Pizza Puffs

"Pizza Puffs" is the ninth episode of the second season (Episode 5B) of *Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*, and the fifty-fifth episode overall in the series. It first aired on April 24th, 2020.

## Characters

* Donatello (Josh Brener)
* Tummytello (Josh Brener)
* Leonardo (Ben Schwartz)
* Meat Sweats (John Lydon)
* Michelangelo (Brandon Mychal Smith)
* Raphael (Omar Benson Miller)
* Guy Flambé (Oliver Vaquer)

## Plot

At an alleyway, Guy Flambé is eating a pizza puff from a mysterious figure. However, what Guy does not know is that the puffs are laced with a strange toxin. Suddenly, Raph jumps down to tackle the figure. He removes the figure's hood, revealing him to be Meat Sweats. Raph explains that he is trying to sabotage Flambé and his business, but Meat Sweats was able to escape from Raph and drives off. After that, he grabs the bag full of poisoned pizza puffs and heads back to the Lair, where the other Turtles are asleep. He puts the bag in the cupboards, intending for Donnie to analyze them later, and putting caution signs with words like "Do Not Touch" on the bag before heading to bed.

The next day, Raph discovers that the bag is missing from the cupboard and finds his brothers. In the living room, Leo, Donnie and Mikey are eating the poisoned pizza puffs. Raph is mad at them for eating the puffs, while they believe he put the signs on just to keep them for himself. He then starts complaining about how every time his brothers are in trouble, he has to fix their mess. He wishes that his brothers could fix their own mess instead of goofing around and expecting Raph to fix it. Meanwhile, the brothers just won't stop eating the delicious Pizza Puffs - despite the fact that analyzing them could easily provide an antidote.

The poison then starts to take effect on the three Turtles. Leo starts to get sweaty and occasionally lights on blue fire. Mikey then becomes completely boneless, to the point where he has to be carried around in a bowl. Lastly, Donnie's stomach begins grumbling and later forms a face. This causes Raph to feel overwhelmed and has to think of how to cure his brothers, and at the same time, this is the perfect opportunity for his brothers to learn about being responsible. The four brothers then go out to the streets via Turtle Tank to track down Meat Sweats.

They first stop at a bakery where Leo, still affected by the poison, talks to the baker as a means of distraction. Unfortunately he's sweating and seeing double, and accidentally destroys the bakery while attempting to put the dishes in the sink. After kicking him out, the baker gives Leo and Raph an apron that belonged to Meat Sweats. With this being their clue, Donnie uses his latest invention; a giant nose that allows him to use the scent of anything or anyone and track them down. Despite it being a bumpy ride, the Turtles reach to Meat Sweats' boat in the docks.

Raph stays in the Turtle Tank and eventually gets in a self-debate about wanting to help his brothers or letting them fight Meat Sweats on their own. Meanwhile, Leo, Donnie and Mikey all head to Meat Sweats' boat to confront him for the antidote, where the mutant pig is able to beat the three with ease. Later during the fight, Donnie sees Leo is still eating Pizza Puffs, and realises he's kept a load for himself. He grabs the hidden bag of poisoned pizza puffs and, using the boneless Mikey as a slingshot, shoots the poisoned pizza puffs into Meat Sweats' mouth. After consuming the delicious puffs, due to the poison's effect, smaller Meat Sweats heads begin popping all over his body.

The Turtles were able to grab the antidote and consume it, turning them back to their normal selves. Meat Sweats begs them to give the last bit of antidote, but Leo eats another poisoned puff, grabs the antidote and drinks some of it before disposing the nearly empty bottle. Meat Sweats chases after the vial and gets stuck on the doorway until the three Turtles push him out during their escape. They see Raph, covered in bruises from physically fighting himself, outside of the Turtle Tank. When he sees his brothers cured from the poison, he's relieved that his brothers are okay and is proud of them doing this themselves. He then resumes to arguing and fighting himself.

Meat Sweats drinks the last drop of the antidote, turning him back to normal mutant self. Suddenly, a mysterious shadow appears, grabs Meat Sweats from behind, and vanishes with him.

## Trivia

* It was revealed in April 2020 by *Rise of the TMNT* writer Russ Carney in a Tweet that Leo's interaction with the Swedish Baker was somewhat improvised, stating, "Fun #rottmnt fact: In "Pizza Puffs", when sickly Leo runs his face-man scam on the baker, [Ben Schwartz] did maybe two takes, then we asked him to ignore the script and say whatever he remembered. I think the improv'd result was more sickly and weird."

## Transcript

* Pizza Puffs Transcript

Pizza Puffs Gallery