Baxter's Gambit

"Baxter's Gambit" is the 19th episode of Season 1 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It premiered on April 5th, 2013.

"Who dares to enter the Maze...of DOOM?"

Official Description
Fed up with being humiliated by Fishface and Dogpound and defeated by the Turtles, Baxter Stockman seeks revenge by luring both parties into a deadly labyrinth.

Plot
Open with the Turtles spying on the Kraang from a rooftop, while Baxter Stockman, Fishface, andDogpound are across from them on a different rooftop.Donnie reveals that the Kraang, who are exiting a warehouse, have in their hands a "Subspacial Endal Particle Disruptor" or S.E.P.D., for short. He explains in a sophisticated manner that the weapon causes any object to implode. On the other building, Stockman is about to give the order for Dogpound and Fishface to attack the Kraang, but the two mutants refuse to take orders from him and threaten to harm him if he doesn't abide by their orders. Under his breath, the scientist vows to get even. The Turtles and the Foot mutants both receive their cues and attack the Kraang at the same time, while Stockman is left stranded on the rooftops. Raph is so pleased to be fighting against the Foot that he says he must be dreaming. Mikey then pinches him on the cheek, of course, followed by Raph hitting him in the head. The Turtles then begin to fight the Kraang, but Dogpound gets in their way, so Leo starts to fight him, while Raph battles Fishface. One of the Kraang droids grabs the particle disruptor and fires it at Mikey, but Donnie rushes in and tackles him out of the way, resulting in a nearby car being hit and imploding. The Turtles then decide to put an end to the fight and leave, while Dogpound and Fishface do the same.

Back in the Lair, Master Splinter goes from one turtle to the next and sees if they can avoid being hit on the head by a Randori (a wooden practice sword held by Splinter) without seeing it. Only Leo succeeds. Raph asks Splinter what the point of this is, Splinter responding that evading a sword that one can't see demonstrates an ability to sense intentions. Raph claims that he knows the one and only intention of his enemies - to take him down. Splinter elucidates that an enemy striking is a given, but sensing when they will strike could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Back at the Shredder's hideout, Dogpound and Fishface blame Stockman for flawing their plan. To their surprise, Stockman agrees that he was the one responsible. He offers to make amends with the Shredder and tells him that he has designed a fool-proof trap that can get rid of the Turtles, but he'll need the help of Dogpound and Fishface to lure them into it. The Shredder agrees.

Later that night, when the Turtles are out on patrol, they spot Dogpound and Fishface standing out in the open and Leo tells his brothers to wait and proceed with caution, but he soon finds that his brothers have already starting fighting, so he jumps down to help them. Fishface and Raph face off yet again, but Fishface is easily defeated this time, as is Dogpound by Leo, Donnie, and Mikey. The two villains run away and Raph starts to run after them, even though Leo believes that something is not right, but he and his brothers reluctantly go with Raph and chase after the duo...

Meanwhile, in the Sewer Lair, April is training with Splinter, until she asks him when she'll get the opportunity to use a real weapon. Splinter states that she already possesses the Kunoich's most powerful weapon, which is the mind. April asks when the last time was he saw a person hit someone else with their mind. Seeing that she has a very good point, Splinter settles on finding a suitable weapon for her.

The Turtles catch up to Dogpound and Fishface in a warehouse, but a red circle then forms around all of them and their surroundings turn into nothing but a bunch of black and white stripes. Mikey confirms that this may very well be a trap. Stockman then shouts out over an intercom, stating that they are in his "Maze Of Doom" and that, if they manage to get through it, they could walk away with the grand prize - their very lives. He then shoots projectile misslies at all of them, including Dogpound and Fishface. The Foot mutants berate him for being a traitor, but Stockman shouts that he has had enough of their threats and insults, supporting this response with the fact that he doesn't make threats of his own. He also hints at the presence of a "Monster of Doom" at the end of his maze. He then presses a button that triggers the ground beneath the Turtles, Dogpound, and Fishface to disappear, causing the group of mutants to fall down.

They fall into a round, checkered tunnel and begin to fight with eachother yet again, but Leo then sees laser axes starting to appear. They stop fighting, as they all begin to realize what's happening. One laser axe nearly hits Fishface, but Raph pushes him out of the way, though he doesn't really know why he should have done this. Leo suggests that they stop fighting and work together to escape. Dogpound refuses and is almost struck by an axe as well, but Leo throws several Shuriken at the blade's hinge, so it narrowly passes Dogpound, only cutting off one of his spikes on his disproportionate shoulder. Raph doesn't think that they should trust the Foot Clan mutants, but Leo doesn't see any other choice and is confident that they'll be able to see a betrayal coming their way.

Back at the Lair, April works her way through several weapons, including a Chigikiri, a Morning Star, and a mace, though none of these seem to be her type. She also works with a pair of Bunrai, one of which flies out of her hands and comes back toward her face like a Boomerang, though Splinter catches it. After this occurence, the ninja master recommends that they should keep looking.

