City at War

"Earth's Last Stand"

**"City at War"** is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the 93rd episode overall of the series.

## Sypnosis

April faces a deadly, new enemy when she graduates to full Kunoichi; the turtles must deal with the return of some old foes.

## Plot

As Leonardo recaps what has happened since the events of Earth's Last Stand, with it being several weeks since they saved the Earth and saw to the destruction of the Heart of Darkness Black Hole Generator, it seems that with all of their enemies having either fled Manhattan or been destroyed, they can finally enjoy some peace. In their lair, the Turtles, joined by Casey, are able to enjoy a special initiation under the full moon. April is now promoted to full Kunoichi of the Hamato Clan. Splinter gives her a ceremonial tanto to signify her new status, along with her jumpsuit from her space adventures being repainted black with a yellow stripe down the sides of the arms, torso, and legs. After the ceremony, the gang celebrates April’s achievement.

During their first patrol together, the Turtles and April are attacked by a young sorceress by the name of Shinigami, who manages to escape after stealing April's tanto. Frustrated by losing her tanto so soon after getting it, April and the Turtles begin searching for Shinigami after Splinter believes she could be a new ally of the Shredder. Leo patrols in the Party Wagon, Donnie from the Channel 6 building, and Raph in the Shellraiser, while Mikey stays at the lair. April watches Shredder's old lair, where she sees Shinigami enter and follows her, spotting someone wearing the Kuro Kabuto on Shredder's throne, soon revealed to be Karai.

As April reveals herself, the Turtles soon join her. However, Karai explains that Shinigami is an old friend from Japan, and she's no longer under the brain worm's control, wanting to destroy Shredder's criminal empire in NYC, rebuild the Foot to it's former glory before being corrupted by Shredder, then taking down Shredder himself, once and for all. April confirms it thanks to her psychic powers and the Aeons' gift, and though the Turtles offer their support to Karai's fight, she wants to handle this her way. However, April still wants her rematch with Shinigami to get her tanto back and Karai agrees to it.

At first, Shinigami has the advantage over April, but then April's anger is amplified by the Aeons' gift, causing her to fire psychic blasts that crack the glass around Shredder's old lair before Shinigami is able to best her. Karai calls off the fight before things escalate, then has Shinigami return the tanto anyway, but April, still infuriated, begins to draw her tanto as the Aeons' gift continues to amplify her rage, before Donnie is able to calm her down and remind her not to give into her anger. With that, the Turtles leave, but remind Karai she still has them to turn to for help if she needs it. No one notices a Foot-bot climb onto the outside glass to peer into the room.

Back in the lair, Leo told Splinter about Karai and her plans to take over the Foot Clan. Feeling depressed, Splinter knows there nothing he can do, for Karai's choice was her own. He then saw April who was feeling sad, and ask if anything wrong. April think about revoking her Kunoichi status. Splinter decides to teach her an advanced move known as “The Dragon's Tail”.

Back with Karai and Shinigami, they arrive at a martial arts store that is actually a front for Shredder as he keeps a large cache of munitions in the back. Tiger Claw, Rahzar, and Fishface, watch from a nearby rooftop, before following Karai and Shinigami inside, where Karai makes it clear to Tiger Claw that she's taking down Shredder and his whole crew for everything they've put her and New York City through, but despite her and Shinigami's best efforts, Shinigami is defeated by Tiger Claw who put her over his back and defeated her with a combination of his jetpack and the ceiling. Then he gets Karai to surrender, but not without Karai sending a text message for help to the Turtles first.

As they are kept hostage, Karai manages to free herself, but is quickly overpowered by Tiger Claw, who prepares to kill her before the Turtles and April intervene, freeing Shinigami, allowing them to give Shredder's minions a good beating. However, while fighting Leo and Karai, Tiger Claw throws Karai into a crate, where Karai becomes so stressed that her mutant self surfaces, transforming her arms into her mutant versions to try and tie up Tiger Claw, but he is able to overpower her and Leo. That's when April comes in, drawing Tiger Claw's attention before delivering The Dragon's Tail right between his legs, causing him to crumple to his knees in agony, before Mikey drops a smoke bomb to allow the Turtles, April, Karai, and Shinigami to escape, leaving Tiger Claw, Rahzar, and Fishface to discover that the Turtles have rigged the entire warehouse to blow with explosives, leaving them unable to escape before the charges blow and wipe out Shredder's munitions cache.

