Slash and Destroy

***Slash and Destroy*** is the 33rd episode of TMNT and the 7th episode of the second season. It aired on November 30th, 2013.

***"There's a new turtle in town. And he's out for blood"***

## Description

Donnie, Mikey and Leo are targeted by a mutated turtle named Slash (who is actually Raph's pet turtle, Spike) that wants to eliminate them under the belief that he's granting the wish of Raph, who is tired of being blamed for his brothers' mistakes.

## Plot

As Mikey and Leo are taking turns playing a video game, which Mikey flunked on Level 83, a frustrated Raph comes in, with Spike resting on his shoulder, and a ruined, vintage comic in his hand. Raph shoves the book right in Mikey's face and complains about the Pizza stains, which Mikey seemed to have dripped on the book. Mikey believes that it is no big deal, and that the book is worthless, because it was part of a collection that was made 20 years ago. When he tries to make amends by licking off the stains, Raph sets Spike down and whacks Mikey hard in the head, displeased with the act. Despite Raph's rage, Leo stands up for Mikey and the unimportance of 'material possessions', which only turns Raph's anger round on him and he interrupts Leo's game by smacking the arcade cabinet so hard that it deactivates. The ill-tempered turtle then walks off, grumbling that he always has to 'pay' for his brothers' mistakes. Meanwhile, in his lab, Donnie is still going to great pains to create a retro-mutagen when he suddenly hears Raph's outrage from the other room. Distracted by hearing his brother's shouts, Donnie accidentally lets a few drops of the wrong chemical slip into his sample batch, which causes a bunch of 'fireworks' to shoot off across the entire lair! The unexpected blast leaves a large path of destruction in it's wake, and, when one 'firework' aims itself in Spike's direction, Raph quickly jumps in and saves the turtle before he is about to get hit.

Donatello immediately comes out afterwards to ask if everyone is okay, in which Raph angrily states that 'No! That they're not!' Not only has Donnie's failure caused destruction to the entire lair, but he endangered the life of Raphael's pet as well. As punishment, Raph angrily confiscates Donnie's last vial of Mutagen and brings it back to his own room, ignoring the scientist's pleas to leave it behind. While alone, Raph tells Spike that he wishes, just once, for things to go his way. All he wishes for is to beat down the bad guys, find all of the Mutagen, and keep far away from his brothers. Mikey comes in just a few seconds after this, telling Raph that Master Splinter has asked all of them to cooperate in cleaning up Donnie's mess. Raph reluctantly agrees to come out of his room, and he slams the door shut, unknowingly causing the Mutagen canister to fall off of a table and crack open right in front of Spike. Raph's temper is still in the red when he reaches the den area, and, after a pressure point attack to calm his son down, Master Splinter dismisses Raph from clean-up duty and asks the turtle to think about meditating in his room for a while. Raph angrily stalks back, not knowing that Spike has transformed in the short time he was gone. The room is dark when Raph returns, so he flips on the light switch, but he fails to notice that the bulb was accidentally broken earlier during Spike's mutation. Having heard about Raph's recent complaints, a mutant Spike crawls out of the shadows, revealing his identity to a completely alarmed Raphael. Back in the den, Donnie blames himself for Raph's current mood, knowing how much his brother genuinely cares for Spike. Leo tells him not to feel guilty however, and that they all sort of had a part. Suddenly, Don's Mutagen Tracker begins to buzz, indicating that a canister has been located very close to their lair, above ground. Aware of the fact that Raph is still mad, Leo goes to inform his brother that a brand new mission has aroused for them to achieve. In his bedroom, Raph is still shocked by Spike's transformation, and he wonders how he's going to tell his brothers about it, when Spike offers him a better choice; This is Raphael's chance to be free. He and Spike can become the ultimate crime-fighting duo. Who needs his brothers anymore?? Excited about this proposal, Raph turns down Leo when the older turtle asks for his help, finds Spike a Mace for him to fight with, and the two leave on their own to go hunt down that Mutagen. Raph comments that Spike looks awesome in his new 'guise, but Spike points out that he would prefer to be called 'Slash' instead. All the while, Slash is secretly plotting. At this point in time, Raphael's freedom is just temporary, but, if he can rid him of his brothers, Raphael will finally be free.

