Karai's Vendetta

"Karai's Vendetta" is the 21st episode of Season 1 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It premiered on April 27th, 2013.

"Now there's a new target for the Foot Clan."

Official Description
While the Turtles are infiltrating an undersea Kraang base, the Foot Clan attempts to capture April, forcing her to fend for herself in a battle of wits against Karai.

Plot
Open with the Shredder interrogating the Kraang that he successfully captured in the previous episode. He repeatedly asks the alien why it was pursuing the Turtles, but Karai tells him that they don't talk outside of their android bodies, so the Shredder stuffs the Kraang into the Kraang-droid suit that Karai stole inThe Alien Agenda. The Shredder then threatens to kill the Kraang with one of his gauntlets, unless it tells him what he wants to know. The alien opens up to him, saying that its reasoning behind its attempts to kill the Turtles is based on the fact that the Turtles are keeping the Kraang from their target: April O'Neil. The Shredder quickly orders Karai to head out and capture her, as her capture could be exploited to lure the Turtles out from their Sewer Lair.

The next scene takes place in the Dojo, where we see April training alongside Master Splinter, while Donniespars with Leo, and Raph spars with Mikey. Raph grabs onto Mikey and the latter gives in to Raph's 'attack' when he can't move his arms. Splinter then tells Mikey that he should always be looking for ways to unbalance his opponent. He demonstrates with Raph, asking him in Japanese to lift him up. He then licks Raph on the cheek, which grosses him out and distracts him long enough for Splinter to whip him with his tail, knocking Raph to the ground and resulting in his defeat.

Just when Leo, Mikey, and Raph are watching "Space Heroes", Donnie comes in, telling them about the results of a test that he and April just completed. It seems as if the Kraang have put some form of Mutagen into the water supply so that it can become water similar to that which is in the Kraang's homeworld. This 'water' is highly acidic and can be deadly to the touch. Mikey, after watching Donnie dissolve a slice of Pizza in some pure 'Kraang Water', becomes frantic and accidentally knocks over the cup of Kraang water and it spills onto April's arm, though it has no effects on her, hinting that she might not be completely human. She quickly shrugs off this mystery, however, and heads up to the surface to look for some 'human' food. Just before she leaves, the underwater Kraang base (which is transforming the water supply) is located by a scanner of Donnie's and he tells the others that they can get to the base with a new invention of his; the Turtle Sub. However, the only way that the engines can be charged is with kinetic energy, meaning that the Turtles have to supply the submarine with 'fuel' by pedaling tailor-made bicycles in it most of the way there. As they approach the Kraang's base, they encounter a huge Water Creature. Donnie believes that it is from Dimension X. However, they get past the beast after they fire a flare into the water, distracting it. The brothers then run into another obstacle: Kraang guards near the Turtles' only entry point into the base. The Turtles provide a distraction for them as well, as Donnie picks up a stone with the Turtle Sub and stuffs the rock into a large hole in the base where the Kraang Water is seemingly being released from.

Meanwhile, April is having trouble working a new Japanese food machine on the streets of New York, but is helped out by Karai, who convinces April to accompany her in Mr. Murakami's noodle shop. As April converses with her apparent new friend, Karai slyly supplies herself with the alias "Harmony". At first, Karai keeps up the facade, asking April a bunch of questions about her personal life, but, surprisingly, April doesn't suspect anything suspicious about this new 'friend'. Then, April is nearly goaded by Karai into trying the dish that she ordered in the resturant: turtle soup. At the last second, Karai decides to tell April that she's about to taste turtle soup, which instantly makes April realize that Karai is the person she's sitting next to (despite having never met her). April tries to make a run for it, but Karai grabs her from behind and tells her that she's coming with her. However, Murakami intervenes and pours a bowl of soup over Karai's head, allowing April to make an escape. She is able to steal a Pizza delivery boy's motorized bike, but is pursued by Karai on a motorcycle that shebrought with herself.

Just as the Turtles prepare to ambush the Kraang, April calls Donnie and the Kraang hear the phone, which initiates a battle. April tells Donnie that Karai is chasing her, which causes him to panic greatly. He and his brothers defeat the Kraang, but Donnie tries to get his brothers to leave with him so that they can get April out of harm's way, even though Raph tries to convince him that April might get poisoned by the Kraang chemicals if they don't prevent them from spreading. Eventually, however, Leo is able to convince Donatello to destroy the chemical tanks before they rush to April's rescue. So, Donnie thrusts the muzzle of a Kraang guninto the chemical tanks and rigs the weapon to explode in 90 seconds, but the Water Creature from earlier breaks into the base from below and attacks all four turtles at once. Mikey seemingly defeats it, however, and the Turtles make it to the Turtle Sub and depart just before the base completely explodes. However, the Creature, thinking that the Turtle Sub is a female of its own species, reappears and latches onto it. The Turtles release depth charges and force the beast to release them.

Back in the city, Karai is pursuing April through tons of traffic jams and even red lights, but Karai eventually loses track of April when a moving van blocks her path forward. This does little to slow Karai down, as she abruptly takes to the rooftops and spots April, managing to get her to corner herself in an alley way, where Karai attacks. April boldly pulls out the Tessen that Splinter gave her and Karai compliments it, commenting that it is beautiful and should only be used in the right hands. April then charges at Karai, who disarms her. April tries to attack Karai a number of times more, but Karai dodges her attacks and begins outmatching her in response. She knocks April onto a nearby sidewalk, but Karai is hesitant to take her captive, seeking answers to some questions. As Karai briefly faces away from the injured April, she demands to know why she is so important to everybody. April then attacks Karai, saying that she doesn't know why. Karai quickly grab's April's arm and forces her to the ground. Just when Karai has her foe pinned, however, April mentions her deceased mother and this distracts Karai long enough for April to remember Splinter's advice and unbalance Karai by throwing her down the subway stairs, allowing April to escape.

The Turtles and April all meet up back in the Sewer Lair, where April tells them about her fight with Karai. They are all impressed, but Splinter believes that, even though she's able to implement her Ninjutsu skills laudably, this does not mean that she will stop being targeted by the Kraang and the Foot Clan. April is surprised by this belief, but Splinter tells her that the Shredder would stop at nothing to have her if it means destroying the Turtles. He then says that it might be best for her to stay down in the sewers for a while. This results in April protesting and Donnie briefly cheering, though he quickly silences himself. At first, April is upset because she won't be seeing any of her school friends or family for a while, but Leo assures her that everything will go back to normal once the Shredder and the Kraang are defeated and her father is rescued, which makes April determined to get her old life back, ending the episode in a comic style...

Splinter's Wisdom
"The key to success in battle is to unbalance your opponent."

"The most important goal of the ninja is to come home alive."

Trivia

 * Karai's "Turtle Soup" line is loosely based off the well known Shredder quote "Tonight, I dine on Turtle Soup" from past Ninja Turtles incarnations.
 * Before Karai ate her meal, she prayed "Itadakimas". That means you give special thanks to the people who prepared, hunted, and ranched the dish.

Errors

 * When the Turtles are all jumping out of the Turtle Sub in The Sewer Lair at the end of the episode,Mikey's mask is purple.
 * When Leo was telling his brothers to be quiet, Raph's mask was in an awkward position.
 * When Donnie is explaining that Sheldon is a serpent from Dimension X, his mask is red in his reflection despite the sub not being in stealth mode.