Back in the lair, Karai and Shinigami apologize to April about the earlier fight. April and Karai then shake hands and make amends with each other. Afterward, Splinter speaks with Karai, but she assures him that this is her fight as she's grown up now, and she needs to handle Shredder her own way, but will make him proud of her. Splinter voices how proud he is of her already as she leaves, and the Turtles agree that they have to be ready when Shredder returns since their fight with him is not over, and it is sure to get worse from here on out.

Elsewhere at a condominium deep in the woods, with Rocksteady and Bebop as guards, Tiger Claw returns to speak to the Shredder, who is being cared for by Stockman-Fly as the injuries he sustained from losing his fight with Splinter have left him confined to a hospital bed hooked up to several life-support machines with his face wrapped in bandages. As Tiger Claw reports the loss of the weapons cache along with Karai and the Turtles being responsible for it and Karai's decree to wipe out the Shredder's influence in NYC before taking him down for good, Shredder is able to utter out that if it's a war Karai wants, it's a war she'll get. Stockman-Fly hooks up an I.V. loaded with mutagen. As it flows into Shredder's body, his eyes open wide as the mutagen takes effect.

## Quotes

**Karai:** I want to rebuild the Foot. Bring back honor to a clan that Shredder poisoned for almost two decades. And when I finish, I'll destroy Oroku Saki and his empire. Once and for all.

*As the battle between April and Shinigami continues, April's anger is amplified by her gift from the Aeons, causing her to begin attacking with psychic blasts, but Shinigami soon manages to overpower and incapacitate her.* **Shinigami:** Little red bird. **Karai:** Alright, that's enough, Shini! Give her the tanto back. *Shinigami complies, but as soon as she retrieves her tanto, April, her anger still being amplified, begins to draw her tanto blade before Donnie steps in to calm her down* **Donnie:** Easy, April. Don't let that weirdo get to ya. Calm down.

**Tiger Claw:** (After Karai turns off lights) Foolish child, I can still see in the dark! **Rahzar:** So can I!**Fishface:** I can not, so this is kind of upsetting.

**Shinigami:** Here, kitty, kitty, kitty. **Tiger Claw:** What's this?! *Shinigami attempts to lower Tiger Claw's guard through hypnosis*

**Leonardo:** Tiger Claw...I thought you and Shredder left town. You know, after we defeated you and all! **Tiger Claw:** We will never leave until you and Splinter are put to rest!

**Mikey:** Got you, Rahzar! **Shinigami:** Let's play "Walk The Dog!" **Mikey:** Whoa, that's exactly what I was going to say! We're like so similar, Shinigami.

**Tiger Claw:** You are beaten. Your shell will hang in our new lair as a trophy! **April:** I don't think so! *April blinds Tiger Claw with a dust bag bomb before delivering The Dragon's Tail right to his crotch***Tiger Claw:** *(drops to his knees in agonized pain)* (meows)*Shinigami, Mikey, Donnie, Rahzar, and Fishface stare in total shock. Rahzar immediately covers his own crotch with his claws* **Donnie:** Whoa! The Dragon's Tail! Right in the fur patch!

*Mikey drops a smoke bomb to allow the Turtles, April, Karai, and Shinigami to escape* **Rahzar:** *(as the smoke clears)* I hate it when they do that... **Fishface:** *(hearing beeping)* Eh? *They look around to see the entire warehouse is riddled with time bombs ready to blow any second* **Fishface:** Um, we are in trouble. **Tiger Claw:** *(recovering from The Dragon's Tail)* RUN!!! *They make for the exit, but end up stuck by trying to enter at the same time, wedging them in the doorway* **Tiger Claw:** *(realizes they're screwed)* Oh, no.*Massive explosion, setting off sirens and car alarms around the area*

**Shredder:** If it is a war she wants, it is a war she will get!

## Trivia

* Xever's line, "I am the most interesting fish in the world," is a reference to actor Jonathan Goldsmith, who portrays "The Most Interesting Man in the World" in several advertisements for the beer company Dos Equis.
* Like Turtles in Time, the episode name references another preexisting part of Turtle lore, City at War, a 13 part storyline in the Mirage Comics; the 2003 series also had it's own story with City at War. However, like the 2003 series, this episode has loose aspects of the storyline such as:
	+ Karai looking to restore order to the Foot Clan, though in Mirage, Oroku Saki is dead whereas in Nick, Saki's alive though injured due to the previous episode.
	+ A set of followers looking to reclaim the Foot and defeat Karai. The Foot Elite serves this purpose in Mirage whereas in Nick, it's all of Shredder's henchmutants and Baxter Stockman.