Solicit[]
The Turtles meet NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony in this oversized special! When Carmelo is captured by the Foot Clan, it will be up to the Turtles to save him. But after Carmelo is mutated someone may have to save the Turtles instead!
Appearing in Carmelo Anthony Special[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
Locations[]
- New York City
- Foot headquarters
- Turtle Lair
- Madison Square Garden
Objects and vehicles[]
Plot[]
Open in the lair, where Michelangelo is holding a basketball as he tells his brothers how he intends to perform the trick shot to end all trick shots. Donatello is working on his laptop and Leonardo sits with an open comic book, neither looking at all impressed. Raphael has his arms folded as he looks on. Mikey says he’s going to bank off the cat poster (which is next to where Splinter is drinking tea), to the island of Donnie junk, off the practice dummy, to the pinball machine and then into the hoop with nothing but net.
Raph tells him to go ahead, so Mikey launches the basketball. It bounces off of Splinter’s plate, splattering his tea. Mikey immediately rushes to apologize to his father, explaining that he is so pumped for the basketball game tonight that his focus wasn’t on his shot. Splinter shrugs it off, telling his son that these things happen – just as he bounces the ball off of Mikey’s forehead and into the basket.
Elsewhere, Stockmanfly is hard at work with test tubes and beakers. He adds part of a mind-worm to a beaker and then takes a bite of a chocolate bar to congratulate himself. However, he drops the chocolate into the beaker, where is fizzes. Stockman figures the formula is probably still good.
Rushing to the throne room, he announces that he’s done it. Shredder asks what it is this time and Stockman says it’s the mind control mutagen they discussed. With it, Shredder can create a mutant follower who obeys his every command without doubt or hesitation. Shredder replies that he has an army so why would he possibly need another soldier? Nearby, Rocksteady and Bebop are posting pictures on the internet and discussing how to caption it along with which emoticons to use. After a moment, Shredder tells Stockman to give him the vial and get out.
Meanwhile, the Turtles race across rooftops as they head for Madison Square Garden. As they reach the Garden’s roof, Mikey shouts out that it’s so awesome. Leo immediately scolds him, reminding him that they are in stealth mode and if he can’t contain his excitement, they’ll watch the game from back home. They enter through a roof access and jump down to the jumbotron. Leo instructs them all to stay in the shadows because they can’t afford to be spotted. However, as soon as Carmelo Anthony is announced and he steps onto the court, Mikey can’t help but shout his enthusiasm. His three brothers immediately growl at him, and Mikey gets small again, dropping his voice to a whisper.
Outside, Bebop and Rocksteady are driving a van through the streets of the city as they search for a test subject to try the new mutagen on. Stockman told them the mutagen is experimental, and for it to work, they have to find a true athlete. Bebop wonders where they’ll find an athlete in New York, and then spots a billboard with Anthony’s image on it.
The game over, Anthony is leaving the Garden when someone calls from the shadows that they want his autograph. He walks over but doesn’t see anyone, until Bebop makes himself visible. He says the autograph isn’t for him but for his buddy. Anthony looks over his shoulder to see Rocksteady looming over him.
In a nearby alley, the Turtles are talking about the game and Mikey is trying to sink a shot into a trash can. He misses and breaks a lamp sitting next to the can. Donnie comments that he is just awful at this, but Mikey is unfazed as he says he’d love to rub elbows with Carmelo Anthony. Just then, Anthony runs right past them. Mikey asks if everyone else saw that too.
Leonardo orders them into the shadows. He and Raph leap onto a fire escape platform while the other two Turtles climb onto a rooftop. Looking down into the alley, they see Bebop and Rocksteady. Raph asks his fearless leader if they get back out of the shadows now and Leo agrees. The Turtles leap back down to confront the mutant pair and Rocksteady says he’ll handle the reptiles while Bebop grabs the basketball man.
Rocksteady charges at the Turtles as Bebop races after the fleeing Anthony. All four Turtles pile on Rocksteady, determined to bring him down, while Bebop leaps onto Anthony’s back and brings him to the ground. The Turtles manage to knock Rocksteady down, but Bebop has caught their quarry and shuts him into the back of the van. Rocksteady flings the Turtles off of him before jumping into the back of the van. With Bebop at the wheel, it speeds away.
