One False Move is the first comic in the sixteenth issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Appearing in One False Move[]
Major characters[]
Locations[]
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Synopsis[]
Traveling through the city in the Shellraiser, Donatello announces that his mutagen scanner has located another canister up ahead. The location turns out to be the City Zoo, which pleases no one but Michelangelo, until Raphael reminds him what mutagen plus deadly exotic animals equals.
As they enter the zoo, Leonardo hopes that the canister hasn’t cracked open. Mikey begins to muse about possible mutations, such as Dr. Pelican Head, The Wrecking Bull, and finally a mutated snake/venus flytrap he calls Simon.
Don interrupts as he locates the origin of the signal and points to the lion enclosure. Weapons drawn, they ease their way towards where they believe a mutated lion, dubbed Giganto-Lion by Mikey, might be. Leo is relieved to see a totally normally lion sound asleep and thinks they’ve lucked out. That is until Don indicates the canister of mutagen precariously balanced on a tree limb directly over the lion’s head.
Leo prepares to retrieve it, but Don stops him, saying the branch is too thin. They need the lightest turtle on this and Mikey says that turtle is pretty unlucky. Shortly, Mikey is making his way across the tree limb and Leo tells him to consider it as a compliment. Mikey sarcastically says that make him feel much better when he’s being eaten.
To encourage him, his brothers tell him to stay light and that he’s a ballerina. Mikey chants “I’m a ballerina” to himself as he performs several ballet moves to reach the end of the branch. When he reaches for the canister, however, his fingertips tap it and it falls. Fortunately, it snags between the branches on another tree limb. Unfortunately, this branch is much smaller and Mikey has to crawl along it to get to the canister.
Leo asks if that branch is going to hold and Don says he thinks so, but it’s a good thing they stopped Mikey from eating the last slice of pizza. Mikey then informs his brothers that he did eat that slice. As soon as the words leave his mouth, the branch snaps. As Mikey falls, he grabs the branch in one hand and his nunchaku in the other. He manages to snag the canister with his nunchuck blade and it doesn’t it the still sleeping lion. Leo has caught the other end of the branch and is holding Mikey up, while Don and Raph have a hold on Leo’s leg.
Mikey grins and tells his brothers he’s got this and not to sweat it. Speaking of sweat, a droplet rolls from Mikey’s forehead and falls on the lion’s nose, waking him up. With a growl and a roar, the lion leaps at Mikey, who flings the canister as he dodges the lions claws.
The canister flips through the air and then gets snagged on the wires connecting the lights over the shark tank. Two large sharks begin leaping up from the water as they try to eat the canister, which is just out of reach. Leo, still hanging upside down as he clings to Mikey, asks who their best swimmer is. Donnie says “Raph” and Raph says “Donnie”.