate was July 20, 2013.

Plot Synopsis
It starts off in the Shellraiser, with Mikey (with something covering his head) sighing, while spinning on his chair. Then, he takes it off and grumbles, "Another day, another Kraang hunt." While Raph is looking at his screen, Mikey comes behind him and tells him to fire the weapons, Raph disagrees. Mikey says if he were in charge of weapons, he would always fire them. He then goes on to exclaim how he would be destroying everything they pass. Leo says that's why he's not in charge, and told him to get back to his station and tell him where to go. Mikey obeys and looks at the map stating they should turn right... 3 blocks ago. The others sigh in frustration.

They finally make it to the location that Donnie believes must be the hidden Kraang lab. Raph immediately wants to trash the place, but Leo stops him because he has a plan; To go in there, find the Kraang's plot, then trash the place. Later, they come in, and Raph thinks somebody beat them to it, but Leo thinks it's one of their experiments escaped. Donnie notes they were doing experiments on arthropods.

While the turtles investigate, Mikey spins on a desk chair. Donnie states the equipment is good, while he checks out a centrafuse. Mikey then picks up a Kraang head and asks Donnie how big the arthropods are, and he says that bees are about 4mm, and wasps are about 6mm.

"Then what the heck is that?!", he exclaims pointing to the rafters. Suddenly a large wasp emerges and starts attacking the turtles, the turtles dodge it, except for Raph. He is taken down until Donnie uses his bo staff to knock off the wasp. Then it goes after him, but Raph once again attacks, but is smashed into the ceiling, then dropped on the floor.

Leo hits the wasp with his katanas and it hits the wall. It begins to search for them as they hide and try to devise a plan. Mikey suggests he uses his kusarigama chain to catch it, but Leo denies it, explaining that it's too strong. Mikey asks why they never go with his plans, and Leo says because they are his plans.

Mikey jumps out and starts distracting the wasp, but then it comes closer and starts chasing him around the room, until he falls and the wasp tries to sting him, just missing. The others try to ambush the wasp, but miss as a result of Mikey not following the plan and using his kusarigama. Mikey knocks both the turtles and wasp down, but it starts flying around the room, taking Mikey with it. Raph and Donnie get smacked into the wall. Whilest Leo is distracted, the wasp sneaks behind him, Leo only noticing too late and is stung. The wasp continues to fly towards the others before falling to the floor, dead. Mikey said that he tired it out, but Donnie explains that the wasp died due to the loss of it's stinger.

Leo angrily exclaims revealing the enormous stinger lodged into his left arm. "Thanks a lot, Mikey!", he says as Raph begins to gag at the sight. Donnie harshly removes the stinger, resulting in a small yelp from Leo. He assures he is okay, akwardly twitching. Donnie becomes intrigued by the wasp's mutation, stating mutants are usually anthropromorphic. Leo wanders off and finds an egg under a newspaper. Mikey is about to break it, but Leo quickly intervenes, and decides to take it to the lair. Raph is reluctant, but Mikey offers to carry it. Leo harshly bats him away. This confuses Raph further, but Leo says it is fragile before they leave.

Later, they reach home and Leo comes out of the Shellraiser, carrying the egg. He places the egg on a beanbag and Donnie is about to dissect it, but Leo tells Donnie to just look at it from further away, and Donnie decides he needs to "do something else" and asks if Raph and Mikey would join him in the kitchen. Raph, Donnie, and Mikey are talking in the kitchen about Leo being weird. Raph says that he is obsessed with the egg. Mikey suggests asking Splinter, but Donnie says that he is busy training with April. They decide to try and make Leo come to th em, but Leo overhears it from Donnie's lab, and holds his head in pain as his eyes begin to change and twitches. Mikey comes in with pizza, which turns out to only be his favorite: jellybean, jalapeno, and anchovy pizza. Mikey and his brothers go to Leo exclaiming how tasty it is, but it doesn't work.

Later, they all watch Space Heroes (once again another episode reflecting their situation), trying to get Leo back. Mikey later has Leo's issue #1 comic-book of Space Hereos, and he says that since they are out of toilet paper, he'll use the pages, but it still doesn't work. Donnie is surprised at Leo, and Raph says that he will destroy that egg tonight by himself.

Later, Raph goes into Donnie's lab and is about to stab the egg, but Leo stops him, taking him to the floor. Then the two start fighting, until Raph makes one of Leo's katanas hit the ceiling, and Leo starts going hard, until Raph gets bitten, and Leo smirks evilly. Later on, Donnie and Mikey wake up and are waiting for Raph, but he doesn't show up. They then check Donnie's lab. They see Raph and Leo, and pull out their weapons to start attacking, until they lock Leo and Raph in the lab with Mikey's kusarigama. But Donnie realizes that they can still escape through the garage door, so Mikey goes to close it, managing just in time.