Using Slash's nose as an accurate tracking device, both he and Raph find the canister at about the same time that the other turtles do. After Raph and Leo smack into each other when they both attempt to grab it off of the back of a Pizza boy's motorized bike, Slash secretly jumps on to the other roof and places Donnie in a choke-hold, lifting him into the air and taking him away without Mikey noticing. After Raph and Leo finish an argument about Raph being late, Raph retreats to the rooftops to look for Slash. Slash soon jumps down, clutching Donnie's mask in the palm of his right hand, though Raph doesn't manage to see this. Raphael barely has time to think about where Slash just was, as Mikey appears as well and asks for his brother's help to find Donnie. Mikey is extremely surprised when he spots Slash, while the latter is quite mad about Mikey's arrival. Slash gives Raph the choice of either sticking with him or going off with his brothers. Raph actually agrees to join his brothers, which causes Slash to badly injure Mikey with dozens of punches. Shocked by this action, Raph quickly elbows Slash and accuses him, but Slash tells Raph that he didn't want to fight him. Raph quickly throws a smoke bomb in Slash's face and drags his brother to safety. Meanwhile, Leo is having unfortunate luck obtaining the Mutagen canister because an unfortunate array of 'coincedences' prevent him from laying his hands on it. Both Raph and Mikey soon find a beaten Donnie, and Donnie's description of his attacker makes Raph realize that Spike is the one to blame. While he is explaining what's happened to his pet turtle, Raph ties a sling around Donnie's sprained arm. Mikey then steps up to keep a lookout for the dangerous mutant, but he then believes that he hears Leo's voice asking him for help. However, this is only a trick, for, when Mikey gets too close, Slash captures him after lunging out at him from behind an escape ladder. Worried about Mikey not coming back, Raph goes out to search for his younger brother and he finds him beaten, bruised and without his mask, alot like how Donnie was left. Raph has now been pushed to his breaking point and he shouts out to Slash, asking him why he is doing all of this. Slash appears, knocks Raph away with his Mace and tells him that he is only granting his wish. Slash grabs Mikey and threatens to drop him down on to the sidewalk, which forces Raph to reach for his Sais.

Raph faces Slash, challenging him to a battle. Slash is still reluctant, but it's an insult from Raph that causes him to agree. Meanwhile, after the Mutagen canister has ended up in the hands of a salesman, who mistakes it for a lamp of some kind, a little girl gets her father to buy it for her and Leo has to follow them to their house. Ultimately, however, Leo ends up getting stuck in 'tea time' with the very naive little girl. Leo is completely unaware of the dreadful brawl that is happening on the rooftops above him. Slash, having spent years watching Raph in training sessions, easily takes the upper hand in the brawl. He begins to comment that Raph is exactly like his brothers and has no reason to live. Just as Slash prepares to finish off his former owner, an injured Donnie and Mikey quickly jump to their brother's aid. Thanks to his brothers, Raph makes a recovery and powerfully charges at Slash again, but the two crash in on Leo's little unexpected tea party. Seeing that his brother's life is in danger, Leo grabs the Mutagen that the girl had believed to be tea and saves Raph, just when Slash is about to beat him down again. Angry at the interference, Slash pounds Leo and Raph draws the only weapon he is left with: An extremely small pocket blade. Slash smiles when he sees how enraged he has gotten Raph. Slash reminds him that anger is their source of strength, after all. However, that statement about anger actually causes Raph to calm down and think of an idea to win this fight. Ultilizing Master Splinter's pressure point techinque, he successfully strikes a spot near Slash's elbow, grabs Mikey and Donnie's masks, and the huge turtle lumbers back toward the edge of the roof. Slash tumbles and falls to the ground, while, despite all that he has done, Raph tries to reach out his hand to save him, but it is too late. Leo is shocked by what he had missed when he learns the truth about Slash, and the brothers return to the sewers to heal their wounds. Slash has now vanished and it is unknown if or when he will return.

Sorrow, guilt, and frustration all plague Raph's mind as he takes a minute to think about all the things his former pet had done. However, Splinter approaches Raphael and tells him that, whenever he is grieving about his past loved ones, the only thing he can think of doing is to focus on the friends that he is surrounded by in the present. Raph thanks Splinter for the advice and decides to put away his grief so that he can enjoy the things he has now. His brothers are busy playing video games together and he heads off to joyfully 'compete' with them. Leo tells Raph that he's sorry about Spike, but Raph says that his brothers aren't bad to hang out with either, ending the episode in a comic style.

## Character Debuts

* Slash
* Little Girl

## Splinter's Wisdom

*"Do you know what I do when I miss my loved ones from the past? I focus on the friends I am surrounded by in the present."*

## Trivia

* Mikey and Mouth, two of the Goonies, reunite in this episode, Sean Astin (Raphael's voice) and Corey Feldman (Slash's voice).
* The title of this episode is a homage to Slash's first comic book appearance, *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #23 Search and Destroy*

## Errors

* After Slash mutated, Raph walked into a room other than his.
* When Slash was still mutating, the cap on the Mutagen Ooze was on the canister.
* Raph miss pronounced his name as Ralph.