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Return of the Justice Force
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) episode
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Season Code: S02E22
Episode: 48
Original airdate May 8, 2004
Written by Chuck Patton
Supervising Producer Lloyd Goldfine
Producers: Gary Richardson
Frederick U. Fierst
Al Kahn
Norman Grossfeld
Thomas Kenney
Directed by Chuck Patton
Supervising Director  Chuck Patton
Story Editor: Michael Ryan
Episode chronology
← Previous Next →
"April's Artifact" "The Big Brawl, Part 1"

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 2
November 8, 2003 - October 2, 2004
List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes

Episodes:

  1. Turtles in Space, Part 1: The Fugitoid
  2. Turtles in Space, Part 2: The Trouble with Triceratons
  3. Turtles in Space, Part 3: The Big House
  4. Turtles in Space, Part 4: The Arena
  5. Turtles in Space, Part 5: Triceraton Wars
  6. Secret Origins, Part 1
  7. Secret Origins, Part 2
  8. Secret Origins, Part 3
  9. Reflections
  10. The Ultimate Ninja
  11. The Return of Nano
  12. What a Croc
  13. Return to the Underground
  14. City at War, Part 1
  15. City at War, Part 2
  16. City at War, Part 3
  17. Junklantis
  18. The Golden Puck
  19. Rogue in the House, Part 1
  20. Rogue in the House, Part 2
  21. April's Artifact
  22. Return of the Justice Force
  23. The Big Brawl, Part 1
  24. The Big Brawl, Part 2
  25. The Big Brawl, Part 3
  26. The Big Brawl, Part 4

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"Return of the Justice Force" is the forty-eighth episode of the animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which originally aired on May 8, 2004. It had 2.13 million views on the 4kids website as of 2007.

Appearing in Return of the Justice Force[]

Major characters[]

Minor characters[]

Species[]

Objects and vehicles[]

Locations[]

Episode[]

Voice-over introduction[]


Michelangelo: No, this isn't some kind of hi tech Bar Mitzvah and no, we haven't been taken over by the "Dome People" either. Its just your basic sneak and rescue and those blinking skull caps on our heads are the only thing keeping those robo guard dogs from going medieval all over us. The old guy with us, that's Stainless Steve Steel. Believe it or not, he used to be a superhero. We're helping him search for his missing teammates and I think we just found them. To think, this whole thing started out with me trying to find a comic book. And now I'm living one, although I'm not sure how much longer I'll be living.

Plot[]

Michelangelo is reading (out loud and using different voices) a comic about a group called the Justice Force and comes to the end where a character named Battling Bernice is zapped by a ray gun, possibly killed. Needing to know if she survives, Mikey scrambles through his collection tossing issues around and disturbing Splinter's meditation (by accidentally hitting him in the head with comic books while searching). The sensei tells his son to quiet down as Mikey frantically dials all the comic shops in NYC seeking the missing comic book. Donatello arrives with his new Shell Cycle and Leonardo and Raphael spar with their metal weapons, creating more noise and upsetting Splinter, who orders them all to practice their ninja art of silence for one hour. Just then, Casey Jones walks in with a boom box on his shoulder blasting tunes - which is more than the wise old rodent can take and he orders them all to go outside so he can meditate.

Mikey explains his dilemma to Casey and Jones knows just the place to go - a comic shop in Northampton, Massachusetts. Thus the Turtles and Casey get on their Shell Cycles and take a road trip to Northampton in search of the comic.

Cut to Northampton as the guys arrive at Steve's Comic Shop. The boys go inside undisguised as it's "costume day" at the store. Donatello discovers a cool flying remote control toy of the Silver Sentry that he borrows money from Casey to buy. Mikey asks Steve (old store owner) about the missing comic book and learns that the last issue was never made, much to Michelangelo's dismay. Out of desperation, Michelangelo tells Steve that he has to know what happened to battling Bernice. However, the store owner tells the disappointed ninja that Bernice didn't make it. Bernice sacrificed herself to save Stainless Steve Steel and Doctor Dome, and the Justice Force was disbanded ever since. While Steve talks, a bunch of Domeoids (evil robots from the comic) crash through a wall, only these are real!

As the Turtles battle the robots, we see a stock boy suddenly morph into the Justice Force superhero known as Metal Head. During the battle, Mikey tosses a Domeoid towards Steve and it strikes him in the head - causing the shocked Turtle to shriek. Fortunately, the proprietor of the comic shop turns out to be none other than Justice Force team lead Stainless Steve Steel - the collision did him no harm as his skull is armor plated. Mike is delighted to discover that his comic heroes are real!

During the battle, the robots capture Metal Head and escape with him. Steve injured his back in the fight and needs to lie down on the floor. While prone, he explains that a former Justice Force member, Dr. Dome, went mad after the death of Battling Bernice and turned on the super team. Stainless Steve Steel then uses his Justice Force emergency signal to call the other members to his home.

Cut to Steve’s house. Leo discovers that the door is unlocked and our heroes enter cautiously. Casey spots a costumed man in a wheelchair and announces that it's just "some old guy" which upsets Zippy Lad, who uses his hyper-speed capabilities to spin circles around Jones, lifting him in the air and dropping him. Next we meet the stretching hero named Joey Lastic, who is having problems retracting his limbs once he's extended them, possibly due to old age. Steve dons his old costume and is given a super-massage from Zippy Lad, which makes the old time hero feel much better. Mikey then gets to ask why Battling Bernice quit the team in the first place. Steve admits that she never said, but he always felt it had something to do with Doctor Dome.