Meanwhile, in the maze, the team makes their way to the next room, where Dogpound claims that he smells fresh air toward their right. Then, metal balls with laser shredders appear out of a ventilation hole and attack every one, which results in them making a dash for the exit. Dogpound soon sniffs the air and realizes that they have been where they are before. A few seconds later, they are split into two groups by a metal wall, with Raph and Fishface being separated from the others. Leo notices Donnie using his T-Phone and tells him that there is no signal, but Donnie comments that he might be able to reconfigure the T-Phone so that it can detect ambient A.C. Current and this could lead them to Stockman, though it might require some time to pinpoint where he is. In order to make Stockman distracted, Mikey loudly asks him what made him interested in the pursuit of being a supervillain, so Baxter tells him that, since the chances are that Mikey won't live to read his Autobiography, he will simply tell him and, as soon as he starts, Mikey loses interest.

Back with Splinter and April, Splinter gives her a Kusari-fundo, a Japanese chain whip, to practice with. She quickly loses her grip on it and it flies all the way across the room and hits the portrait of Splinter's family, causing it to fall on to the floor. April picks it up and hands it to Splinter, commenting that his baby daughter was beautiful. Splinter says that Miwa would've been approximately April's age now, and he then walks into his room to look for a mysterious something.

Still in the maze, Raph complains to Fishface that they are walking through the world's longest tunnel "of doom", when, all of the sudden, it with comes to an end with a giant bladed fan. It then begins to turn and turn, sucking parts of the tunnel into it. Fishface takes advantage of his robotic legs and plants them into the floor, but Raph loses his balance and heads straight toward the fan. However, before he can get shredded, Fishface catches him by the leg at the last second, and then kicks open the floor so that they can escape into a black room with some visibility. Raph says that this makes them even, but Fishface confesses that the pleasure of killing Raph has been reserved for himself, not Stockman.

Back with the other group, Stockman keeps talking about his childhood, remembering how he was expelled for using genuine lava for a science fair volcano that incinerated the entire gym and he vowed revenge on those who "wronged" him. A thoroughly bored Mikey replies that Stockman is a poor, poor man. Suddenly, the tunnel starts to bristle with rotating laser turrets. Dogpound and the Turtles both become shocked when they see this, though they fight their way through.

After a long moment of silence, Raph asks what Fishface is doing with someone like the Shredder. He says that, in many ways, it's all he's ever known. Apparently, Montes grew up as a homeless street urchin in Brazil. Sometime during his youth, he learned that one of the basic rules of crime is that, if you want something, you take it. Over the next 22 years, Montes became the most unparalleled thief in town. Unfortunately, when he was trying to steal a briefcase, his luck ran out. He was caught and sentenced to a number of years in prison, where the owner of that briefcase (the Shredder) came to visit him. He was released from prison and served him, performing many of the Foot's "dirtier" jobs. He says that his most recent order was to destroy Raph, his brothers and Splinter. Raph realizes that he does all of this because he owes a debt of gratitude to the Shredder, but Fishface states that the real reason he does it is for his love to "crack skulls", which Raph can actually relate to.

Dogpound, after the last laser turret is destroyed, yells that he will find Stockman, and Raph and Fishface manage to hear this from behind the wall. Fishface obliterates the whole wall with a single kick, and the two groups are reunited successfully. Leo teases Raph for their playdate, much to Raph's embarassment.

Donnie finally thinks that he's got a lock on Stockman, and he orders Dogpound to rip a floor tile open, but, once again, the floor collapses underneath them. They then find Stockman, who is standing upon a floating craft, depressed that the teams didn't destroy each other. However, he then brings out his monster "of doom", which bears a striking resemblance to his Stockman-Pod armor, and the group is forced to fight it.

The boys begin to fight, but Stockman gets the best of them, even by using his M.O.U.S.E.R.S. against them. Leo tells Mikey and Dogpound to lure the Robot Monster under Stockman, but he is way too fast. He then tells Raph and Fishface to take the shot. Fishface slides on his back, and Raph jumps on to his robotic feet, only to get launched at Stockman, destroying his control saucer and causing it to plummet on to the robot. Stockman manages to escape the scene with a metal helicopter helmet, and flies off into the night.

Meanwhile, in the Lair, April waits for Splinter and sees him come out of his room with a black Tessen fan in his hand. He says that he was hoping to give it to his daughter one day, but that April should become the rightful owner of it. She says that it's beautiful, and he shows her that it makes a good weapon by throwing it at the tree in the dojo. It's razor edge cuts deeply into the wood. April has finally found her weapon of choice.

The Turtles, Dogpound and Fishface finally find a way out, and decide to engage in a continuation of their perpetual war, as they weren't able to finish it earlier. Mikey swings his Nunchucks all around, but is way too tired to do anything with them. He is only able to say "Booyaka-" and yawns, falling to his knees. They are all too exhausted to battle so they just decide to forget about it, and leave. Mikey declares that Raph and Fishface made a pretty good team, but Raph says that Fishface will still take them down whenever he gets the chance. Fishface seizes that chance and throws one of Stockman's balls with laser shredders at Leo, but, before it can hit him, Raph is able to sense it and stabs his Sai into the center of it. He tells his brothers to trust their senses and that they'll see him coming. Fishface wickedly smiles at Raph and walks away, impressed. The Turtles watch Dogpound and Fishface leave, ending the episode in a comic style...

Splinter's Wisdom
"Knowing that your enemy will strike is a given. Sensing when  they will strike could mean the difference between victory and defeat."

Errors

 * When they are all thrown against the wall by the Monster Of Doom, Leonardo is seen holding one sword in his hand but there are still two swords in the holster on his back!