Never Say Xever

Never Say Xever" is the 8th episode of Season 1 in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It premiered on November 10th, 2012.

"What will you choose? Mercy or Ferocity?"

Official Description
Leo fears his act of mercy has come back to haunt him when Xever holds a local noodle shop owner hostage.

Plot
The episode opens in the Shredder's headquarters, Xever Montes andChris Bradford have explained to their sensei that Hamato Yoshi/Master Splinter's disciples are actually man-sized turtles that have been highly trained in Martial Arts. Montes and Bradford then see fit to quarrel about their failed mission, but the Shredder silences them and brings a blade to Bradford's throat, saying that he expected much more from him. Bradford promises that, next time, he won't be as incompetent, so the Shredder spares him. He then decides to let Montes be in charge on their second mission, much to Bradford's concern. Montes asserts that he has already spread the word to street gangs to keep an eye out for the Turtles at all times, in addition to saying that, once he finds them, he'll peel the Turtles out of their shells and drop them at the Shredder's feet.

Meanwhile, April O' Neil has decided to lead the Turtles out of the sewers and she is taking them to one of her favorite noodle shops in Chinatown. The Turtles keep themselves concealed on the rooftops, which makes April think that they are far behind her and tells them to speed it up a little. After April realizes that the Turtles are now in front of her, Donnie asks her if she thinks that all turtles are slow. Mikey starts to think that April's previous command was referencing a hurtful stereotype. Leo then tells April that they are always meant to keep a low profile; People treat them better when they don't know they exist. The Turtles then become nervous about entering the noodle shop, but April assures them that the owner, Mr. Murakami, is blind and won't have a clue that they are mutants. They soon arrive at the restaurant, only to Murakami being beaten up by a local street gang known as the Purple Dragons, who think that they own some of the streets. The Turtles are forced to confront the delinquent thugs, despite the fact that April also wanted the Turtles not to hit any people that night. After the Turtles enter the shop and demeand the Purple Dragons to let Murakami go, the leader of the gang reveals that they were warned of the Turtles' existence. The gang then makes haste to charge at the Turtles, initiating a fight, and April is forced to lead Murakami out of the restaurant until the fight concludes. Leonardo disarms the leader of the gang and is about to deliver a punch to his face, but Leo is quick to relent to the crook's cowers, but is successful in persuading the gang to leave the restaurant.Raphael becomes angry at Leo for what he views as showing weakness to a brutal enemy. Leo retorts that the man was unarmed and had enough, therefore he wasn't exactly a threat. Murakami is very grateful for being assisted and offers to cook his saviors' favorite meal, free of charge. All of the Turtles exclaim that they like Pizza, so the blind chef creates something known as "Pizza Gyoza", a pizza version of a traditional Japanese dumpling recipe. The Turtles sample the food and they instantly grow addicted to it, even to the point where they dismiss April's suggestion for them to try soup. Leo asks Murakami if the Purple Dragons come around a lot, and Murakami replies that they always extort protection money from many people in the neighborhood, but Murakami refuses to pay.

Back in the Lair, Leo is throwing punches and kicks at a practice dummy when Raph comes up behind him and tells him to stop striking the dummy, as he's had enough. Leo realizes that Raph is still upset with him for letting a cruel man escape into the city where he could, speculatively, do more harm than good. Splinter then walks into the living room and explains that mercy is an actual sign of true compassion and strength - not being 'soft'. Splinter then hits Raph in the shoulder with his caneand Raph is about to consider asking for mercy, only emphasizing Splinter's point. The Turtles then decide that they should track down the Dragons and make sure that they don't hurt Murakami ever again. Donnie is prompted to briefly wonder how they're supposed to track some one down when they have no clue who to communicate with. They ultimately rely on April to ask locals in Chinatown if they know where the gang's hideout is. April approaches a sushi shop owner and, pretending to be an undercover cop, tells him that she is asking about the presence of the Purple Dragons. At first, the man is wary and wants to see a badge, but April says that showing it to him would blow her cover, so the man tells her where the gang often hangs out: A Tattoo Parlor. The Turtles stake out the building, and Raph immediately notices the leader exiting, so they follow him to the gang's main headquarters. Unfortunately, they happen to interrupt a meeting between the Dragons and the Foot Clan. The three gang members, Montes, and Bradford all attack the Turtles at once. Leo faces the gang leader again, beginning to regret that he let him go. The battle seems to be going fine for the Turtles, but it soon takes a turn for the worse when numerous Foot ninja arrive to even the odds. Leo orders his brothers to retreat, much to Raphael's dismay. Montes yells for the Turtles to come back and refers to them as cowards.