Suddenly, Domeoids attack the house via the roof. During a protracted skirmish, the robots capture both Zippy and Joey before escaping. Luckily, Don had planted tracking devices on the heroes so the Turtles, Jones and Steve are able to give chase. Following the tracking signal, our heroes discover a giant dome fortress guarded by hundreds of Domeoids.

Severely outnumbered, the team needs a good plan to gain entry. Don lures six robots away with the flying Silver Sentry toy that he bought at the store. The group uses the six dome tops they acquired from the robots to disguise themselves as Domeoids - apparently the red flashing prevents the pesky little 'bots from attacking one another, thus while not the greatest of camouflage, the disguises work and allow the team to gain entry into the Domed Fortress.

As our heroes enter the lab room, they find where Metal Head, Zippy and Joey are being held captive in stasis tubes. Though Steve declared that Dr. Dome will pay, Mikey points out that in comic books, nothing is as it seems. Steve breaks out Metal Head, but before he can free the others, a giant mechanoid controlled by Doctor Dome crashes through the wall and attacks!

While Doctor Dome and Stainless Steel Steve battle one another, we discover that the once-good Doctor thinks that Steve and the Turtles are the ones who captured the other Justice Force members. Steve argues the point, so Dome frees Zippy and Joey to get their stories. Doctor Dome points out how Steve was present at all the kidnappings, yet he himself was never kidnapped. The rest of the JF begin to agree with Doctor Dome. Doctor Dome tells Steve that he has been jealous from the very start, but Steve furiously points out that battling Bernice couldn't stand Dome and that she quit the team for a year just to get away from him. Furious, Doctor Dome is about to use his gigantic robot to stomp on Steve, telling him: "Don't you ever say the name!" During the argument, Michelangelo tries to break up the fight as he makes references that Stainless Steel Steve once saved Doctor Dome from the Living Volcano and that Doctor Dome once cured Stainless Steel Steve of the creeping alien rust.

Still confused from both men's argument, the two sides battle on as Domeoids flood into the room attacking everyone. Believing that Doctor Dome was lying so he can call the Domeoids to attack them, the Turtles and Casey attack the Domebot and crack the windshield. Raphael grabs Doctor Dome by his collar and yells out at him, tells him to call off his Domeoids. Annoyed, the former superhero tells them that he's not controlling them anymore, if he was, then his dome head would be red too (the other of his Domeoids have red heads), thus proving his point! After being asked if he's not the one who's controlling them, then they ask who is? The woman calls out to them saying that she's the one who's controlling the robots!!

With this, a costumed woman bearing a striking resemblance to Battling Bernice arrives. Doctor Dome monetarily thinks that Bernice has finally returned, but when he realizes how young this lady is he knows that can't be the case. The woman reveals herself to be Bernice’s daughter Ananda. She blames all of the Justice Force for the demise of her mother, and thus she plans to destroy them in a fit of revenge. She then controls the big Domebot to grab the shocked superheroes and the Domeoids attack the Turtles. When the team wonders how the villain is able to control the Domeoids, Ananda reveals that she is Doctor Dome's daughter as well, and she has inherited her her father’s mental powers. With that explained, the Domeoids begin to attack all of the shocked heroes.

Ananda and her army of robots successfully capture all of our heroes. Things look grim until Doctor Dome focuses his energy and briefly gains control of the mechanical menaces, freeing everyone. In a struggle of mental control over the Domeoids, Dome cannot take the strain, as he said earlier, years of using the Domeoids gave him migraines. This allows Ananda to regain control of the horde and send them back into battle.

Mike comes up with a plan: the heroes split their attacks in many directions to confuse and overload Ananda's mental capabilities. The plan works! Ananda loses control and Doctor Dome's giant mechanoid falls onto her legs, pinning her to the ground. Doctor Dome takes control of the monstrous robot and frees his daughter - the old man helps her to stand and takes her hands in his and explains that no one forced her mother back into the Justice Force, but rather it was her choice to give her life for others. He then reminds her that while she has lost her mother, she still has a father, who is very much alive and wishes to be part of her life. The two make peace and hug.

Outside the Domed Fortress, the old-time super heroes thank the Turtles and Casey for their help. As the others prepare to ride off, Stainless Steve Steel calls out to Mikey and congratulates him for coming up with such a great plan and Joey Lastic asks how he came up with that strategy. Mikey reminds Joey Lastic that the Justice Force used the same strategy to defeat the Grim Repo in issue #57 when he took possession of Dr. Dome's brain. The Justice Force members smile as Steve tosses Mikey his own Justice Force emergency call signal, thus making the ninja an honorary member of the super team. Mikey is delighted and he races off into the sunset to catch up with his brothers.

Cut to freeze frame of screen as it pulls back revealing it to be the final page of the final comic book that Mike had been searching for in the beginning. As we view the cover, we see Mikey is part of the Justice Force and he is very satisfied, ending the episode.

See also[]

Quotes[]

Stainless Steve Steel: Are you out of your glass encased mind?! Battling Bernice couldn't stand you! She quit the team for a year just to get away from you!
Dr. Dome: (furious) Don't you ever say her name!


Trivia[]

External links[]

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