A Chinatown Ghost Story

"A Chinatown Ghost Story" is the 49th episode of the 2012 Series. It will air on September 12th, 2014, although it was released a week early on the Nick.com website.

Synopsis
Donnie becomes increasingly jealous of April and Casey's relationship; April is kidnapped by an evil spirit who intends to drain her powers.

Major Characters

 * April O'Neil (Mae Whitman)
 * Casey Jones (Josh Peck)
 * Donatello (Rob Paulsen)
 * Ho Chan (James Hong)
 * Leonardo (Dominic Catrambone)
 * Michelangelo (Greg Cipes)
 * Purple Dragons
 * Fong (Andrew Kishino)
 * Sid (James Sie)
 * Tsoi (Andrew Kishino)
 * Raphael (Sean Astin)

Minor Characters

 * Splinter
 * Irma (Kate Micucci)

Plot
One night, the Purple Dragon gang is preparing to break into a museum. Meanwhile, on the rooftops above them, Donatello and Casey Jones are showing off their athletic capability to eachother while attempting to impress April. April doesn't seem to be thrilled about this and, when Casey decides to give April a 'peace hug', Donnie directs his attention toward the Purple Dragon robbery about to take place down below. The trio quickly follows the Purple Dragons into the museum and they engage the gang members. The Purple Dragons try to steal all kinds of things for Steranko, but all of their attempts are blocked. However, the criminals are able to make their escape because Donnie and Casey argue about one another's attempts to impress April. In an alley way, Fong (the Purple Dragon leader) reveals to his partners that he was able to steal a small, ancient-looking dagger. Fong then removes the blade's sheath, allowing a mysterious figure to come out of the blade and he introduces himself as 'Ho Chan', ordering the Purple Dragons to bow down before him.

The Purple Dragons start to wonder if the thing that's speaking to them is a ghost, only for the 'man' to explain that he was a supreme master of one of the first Martial Arts to ever exist and an art that, if performed correctly, appears similar to magic. Ho Chan explains that his spirit was trapped inside the dagger and he offers to give the three Purple Dragons unparalleled power if they agree to help him take over the world. The Purple Dragons agree to this and are given inscrutable powers (Fong gets lightning, Tsoi gets wind and Sid gets thunder), which they demonstrate. Then, Ho Chan commands them to find him a 'lair of opulent beauty' and the Purple Dragons lead him back to their own hideout (an abandoned Tattoo Parlor). Ho Chan doesn't like the condition of the inside of the building, but says that it will have to do...

Meanwhile, in the Sewer Lair, Donnie tells his brothers that their search for Karai has been going on for at least a week and that it's possible that they'll never find her. Leo and Raph point out that Splinter would disagree and that he hasn't been the same ever since his daughter's mutation. Raph tells his brothers that, to get better results in their search for Karai, they'll need Casey and April (who are at the ice rink) to help them.

Quotes
"Michelangelo: Those guys are like a level one boss battle, who cares about the Purple Dragons anyway?"

"Ho Chan: Moron, I grant you the power of lightning.

Stupid idiot, you'll become thunder.

And numbskull, you are wind!"

"Ho Chan: Now, go find me a lair of opulent beauty, worthy of my divine powers!

Whataheck is that?

Well, it will serve."

"Leonardo: I dont like the looks of this.

Michelangelo: I like the looks of those hats, they're awesome!"

"Ho Chan: It is said the great turtle helped the god Pangu to create the world."

"Fong: But master, why?

Ho Chan: Because you're losers."

"Michelangelo: Where do snakes hang out? Swamps, deserts, pizzarias, ice cream parlors, arcades..."

"Ho Chan: Everybody loves giant hands. Yes, giant hands!"

Trivia

 * This whole episode is an homage to the film "Big Trouble in Little China", which also takes place in Chinatown.
 * Ho Chan is a parody of David Lo Pan, an evil sorcerer and the central antagonist of the film, played by James Hong, who also voices Chan in the episode. Both characters are defeated with a dagger at the end.
 * Ho Chan says Irma also have powers, Irma has green eyes and in the film only a girl with green eyes could make Lo Pan mortal again.
 * The Purple Dragons represent the film's chinese street gang "Lords of Death", as well as "The Three Storms" with their straw hats and glowing eyes.
 * Kevin Eastman talked in an interview about how "Big Trouble in Little China" influenced the personalities of Donatello and Casey Jones in the original comics. By coincidence this episodes's main plot revolves around Jones and Donnie.
 * "Ho Chan's line "It's all in the reflexes." is one of the film main character's best known catchphrases.
 * Ho Chan says "I see a girl with red hair and a yellow jumpsuit, no, it's just a t-shirt" as a reference to 80's April outfit.
 * Sid yells "Shoryuken!" as he attacks Michelangelo, the name of an attack from the Street Fighter games.
 * Ho Chan threatens to banish the Purple Dragons to the Abyss of Infinite Morons, which is an analogue of the early English-dubbed DragonBall Z version of Hell, "Home For Infinite Losers".
 * Next to the Ho Chan search tab in Donnie's computer there are two other tabs, one says "TisQuiz - What Goat Are You?" and the other says "PlebeDweeb - Cheap Tech Solut..." which shows how Donnie's got to fix things with nothing but garbage he finds in the sewers.
 * Chan's fortune cookie said "You will be surrounded by great opulence", his lucky numbers were: 3, 17, 36, 23, 2, 31, 27.
 * When Leo electrocuted Casey it was shown he has a metal plate on his skull.
 * This is the second villain with "magic" powers, the first one being Sir Malachi.

Gallery
A Chinatown Ghost Story/Gallery