Back at the Foot headquarters, Shredder scolds his mutant muscle for being so incompetent as to have kidnapped such a high-profile athlete. He then tells Stockman to get on with it, but the tied-up Anthony is not willing to drink the mutagen, so Stockman has to force it down his throat. After a moment of waiting, there is a loud roar and Anthony begins to transform.
Meanwhile, the Turtles have reached Shredder’s place and Raph wants to know the plan. He points out that Shredder has an army of robot ninjas. Mikey insists that they have to save the melo man and claims that they are bff’s – he’s got it in writing. To prove his point, his displays his official “Carmelo Anthony Fan Club member for life” card. Leo says the first thing they have to do is recon, but before he can finish the plan, a garage door slides open and a van drives right at them, followed by another.
The Turtles scatter to avoid being hit and then give chase across the rooftops before leaping on top of the two vans. The ride all the way to the docks and then jump onto a building in order to observe what is happening. Rocksteady, Bebop, Stockman and Shredder leave the vans. Stockman states that this area is as good a testing ground as any. Then he hops on top of one of the vans and calls out to the Turtles to come out of the shadows. He has an experiment he’d like them to participate in.
As the Turtles step into the open, Stockman tells them he wants them to meet tonight’s starting forward – Carmelo Anthony! The newly mutated Anthony leaps from the back of the van. He is now a huge mutant armadillo with very long claws and immediately attacks the Turtles. Mikey quickly provides the mutant with a name – The Carmadello!
While dodging and fighting the Carmadello, Don says that he looks confused, like he doesn’t know where he is or what he’s doing. Raph takes a hard blow to the face that throws him back against a pile of crates and he tells Don to keep telling himself that. Don and Raph attack the Carmadello, but Leo calls for Mikey’s attention before heading towards a small boat tied to the pier. Raph tries slashing the Carmadello but says it’s no use, as his whole body is covered in armor. Don says it’s like he’s a walking tank.
Leo yells out for the “armordillo” but Mikey corrects him, so Leo shouts “Carmadello!” This catches the mutant’s attention, and he looks back. Leo yells that he’s got something for him and Carmadello, who has Don by the face, tosses the Turtle away from him as he charges towards Leo. A grinning Mikey says it’s on now as he and Leo, holding a large net between them, leap. They catch Carmadello in the net and drive him down to the dock. Mikey steps in front of Carmadello and tells him to snap out of it before informing the mutant that he’s his number-one fan. He holds out his fan club card and tells Carmadello that it’s even laminated – don’t break the sacred trust of the lamination.
Shredder, surrounded by his mutants and a group of Footbots, orders his new mutant to get up and to obey the voice of his master. To Mikey’s dismay, Carmadello begins to rise. Ripping the net to pieces, Carmadello attacks – not the Turtles, but Shredder and his minions. As he’s ripping Footbots apart, Shredder tells Stockman that he’s par for the course. Stockman mumbles something about the chocolate, but when Shredder becomes curious, he covers by telling him he likes his cape.
Seeing that he’s lost control of the mutated Anthony, Shredder orders him destroyed. However, Carmadello is now fighting on the side of the Turtles, and the five of them proceed to turn the Footbots into mince-meat. Bebop and Rocksteady head for their van and Bebop comments that this is what the Shredder gets for trying to replace them. As he hands a shoulder-fired missile launcher to Rocksteady, Bebop says they should form a union. He then asks if Rocksteady knows how to fire the weapon, to which Rocksteady replies “not even a little bit”.
Rocksteady successfully fires the weapon and happily basks in Bebop’s compliments. Neither is paying attention to what is around them until their own van plows into them. The pair lie unconscious on the pier and Raph leans out of the driver’s side window to comment that he’s starting to get the appeal of the van.
The missile fired by Rocksteady strikes Carmadello dead center and throws him back into the river. Mikey calls out for his friend and then he and Leo leap into the water. When they pull him back to the surface, he is no longer a mutant. Don and Raph help to bring Anthony back onto the dock, with Don explaining that the mutagen they used on him must have worked through his system already. Don finds it to be amazing and Raph welcomes him to the fan club.
A stunned Anthony calls them Turtle people, but Raph tells him he hit his head and is seeing things, that he’s actually a parking meter. Mikey stands looking up at Anthony with adoration as sirens announce the approaching police car. Leo calls for the Turtles to scatter and has to call Mikey by name to remind him that means him too.