Battle Nexus: New York

**"Battle Nexus: New York"** is the twentieth episode of the second season (Episode 11) of *Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* and is the sixty-sixth episode overall in the series. It first aired on July 17th, 2020.

## Characters

* April O'Neil (Kat Graham)
* Baron Draxum (Roger Craig Smith)
* Big Mama (Lena Headey)
* Donatello (Josh Brener)
* Foot Clan
	+ Foot Recruit (Zelda Williams)
	+ Shredder
* Leonardo (Ben Schwartz)
* Michelangelo (Brandon Mychal Smith)
* Raphael (Omar Benson Miller)
* Splinter (Eric Bauza)
* Amphisbaena
* Carl Sando (Jason Mantzoukas)
* Cortex (Eugene Byrd)
* Ghostbear (Jorge Gutiérrez)
* Hypno-Potamus (Rhys Darby)
* Meat Sweats (John Lydon)
* Sloppy Joseph
* Sprite (Zelda Williams)
* Todd Capybara (Thurop Van Orman)
* Troll

## Plot

The episode starts with the Mad Dogs, Splinter, Draxum and April on a family trip on the tour of New York City. Draxum says they must hurry, because he left Sloppy Joseph in the kitchen.

Suddenly, the sky gets dark and all the New Yorkers vanish. The Mad Dogs exit from an elevator (not noticing that April, Splinter and Draxum went missing, too) and are shocked at seeing their city so empty. Then, they hear a woman laughing from the distance. It is Big Mama, who has turned New York City into a massive Battle Nexus and has trapped all the people in the Mystic Orb. Inside the orb is an illusion of a peaceful cruise, so the people remain unaware of what happened.

Knowing that the Mad Dogs work so well together, Big Mama opts to not only separate the brothers, but also handcuff them to their enemies. Each pair must face off against one Battle Nexus champion.

* Raph is with Ghostbear, much to his joy. They must fight the most aggressive yōkai, named Troll, on the Brooklyn Bridge. Ghostbear doesn't want to participate, and tries breaking free. But, Raphael convinces him to help. Together, they perform Ghostbear's signature move, the Hibernator, and defeat Troll. But, all of them ended up being flung off the bridge and into the water below. Raph's and Ghostbear's masks float up to the surface, much to the horror of his brothers.
* Leo, along with Carl Sando, must make the fairy named Sprite laugh. Ever the sourpuss, she possesses the Statue of Liberty and threatens to squish them. Leo tries cracking jokes, but she doesn't laugh. After Carl tries attacking Leo, they realize that they can only make her laugh with physical comedy. Leo "fights" Carl, making him fall down, and hitting him with pies. Sprite laughs aloud, and Leo and Carl ended up winning.
* Mikey is with his favorite chef, Meat Sweats. The pair must feed the Amphisbaena, a two-headed snake yōkai who is always hungry, until it is satisfied. Meat Sweats throws food at him, while Mikey painstakingly prepares a dish. Meat Sweats yells at Mikey to hurry and feed the monster, but Mikey insists that a single well-prepared dish will do the trick. He starts to panic when he is missing an ingredient. Meat Sweats helps him out with some spices, and Mikey tosses the completed dish at the snakes. One of the heads starts eating the dish, and the other head, wanting a bite, eats the first head. Both of the heads eat each other, leaving Mikey and Meat Sweats as the victors.
* Last of all, Donnie is with Hypno-Potamus. They must beat Cortex, the most intelligent yōkai, at chess. But, Hypno doesn't know the rules. Donnie offers to play, but to his dismay, he is turned into the figures. Hypno, unsure of what to do, takes too long to make a move. Cortex is stressed out and tells him to make his move while he pounds his fists on the table. This causes his own queen to fall over, and Donnie points this out. With the queen out of play, Donnie and Hypno win by default. Cortex slams his head on the table in defeat.

Meanwhile, Draxum suddenly realizes that he and the rest of the group are in the mystic orb. He tries to tell the others what is happening, but they don't listen until he points out that the turtles are gone and no one would willingly bring Foot Recruit anywhere. He leads the escape to a weak point at the bottom of the orb.

Returning to the center of the city, the three Mad Dogs are reunited at last, but they are heartbroken over Raph's demise. Big Mama congratulates them, but announces that she is still keeping New York and its people for herself. She plans to use the New Yorkers as unwilling contestants in her new city-sized Battle Nexus. But suddenly, Raph and Ghostbear appear before them! While the villains make their escape, Raph defends his brothers from Big Mama. Meanwhile, April, Draxum, Splinter and Recruit are freed from the orb. Now outnumbered, Big Mama calls the Shadow Fiend to fight them. He begins to chase Draxum, who is trying to find a way to open the orb to free the rest of New York. Eventually, they make it to the top of Big Mama's tower, but the Mad Dogs combine their powers to defeat him. Big Mama is about to use her ring to control Shadow Fiend again, but to her shock... the ring is gone!

Foot Recruit then reveals the ring in her grasp and tells everyone that there is no Shadow Fiend. As the monster's cloak blows away, the ominous figure is revealed to be the one and only Shredder. Foot Recruit orders him to attack the heroes, as Splinter orders Leo to open a portal to escape. The demon proves to be too fast as he knocks them around and begins to crush Raph and Donnie. Leo uses Mikey as a weapon to stop Shredder from beating their brothers, while Draxum helps April up to her feet. Leo cries to Splinter for help. Splinter watches in horror by seeing his family in danger. Thinking fast, he uses Leo's ōdachi to open a portal, allowing them to escape. As they all disappear through the portal, Splinter asks Big Mama to come with them, feeling that there is still something good inside her. Touched, Big Mama attempts to go with them. However, Shredder cuts off her exit.

Foot Recruit is furious with Big Mama for using the Shredder for her own deeds. The Shredder destroys the Grand Nexus Hotel, and it collapses to the ground. The recruit rides on the Shredder, and declares that the Foot Clan has risen again, leaving the episode on a cliffhanger.

## Quotes

* **April**: My friends!
* **Splinter**: My sons!
* **Todd**: My BFFs!
* **Foot Recruit**: My enemies!

## Trivia

* Shadow Fiend is revealed to be the Shredder in this episode.
* The mystic orb reappears in this episode, its first appearance is in "Insane in the Mama Train".
* Cindy's parents who debuted earlier in "Operation: Normal" are seen in this episode.

* This episode marks the final appearances of Ghostbear, Huginn, Meat Sweats, Muninn, Carl Sando, and Sloppy Joseph.
	+ Carl's brother Ben does not appear in this episode at all, his final appearance having been in "Man VS. Sewer".
	+ Huginn and Muninn only appear briefly in a flashback, their final in-person appearance having been in "Goyles, Goyles, Goyles".
* It was revealed in July 2020 by *Rise of the TMNT* assistant director and story artist Ashe Jacobson in a Tweet that Leo's playful walk cycle right before he throws his final pie at Carl is a reference to a YouTube video by Roy Purdy.
* Big Mama's heel click following the conclusion of the Battle Nexus matches is a reference to a recurring visual associated with *Kill la Kill*'s Kiryūin Satsuki. This was also referenced earlier in "Many Unhappy Returns".

* The cat that eats the bird on the powerline following the conclusion of the Battle Nexus matches debuted earlier in "The Mutant Menace".