EPISODE SEVENTY ONE
“Reality Check”
Written by Christopher Yost
Original Air Date: March 5, 2005
Supervising Producer: Lloyd Goldfine
Producers: Gary Richardson, Frederick U. Fierst, Al Kahn, Norman Grossfeld, Thomas Kenney
Supervising Director: Roy Burdine
Story Editor: Lloyd Goldfine
MAJOR CHARACTERS:
Donatello (Sam Regal)
Leonardo (Michael Sinterniklaas)
Michelangelo (Wayne Grayson)
Raphael (John Campbell)
SECONDARY CHARACTERS:
Splinter
Ultimate Drako
The Super Turtles:
Gravi-Turtle (Leo’s alternate dimension counterpart)
Shellectro (Don’s alternate dimension counterpart)
Griddex (Raph’s alternate dimension counterpart)
Blobboid (Mike’s alternate dimension counterpart)
Mayor April O’Neil (alternate dimension counterpart)
Casey Jones (alternate dimension counterpart)
Sliver (Splinter’s evil alternate dimension counterpart)
MAIN LOCATIONS, VEHICLES AND ACCESSORIES:
Turtle Lair
Turtle Lair (alternate dimension version)
Megatropolis
Sliver’s Tower
Synopsis:
Intro: Michelangelo narrates as we open with him scaling a wall along with the four Super Turtles. The jovial ninja is in an alternate dimension where the Turtles have super powers, and he gets to join in on the crime fighting fun. The four Super Turtles and Mike scale the structure and approach a throne room, only to be met with a horrible surprise…
Act 1: Open in the Turtle Lair where the TMNT are doing various things. Leonardo practices his ninjitsu with Master Splinter while Mikey elaborates on why he loves comic books and super heroes. Suddenly, Ultimate Drako appears with the Time Scepter. The evil villain raises his staff which shoots bolts of energy that encompasses our heroes in a flash of eerie light, freezing them in mid-air.
Fade in from the blinding light as we see Mikey is now the only one left in the lair, only, it’s not exactly the lair. It’s an updated and futuristic version of the Turtles’ home, as if from an alternate reality. Mike begins to explore when a disembodied computer voice asks him where he wants to go. An elevator appears from out of the floor. Michelangelo enters the lift and requests to be taken to see his brothers. With that, the elevator doors close and it drops at a phenomenal speed, taking the Turtle to a desert landscape. As Mikey explores this new environment, he comes upon four super hero Turtles (Gravi-Turtle, Shellectro, Griddex and Blobboid) facing off with a group of super villains calling themselves the Terrorkinetics.
Act 2: Mikey is caught in the super battle and soon pinned to the ground by a huge, animalistic robot. The Super Turtles have no idea who the shell Mike is, so Griddex orders the computer to shut down the program, revealing the villains (and the desert) to be holographic simulation. The Super Turtles decide to scan Mikey to see if he’s a threat, so the ninja is taken back upstairs and given the scientific once-over, revealing that he has no super powers. While Michelangelo is strapped down, he begins to phase shift and it’s determined that he’s from an alternate dimension. Suddenly, a helicopter arrives at the lair, and April O’Neil emerges with her security team. April informs the Super Turtles that they must stop a doomsday device that’s set to go off in Megatropolis.
Act 3: As the Super Turtles are given the details by April, we discover that she is the mayor of Megatropolis. Casey Jones clumsily disembarks from the chopper and we learn that this dimension’s Casey is a non-violent politician working for O’Neil. With the briefing completed, the Super Turtles prepare to set off. Mikey begins to phase shift yet again, and bids his new friends farewell… except he stops phasing and stays put in this dimension. With that, the Super Turtles take off to face their foe, with Mikey in tow.
Cut to Sliver’s Tower. Once Mikey and the Super Turtles arrive, they knock down the building’s defenses and then break into the Throne room, preparing to do battle with their arch nemesis, a villain named Sliver. To Mikey’s surprise, Sliver is none other than an evil version of his own Master Splinter! As the Super Turtles attack their former Sensei, they prove to be no match for their mentor, who has all of their powers and more knowledge on how to use them. Sliver traps the heroes in an Utromidium cage, which nullifies their powers.
Act 4: With no way out of the cage, it seems that the Super Turtles cannot stop Sliver from setting off the Penultimate Nullificator and destroying all life outside the tower. But Mikey comes up with a plan!
Mikey calls out to the evil rat and asks for an audience with him – in private. Sliver grants the request, freeing him from the main cage but keeping him trapped in a small sphere, which floats up to villain’s throne. Once he’s face-to-face with the nefarious rodent, Michelangelo pretends that the TMNT and Splinter rule the world in his dimension, and he volunteers to help Sliver do the same here. Sliver desperately longs for his “sons” to fight by his side, so he buys the story and frees Mike from his personal cage. Only isn’t Mikey, it’s Blobboid disguised in Mikey’s form! Blobboid seizes Sliver’s staff and uses it to release the others. The battle is renewed, but once again Sliver defeats his pupils, leaving only Michelangelo to face the super-powered evildoer. With quick movements and guile, Mikey defeats Sliver by trapping him in his own cage! As soon as the villain is captured, Mikey once again begins to phase shift – but once again he doesn’t disappear.
Unfortunately the Penultimate Nullificator is about to go off – but Mikey suggests that if they can reverse it’s signal, it will only destroy Sliver’s tower and not the world outside. Shellectro flies to the doomsday device and reverses its programming – leaving our heroes only seconds to vacate the facility before it disintegrates! The Super Turtles escape with Michelangelo in tow. They land on the ground just as Mike fades into a chronal energy tunnel of Null Space (just as how he got there).
Cut to courtyard of the Shell of Justice. The Super Turtles, Mayor O’Neil and others stand in front of a statue of Michelangelo. Gravi-Turtle dedicates the monument to “the Turtle Titan” for saving their world.