Back in the Lair, Raph is furious, believing that the only way they can defeat their foes is to be even more ruthless than they are. Splinter then comes in and assures his son that Montes will always cross lines that Raph wouldn't. Even if this does make him dangerous, it dosen't mean that he is 'strong'. Meanwhile, Montes tortures Fong (the leader of the Purple Dragons) for his failure to notice that he was leading the Turtles to a place where they could cause trouble. Bradford walks into the room and tells Montes that the Purple Dragons are of no use to them. Montes disagrees, however, and beats information out of Fong as to where they first saw the Turtles. Montes learns that the Turtles were trying to protect Mr. Murakami. Bradford asks Montes how he will make sure that the Turtles won't get a chance to escape like last time. Montes replies that he will simply give the Turtles a reason to stay. Soon, the Turtles see that April is pacing outside of the noodle shop and April leads them inside, where she shows them a note pinned to the wall with one of Montes' butterfly knives, daring them to come save Murakami at the fortune cookie factory. Leo sides with Raph, deciding that Montes has crossed the line by taking Murakami hostage and that the Turtles will have to stoop to Montes' level by taking a hostage of their own; Bradford.

They jump Bradford when the latter is exiting one of his Dojos, chain him into a trash can, and bring him to the meet up where Montes and the Purple Dragons are waiting for them. Murakami has been hung on a rope over the edge of the building. Montes threatens to cut the rope in half, which would make Murakami fall to his death. The Turtles, on the other hand, threaten to toss Bradford off of the roof, but Montes could care less about this and calls their bluff. Not even Raph is willing to toss the defenseless Bradford, so Montes commands a garrison of Foot ninja to ambush the Turtles. During the large fight that follows, Bradford is able to free himself from his restraints with a discarded Kunai knife before asking Montes how he could be so certain that the Turtles were bluffing. Montes coldly replies that he wasn't...

The Purple Dragon leader soon makes a halfhearted attack at Leo, who is busy defending himself against Foot ninja. However, for a second time, Leonardo disarms him of his cleaver and lets him off easy. Bradford and many more ninjas soon join the fray and the Turtles are beaten down by sheer numbers. While Montes begins to brag about having captured the Turtles in the correct manner, the Purple Dragon leader, out of respect, tosses Leo one of his discarded Katana blades. Leo jumps into the air and, with one mighty swipe, he cuts through the support beam of a water tower that is on the roof, which washes the Foot away. Michelangelo is able to save Murakami just as his rope crumbles apart.

Murakami rewards the Turtles with a massive supply of Pizza Gyoza and reveals that he knew that the boys are reptilian, seemingly due to Mikey's body odor. Back at the Lair, April takes a liking to Pizza Gyoza, while Raph tells Splinter that they nearly got beaten. Splinter reminds them that Leo's acts of kindness are what made the Purple Dragon become merciful to them.

At the Foot Clan headquarters, Montes and Bradford arrive and kneel before the Shredder. The Shredder is disgusted when he realizes that they have lost their own battle for the second time. Bradford offers his 'humble apologies' and Montes does as well. The Shredder then vows to deal with the disciples of Hamato Yoshi by himself, ending the episode with the Shredder approaching the camera and narrowing his eyes.

Splinter's Wisdom

 * "To show mercy is not soft, it is a sign of true strength."


 * "A Daimyo of the 16th century once said that 'In times of peace, never forget the possibility of war; in times of war, never forget compassion'."


 * "An enemy that is willing to cross lines that you won't may be dangerous, but this does not make him strong."

Character Debuts

 * Purple Dragons
 * Mr. Murakami

Trivia

 * When Mikey describes his face tattoo, it shows the face of Michelangelo from the original 1987 cartoon.