Survivalists

Donatello's Role
Overall Involvement - Major

Mikey tells Don not to move while shooting apples on his head with a bow and arrow. Mikey hits the apple and Don begins to eat it. Mikey suggests they switch to bananas, but Don says he's had enough after nine apples and tells him that there's an easier way to make a fruit salad.

A man appears from the bushes, saying that a group of American patriot extremists are after him for an atomic bomb. Don asks him if he built it and whether it works, to which the man says he was forced to and that it should work. The man is suddenly shot in front of them, to everyone's shock. Don immediately asks if he's okay. Leo and Don duck down scout for the sniper. Don points out they must be using a sight.

Raph suggests that Don could disarm the bomb, but Don says he may not be able to. Don says they should all consider running away, because it's an atomic bomb that could kill all of them. This starts some conflict with Raph, who calls him a wimp for "chickening out". Splinter intervenes, and says that Don has a valid point. Splinter tells them that they should get the man to safety first and protect Casey and April from the rear. The turtles then split off to scout in twos; Leo and Raph, and Mikey and Donnie.

Don knocks out one of the extremists, finding his gun and breaking it over a rock. Don starts to question whether or not he should try to disarm the bomb, saying it's not his problem, and hence expressing some fear in approaching it. Eventually he decides to act on Raphael's suggestion and goes off to find it.

While the turtles and Splinter take out the rest of the extremists, Don finds their hideout: a cottage surrounded by barbed wire. He goes through the door, where a booby trap in an automatic crossbow is waiting for him. Don dodges it, has a look around, and finds the bomb in the basement.

Don returns to the turtles and Splinter. The last extremist is threatening to set off the bomb, holding its remote trigger. Don tells them to take cover, to which Leo calls him crazy because that won't do anything against an atomic bomb. Eventually they go along with him and hide in the forest. The bomb goes off.

In the epilogue, Don expresses guilt at not being able to save the extremist's life, who died in the bomb blast. Donatello had managed to reduce the power of the bomb but he was unable to disarm it. He even sympathises with him, saying that, ultimately, the patriot just wanted to survive like anybody else.

Quotes

 * "No thanks, Mike--nine apples shot off my head is plenty for one day! And if you really want to help make the fruit salad, there is a much easier way!"
 * "This bomb--did you built it? Will it work?"
 * "Leo, is he--?!"
 * "Whoever's shooting at us ...must be using a telescopic sight!"
 * "Hey! Hang on there for a minute, Raphael! First, taking out these guys isn't going to be a walk in the park--they're probably all armed with automatic weapons! Second, I may or may not be able to disarm the bomb! And third, we're talking about a nuclear device, for God's sake!"
 * "Maybe we should be thinking about getting the heck out of here! If that thing works and it goes off, we can kiss our butts good bye! Along with every other living thing within a five mile radius! Maybe this time, discretion is the better part of valor!"
 * "Raphael, if you weren't so aggressively stupid, you'd see that we're dealing with something more than a damn firecracker, you moron!"
 * "Hey! Anytime, anywhere, bonehead!"
 * "Out cold ...good!"
 * "He won't need this ...and just in case he wakes up soon ...!"
 * "That's one down ...now what? Somebody should do something about that bomb ...not necessarily me, of course ...but it's sitting there ...could be set off any time ...not really my problem, though ...!"
 * "Oh, hell ...!"
 * ("Seek an ye shall find" ...)
 * (Looks pretty innocuous ...)
 * (But looks, as they say, can be deceiving ...better be wary of booby traps ...)
 * (Nice little hide-out ...practically invisible in these thick woods ...barbed wire fence to keep the idly curious out ...those that come this far, that is ...)
 * (Don't hear anyone around--my bet is they all took off after the kid when he boogied out ...)
 * (May as well try this door ...)
 * (I'm surprised at the lack of surveillance electronics ...they must have been pretty confident about their isolated location ...)
 * (Then again, who ever thinks their neighbor is building an a-bomb?!)
 * (So much for a welcome mat ...!)
 * (Now where would I store a nuclear device ...? Probably ...)
 * "Bingo!"
 * "Guys! Master Splinter! You've got to grab some cover--quickly!"
 * "Don't argue with me, Leo--I've got no time to explain! Just hit the dirt!!!"
 * "I guess ...certainly the shaped explosive charges made a big enough bang, though far from the intended fission reaction."
 * "Shouldn't I be, April? A man died yesterday--a sick, deluded, misguided man, yes--but still a living being. I could never agree with his logic or methods ...but I can sympathise with his most basic aim! After all, in this world plagued by terrorism and poised on the brink of nuclear Armageddon ...who doesn't want to survive?" - Okay, can I just take a moment to say that's a really awesome quote? Go, Don!