Later, they do some research on the wasp, Donnie believes it is a parasitic wasp, which infects creatures with a virus that brainwashes it's victim into guarding it's egg. When the egg hatches the wasp will eat its guardian. Mikey worries that it will eat them, but Donnie says he can find a cure, he just needs a sample from the egg. Suddenly Leo and Raph escape from the lab and start chasing Donnie and Mikey. Leo jumps on Donnie and Raph on Mikey, until Mikey was able to use his nunchucks to throw Raph in the water. He then takes out Leo, and they see that Raph has taken the egg. Leo pretends to come back to normal, asking Mikey to untie him, but Donnie stops him as he tells Mikey to look at Leo's eyes. Leo begins to squirm as he fights to break free from the chains.

Mikey discovers that Donnie got bitten while he takes some of Leo's blood for the antidote. While working on the antidote, Donnie tells Mikey how to finish it because he is running out of time. He starts to change and he manages to bite Mikey. Mikey tries to work on the antidote, but then fall unconscious.

Later, Leo and Donnie come to Raph, who is guarding the egg, and Donnie says that Mikey is bitten and has turned. He later joins them, and then, the egg is about to hatch when Leo, Donnie and Raph drop their weapons, and Mikey puts the syringes in their necks. They wondered how he survived. He said that when he got bitten, he was all dizzy, and fainted about 19 times, then started spinning around a chair, hurting his head to snap out of it and remember what Donnie said, and went to work. While the other turtles finish hearing his story, he mentions the potion may cause drowsiness, then Donnie, Raph, and Leo pass out.

The egg hatches and 3 wasps come out, to Mikey's surprise. When they are all about to get the other turtles, Mikey hits the wasps with his skateboard, then he runs to the Shellraiser. The other turtles later come and fight the 3 wasps, until they are all surrounded. Then, Mikey, still inside the Shellraiser, uses the compressed garbage shooter to take out all 3 wasps, causing them to become gold-colored ooze. Mikey comes out of the Shellraiser, after saving his brothers's lives.

Leo and Raph sweep up the ooze, then Leo is angry that Mikey used his Space Hereos comic as toilet paper. Leo starts chasing him, then it ends with a furious Leo with a mop on Mikey, ending the episode.

Trivia

 * Parasitica is an order of parasitoid wasps
 * Donnie indicated that the parasitic wasp died because it lost its stinger, but actually doesn't happen to a real parastic wasp.
 * This episode shares some minor similarities with the "Fast Forward" episode The Freaks Come Out At Night.
 * This is the third episode to focus on Mikey.
 * This is the second episode when Splinter doesn't make an appearance and the 8th episode where April doesn't.
 * Parastic wasps don't brainwash their hosts to guard the egg, rather they implant the egg, which hatches, feeds inside the host, pupates, and kills the host, either escaping the now empty body or remaining in it.
 * When Mikey was distracting the wasp, Donnie says, "Well, at least he's good at something, right?" This might be a reference to the title of 1987 episode, "What's Michelangelo Good For?"
 * There was a slight, noticable error in this episode. When Raphael yells, "You bit me!" He sounds very much like Donatello.

Quotes
Donatello: "Here it is. The parasitic wasp infects animals with a virus which brainwashes them into protecting its eggs."

Michelangelo: "You think that's the kind of wasp that stung Leo?" (hears Leo and Raph trying to open the door and panics)

Donatello: "The mutant version...then Leo bit Raph, and passed the virus to him."

Michelangelo: "So, once the egg hatches, will the guys go back to normal?"

Donatello: "Not quite. (Shows a picture of a caterpillar guarding the wasp egg) Look what happens to the caterpillar guarding the egg." (The wasp hatches in the picture, comes closer to the caterpillar and starts eating it)

Michelangelo: "It's eating him!...IT'S EATING HIM!" (screams) "What are we gonna do?"

Donatello: "Well, I might be able to create some kind of antibody. But first, I need a sample of the virus from the egg."

Leonardo: "Donatello, Michelangelo? What happened?"

Michelangelo: "Leo! You went crazy, dude. So did Raph. He ran off with the egg."

Leonardo: "Don't worry, I'm better now. You can untie me, Mikey. Untie me, so we can go find Raph together." (Mikey is just about to untie him, but Donnie stops him)

Donatello: "No! Don't do it Mikey! Look at his eyes." (Leo's eyes got back to black and he tries to bite Mikey and break free)

Leonardo: (in demonic voice) "'''IT IS USELESS TO RESIST! IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE EGG BURSTS AND THE HATCHLINGS WILL FEED ON US ALL!!!" '(Donnie slaps him)''

Donatello: "Sorry to burst your possessed bubble Leo, we may not have the egg but a sample of your blood should help me create a cure."

Michelangelo: (gasp) "Bite! You've been bitten! You've been bitten!"

Donatello: (notices the bite mark on his neck) "I must have gotten during the fight and now.... I'm infected too." (Mikey whimpers)

Donatello: "You finished the antibody yourself?"

Leonardo: "And you were just pretending to be one of us?"

Michelangelo: "YEP!"

Raphael: "But, that's smart."

Michelangelo: "Yeah it is! Just call me Dr. Einstein...enstein!" (the others groan) "Oh, I forget to mention. It may cause drowsiness." (the others faint from sleepyness)

More to be added.....

Gallery
See: Parasitica/ Gallery

Videos