"The Way of Invisibility"
Written by Marty Isenberg
Original Air Date: March 22, 2003
Supervising Producer: Lloyd Goldfine
Producers: Gary Richardson, Frederick U. Fierst, Al Kahn, Norman Grossfeld, Thomas Kenney
Supervising Director: Chuck Patton
Story Editor: Lloyd Goldfine
MAJOR CHARACTERS:
Donatello (Sam Regal)
Leonardo (Michael Sinterniklaas)
Michelangelo (Wayne Grayson)
Raphael (Frank Frankson)
Splinter (Darren Dunstan)
Casey Jones (Marc Thompson)
Saki (Scottie Ray)
Hun (Greg Carey)
Baxter Stockman (Scott Williams)
SECONDARY CHARACTERS:
Foot Ninjas and Technicians
Purple Dragons
The Guardians
MAIN LOCATIONS, VEHICLES AND ACCESSORIES:
New Lair
Sewer Tunnels
City streets and rooftops
Saki’s Palace
Foot Lab on Saki’s Yacht
BattleWagon
Sewer Sled
TurtleVision Goggles
Synopsis:
Intro: Raph is strapped to an examination table, not knowing where he is, how he got there or what’s going on. (This basic scene repeats itself later in the main action).
Open with Saki ranting about the meddlesome mutants who have ruined several of his plans. He accuses Hun and Stockman of screwing up and allowing the mutants to ruin things. The angry leader orders the pair of underlings to cooperate for a change to find and, possibly, destroy the mutants.
Meanwhile, Splinter is teaching the TMNT a lesson about the “Way of Invisibility”. The training session isn’t going too well when Casey arrives at the lair unexpectedly (and uninvited), causing things to go from bad to worse as Jones becomes the annoying guest from hades who won’t leave. However, Casey did come for a reason, to show the Turtles pictures of the graffiti going up all over the city that threatens the Turtles. Casey wants Raph and the others to go topside and teach these disrespectful taggers a lesson, but the ninjas smell a trap and tell Jones the bad graffiti isn’t worth troubling about. The TMNT return to their training training as Casey kicks back, showing no sign that he intends to leave anytime soon.
After more accidents, Splinter finally has had enough of Casey’s company and, reluctantly, tells Raph to go topside for some fresh air with Mr. Jones. Raphael and Jones jump at the chance to get outside, and everyone else breathes a sigh of relief at Casey’s departure.
When Casey and Raph get up to the surface, they happen upon several Purple Dragons spray-painting more graffiti. Jones convinces his mutant ally that they should teach these creeps some respect. Casey and Raph easily defeat the three Dragons, but suddenly reinforcements arrive - Baxter Stockman's Foot Tech Ninjas - and they have the power of invisibility! Raph correctly deduces that these bad guys are wearing cloaking devices that make them invisible to the naked eye. Since it's very difficult to fight what you can’t see, Casey and Raphael get knocked out. The Foot Tech Ninjas carry Raph off and leave Jones behind for the Dragons to deal with.
When Raphael comes to, he discovers that he's strapped to an examination table, surrounded by probes and other medical equipment, in some sort of lab. Hun and Stockman are observing him. Seeing Raph gain consciousness, Hun begins to question him, while Stockman stays in the background waiting for his chance to dissect this strange creature.
In the meantime, Casey escapes the Dragons and returns to the lair and explains what happened to Raphael. While the tale of invisible ninjas is a little hard to swallow, there is no denying that Raph has been kidnapped, so the crew heads out to find their missing brother by using the transponder in his Shell-Cell to track him. Don hands out his new "TurtleVision" goggles, which should allow them to at least see thermal images of the invisible ninjas.
As the guys are heading out in search of Raph, he quite unexpectedly and easily manages to escape. When the fugitive Turtle climbs the stairs from the lab, he discovers that he's on a yacht in the middle of the Hudson River. No problem, since Turtles are amphibious! Raph jumps off the ship and swims to shore. Watching his escape are Hun and Stockman. It turns out that the escape has all been prearranged in the hopes that Raphael will lead the Foot Tech Ninjas to the rest of the mutants. Stockman explains to Hun that his invisible soldiers will follow Raph without him even knowing he is being trailed.
Raphael and the others meet up in the sewer tunnels far from the lair, and assume all is well until suddenly they are under attack from invisible forces. Don instructs everyone to put on their TurtleVision goggles and, viola, they are able to see thermal images of the Foot Tech Ninjas. With the odds now evened, the TMNT and Casey are able to defeat the Foot and return home to the security of their lair.
Hun and Stockman are now left to deal with Saki’s wrath one more time due to another botched mission. However, based on his brief period of interrogation, Hun tells Saki that he does not believe the mutants know anything about Saki, The Foot, or Saki’s enemies, The Guardians.
We close with a sneak peak of these mysterious Guardians. A Guardian spy reports to a trio of odd individuals that the strange Turtle creatures are apparently not aligned with Saki, at least not yet. The trio tells the spy to learn all he can about these creatures, and they will wait for more information before taking any action against them. Spooky!
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