Mascot Melee

**"Mascot Melee"** is the ninth episode (Episode 5A) of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It first aired on September 26th, 2018.

## Characters

* Atomic Lass (Grey Griffin)
* Donatello (Josh Brener)
* Joey the Junkyard Dog (John DiMaggio)
* Leonardo (Ben Schwartz)
* Michelangelo (Brandon Mychal Smith)
* Raphael (Omar Benson Miller)
* Robot Vampire (Grey Griffin)
* Sergeant Woodpecker (Eric Bauza)
* Splinter (Eric Bauza)

## Plot

in the middle of New York City Street, Raph walks around the crowd in a hippo costume. No one finds this unusual, since there are many people in mascot costumes around Times Square. Raph's brothers are in the Moon Buggy, communicating with walkie-talkies. They guide him towards a department store, so they can buy a present for Splinter's birthday with their combined funds. They plan to get Splinter a new robe; his old one is worn, ripped, and exposes his underwear, which horrifies the turtles. Donnie, Leo, and Mikey get distracted by a meme sent by April: a hippo with 80's Raph's head, running around and pooping cookies. This leads Raph to bump into a man with a creepy smile. The creepy man just nods at Raph's apology, then walks away.

When Raph gets to the store, he reaches for his wallet, but can't find it on him. While Raph frantically searches, he bumps into another man, causing his hippo head to fall off. The crowd sees Raph's face, but think that he is dressed as the Turtle-potamus meme. The people offer to pay for pictures with Raph, and the turtles encourage the idea so Raph can earn back their misplaced money. Raph poses for pictures, and gets lots of tips, but this catches the attention of a few mascots from the Jupiter Jim series. The Atomic Lass mascot tries to sway the people, saying that memes are temporary, and the Jupiter Jim mascots have always been around. This does not work, and the mascots sing a little song, threatening to hurt Raph if he doesn't leave.

The other turtles dress up as aliens and make their way to the crowd. A fight/dance-off starts between the turtles and the mascots. Leo takes down the breakdancing, chain-whipping Joey the Junkyard Dog. Atomic Lass steps in, and Donnie sweeps her off of her feet. Sergeant Woodpecker knocks Donnie aside, and Raph intervenes with some dancing. Atomic Lass's moves seem to steal the show. But the turtles quickly hack all the screens in Times Square to show the Turtle-potamus meme, and dance together. The people fill Raph's hippo head with tips. Raph declares victory and decides its time to go get Splinter's gift.

Atomic Lass throws her giant hammer at the turtles, and Donnie uses his tech-bo to stop her. He knocks her costume's head off by accident, revealing the creepy man from earlier. Atomic Lass's hammer breaks open, and stolen money and jewelry falls out, including Raph's wallet. The creepy man had been pickpocketing everyone in Times Square. Sergeant Woodpecker tries to stop Raph from grabbing the money, and Raph punches the woodpecker head off, revealing a mutant cockroach. The other Jupiter Jim mascots, and the creepy man are also mutant roaches, and fight with the turtles. After their battle, Sergeant Woodpecker tries running off with all the money, but Raph stops him with a powerful punch.

After returning the people's money, and buying Splinter's new robe, the turtles go home. Splinter opens the box and marvels at the robe's quality. He says he will wear it on special occasions. He then offers to train with the turtles, as he is already wearing his "jumping jacks" robe. The turtles are horrified again.

## Errors

This episode contains some continuity errors.

* At the end of this episode, Splinter receives his typical brown and yellow yukata he wears in every other present day appearance in the series to replace his old, tattered red yukata. That would seem to place this episode chronologically before even the first episode "Mystic Mayhem", when he was already wearing the new yukata. However, in "**Mascot Melee**" the Turtles already have the mystic weapons they took from Baron Draxum's armory no earlier than in "Mystic Mayhem".
	+ In this episode, the Turtles have their Turtle Tank, which Donatello first unveiled in its current state in "The Fast and the Furriest", but in "The Fast and the Furriest", Splinter stole the tank for a joy ride before his other sons could see it for the first time and he was wearing the *brown and yellow yukata* he receives in "**Mascot Melee**".

## Trivia

* In this episode, Mikey states, "I still think my trench coat idea would've worked." This is a reference to the 1987 TV series and the 1990 film in which the Turtles wear trench coats and fedoras as disguises when in public.
* It is revealed in this episode that Raph is allergic to peanuts.
* The Turtles do the dance from Vanilla Ice's Ninja Rap from the second 90s film.
* April's meme features the head of Raphael from the 1987 TV series, pooping cookies. The meme itself is also a reference to Nyan Cat.
* When Donnie closes the Turtle Tank's door, he whistles the 1987 TV series' theme song.
* **Running Gag:** Donnie mentions that he would like to work with Atomic Lass fighting crime in Uraniumville.
* When the Turtles prepare to save Raph, their poses are similar to those of the Ginyu Force from *Dragon Ball Z (Kai),* which the edited FUNimation dub aired on Nicktoons USA from 2010-2012.
* The design of the red yukata that the Turtles replace in this episode is reminiscent of previous Splinter costume designs from the 2012 TV series, 2003 TV series, and the 1987 TV series.