EPISODE TWENTY SEVEN

Turtles in Space Part One: "The Fugitoid" Written by Michael Ryan Original Air Date: November 8, 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)
Fugitoid/Professor Honeycutt/Robot Sal

SECONDARY CHARACTERS:
Federation General Blanque
Lonae, General Blanque’s aide
Various D’Hoonnibian/Federation Soldiers
Triceraton Commander Mozar

MAIN LOCATIONS, VEHICLES AND ACCESSORIES:
The city of Peblak, on the planet D’Hoonnib, the Sidayom System, Federation Territory
Federation Tank
General Blanque’s command center

Synopsis:

Intro: Leonardo does a quick recap of the end of episode 23, when Master Splinter disappeared. He then gives us a quick recap of episode 26 when the Turtles find Splinter floating in some weird alien bio-suspension unit. It is there that the Turtles first confront the alien Utroms, before disappearing…

Act 1: …and reappearing in an alley in the city of Peblak, on the planet D’Hoonnib, where they find themselves smack dab in the middle of a confrontation between the robot Fugitoid and a platoon of General Blanque’s Federation soldiers! A fight breaks out between the Turtles and the laser gun blasting soldiers, a fight that the Turtles win, but just as it looks like the coast is clear, reinforcement soldiers begin to arrive. Our heroes decide to beat a hasty retreat via a hole in the wall created by the Fugitoid. Chased by the approaching soldiers, our gang find themselves on a rooftop, where the only means of escape is to jump off of the building and into a passing garbage truck.

We cut to our first glimpse of General Blanque, in his command center, who is furious that his soldiers failed to capture the Fugitoid. The officer orders his men to find the Fugitoid and its allies, the Turtles.

We cut back to the TMNT and the Fugitoid, who have safely exited the garbage truck and have now realized, with mounting anxiety, that they are in a galaxy far, far away. Leonardo surmises that they're too far, far away from their Master Splinter, who remains trapped back on Earth in that weird alien bio-suspension unit in the TCRI building. Our heroes don't have time to commiserate – as a platoon of Federation soldiers show up… with a tank!

Act 2: The Turtles and their new ally the Fugitoid escape into Peblak’s ultra-clean sewers, unseen by the soldiers. As the guys marvel at the cleanliness of their surroundings, Mikey spots an odd sight - a turtle-like sensei leads a group of four bipedal and bandanaed rodents through the sewer! Since things are quiet in the sewer, the Fugitoid explains his origin:

The droid explains that it was once a man named Professor Honeycutt, the most brilliant scientist on D’Hoonnib. General Blanque wanted Honeycutt to build the Teleportal device, a machine capable of transporting beings from planet to planet as a way to promote peace. The General, of course, wanted to use the Teleportal device as a weapon, therefore Honeycutt refused to build it and instead focused his efforts on the Mentawave device, a gadget that enhanced brain power and allowed the wearer to manipulate objects with their mind.

One dark and stormy night, the professor, while wearing the Mentawave device, went outside to try to disentangle his worker robot Sal from some cables, when the two of them are struck by lightning. The electrical blast consumed the professor’s body, but somehow it interacted with the Mentawave device and transferred the man's mind into Sal’s robotic body! This unfortunate occurrence was witnessed by General Blanque, who was very pleased with the result, for robots have no rights, meaning that the officer could forcibly remove the Teleportal plans from the robot's computerized brain! Thus Professor Honeycutt, in his new form, fled from the General and his army and became known as the Fugitoid.

The Turtles, no mental slouches themselves, realize that such a device could get them home. However, before going further with this train of thought, the reason for the ultra-cleanliness of Peblak’s sewers becomes clear: a horrific sweeping, grinding, object-eating monster of a machine comes bearing down on them!

Act 3: The Turtles and the Fug disable the machine, thanks to Don’s knowledge of all things mechanical.

Cut to General Blanque’s command center where the General’s trusted aide, Lonae, is working at a computer console and detects our heroes in the sewer. Blanque orders all units to the sewer. The military leader then rants about what he’ll do to the Federation’s enemies once he gets the Fugitoid to build the Teleportal device… and how bad it would be if these same enemies ever got wind of the device’s existence.

Back to the Turtles, who unwittingly head topside to the surface where soldiers and tanks await. Raph commandeers a Federation hover tank. Elsewhere, Mikey has gone off on his own to get some food. The Turtle finds a bag of chips, but he's found by a group of Federation soldiers, who open fire on the dejected ninja. Michelangelo is eventually trapped by several soldiers, and then a hover tank arrives on the scene. Things look pretty grim for the terrapin jokester.

Act 4: The hover tank drops its turret and smashes it into the soldiers, sending them flying. The hull door pops open and Raph sticks his head out smiling, telling his brother to climb aboard. Raphael then picks up the rest of the team and they fly down the streets. Leonardo asks Raph if he couldn't have found something less conspicuous, but Raphael states that they couldn't be any safer - and he's right - until the pilot of the stolen vehicle spots his ride and a squadron of hover tanks take off and attack the Turtles. The Fugitoid jacks itself into the tank’s computer system and takes control of the weaponry in the nick of time. Our heroes manage to destroy the tanks pursuing them, but now a legion of soldiers are in on the hunt. The Turtles' tank is shot be the infantry and it blows up! But not to worry: ninja stealth is at work and our boys and the Fugitoid have escaped again! Blanque screams for their heads, again!

Cut to a condemned Peblakian warehouse. Lonae, Blanque’s so-called “trusted aide,” enters the structure and receives a payoff from an agent of the Federation’s enemies. Lonae has accepted a box full of jewels from the Triceraton Commander Mozar in exchange for information about the Teleportal device...