Along Came Some Turtles

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Post Spectacular Spider Man season 2. Peter's life is more or less falling apart at the seems, but meeting some new friends, who just so happen to be mutant turtles armed with ninja weapons, might just be what he needs to turn things around. And a good thing too, given the new threats that are lurking in the shadows. Crossover/ continuation of Spectacular Spider man with TMNT 2012.

7. Never Say Xever

(Never Say Xever)

Guest: Thanks for catching that error, I never noticed that myself. I do have some pretty big plans for Gwen in this story, but I'm not going to spoil anything just yet.

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The tension in the air was thick, permeating an air of bloodlust to go along with it.

"Let me be sure that I understand." Shredder looked down at Bradford and Xever, the former in particular, with a hint of disgust "These disciples of Hamato Yoshi are turtles, along with some fool in spandex, and yet they managed to defeat the two of you?"

"Spider-Man was more formidable than we had anticipated." Bradford was quick to try and defend himself "And these weren't just turtles, they were turtles the size of normal men, and they were trained in ninjutsu! I almost had them too-"

"Until you botched things up for us and led them into a trap." Xever let out a scoff "If you had just wised up and let me take them down the way that I wanted to in the first place…"

"Then we would never have been able to find Hamato-"

"Silence, both of you." Shredder's tone was as sharp as the blades on his arms, which he then promptly placed to Bradford's throat "You were more promising than any of my other students, I had expected much more from you."

"Sensei I beg of you, please give me another chance. I promise you, I will not fail you again."

"No. No you will not." Shredder retracted his blades "And that is why two changes are going to be made to the current arrangement. The first of which is Xever being in charge."

"What? I refuse to take orders from a piece of gutter trash like that!" Bradford was met with the blades at his throat again "Unless you want me to sensei."

"That is what I had expected."

"You don't need to worry about that." Xever was quick to assure him "I've already put out the word on the street to keep an eye out for the Turtles, and when I get my hands on them, I will peel them out of their shells and drop them at your feet. What's more, there are already plenty that want to get a hold of Spider-Man and wring his neck."

"There is little doubt that many wish that on him, yet from what I've observed of his previous battles, there are very few that are actually capable of doing so, yourself and Bradford not being among them, if your previous encounter is any indication. In order to ensure that you do not once again fail me with your incompetence, I have brought in a new ally to assist you. You may refer to him as… the Prowler."

Sure enough, the door to the throne room opened as a single figure stepped forward, clad in a high-tech suit with a purple, green and black color scheme, as well as a mask that obscured his face from view. His tone was neutral as he spoke "You said you had a job for me?"

"I do. I want you to assist my henchman and prized student here in their mission. Find these Turtles and wipe them out, and if Spider-Man should choose to interfere… show no mercy, and leave no witnesses."

"I'll do what I have to do to get the job done, no more and no less, that's my policy. Just make sure that you have my payment ready when this is over." Prowler glazed over at Bradford and Xever, and then he promptly walked out of the room, the two of them begrudgingly following right behind him in brooding silence.

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Meanwhile, with our heroes…

"Okay, it's not that far from here." April made her way down the streets of Chinatown, only for her to start losing patience "Would it kill you guys to hurry it up a little bit?"

"Are you saying that all turtles are automatically slow by nature?" Spider-Man poked his head down from a nearby rooftop "I mean I'm one thing, but if you're talking about turtles by nature, then I'm about 70% sure that counts as racism on at least a few levels."

"I'm not being a racist, and even then I'm pretty sure that would just be stereotyping. There is a difference."

"There really isn't when you think about it."

"Whatever, the point is that I'm not being racist. I'm not trying to be anyway."

"Take it easy April, we get it." Leo poked his head out from behind a wall, which drew their attention to where the others were hiding nearby "But believe me when I tell you that the four of us, five if you count Spidey up there, are better off keeping a low profile. We find that people treat us better when they don't know that we exist."

"Sorry, it's just that I'm really excited to get you guys out of the sewers for a change."

"What the shell are you going on about?" Raph shot her a raised non-existent eyebrow "We go out of the sewers all the time."

"Yeah when you're dealing with the Kraang or these evil ninja guys."

"The Foot Clan."

"Right, but the difference is that tonight you're going to be doing something that doesn't involve hitting people."

"And that's supposed to be a good thing?"

"It is for anyone that isn't a potential sadist." Spider-Man commented dryly, earning a low growl from Raph in response "Speaking of which though, you still haven't told us exactly what it is you're bringing us here for, and keeping in mind the whole "wearing a mask" thing where I'm concerned."

"Yeah I know, and I've already thought of that." April waved him off "The five of you are going to love this noodle place I found here in Chinatown."

"Well I wouldn't mind having something other than pizza for a change. Seriously, you can only have the same thing so many times before you get sick of it. Unless it's any of Aunt May's home cooking that is, that stuff is to die for. But getting to the biggest overarching concern, what about these guys?" he jerked a thumb over at the Turtles.

"I thought of that too, and you don't have to worry about it. Mr Murakami isn't going to care what they look like, in fact he's not even going to know what they look like. He's blind."

"Alright, that's totally awesome!" Mikey was immediately met with a smack upside the head from Raph "I mean for us obviously, not for him."

"Yeah. Anyway it's right around the corner."

"Alright, but I still say we shouldn't stick around too long just in case-" Spider-Man cut himself short and frowned underneath his mask as a familiar sensation rang through his head "Hold that thought for a second, my Spider Sense is going off, I think it's coming from around there."

"That's where the place is!" April rushed over to the scene with Spider-Man and the Turtles all following close behind her, only to look through the windows to the restaurant and see a group of thugs trashing the place "I was afraid of that."

"Afraid of a pack of shirtless idiots with tattoos trashing the place?"

"Sort of. Those guys call themselves the Purple Dragons, they're a bunch of thugs that think they own the streets around here."

"Which raises one question I have in mind: Are these idiots on the payroll of some big up and coming crime lord?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Spending the last year dealing with most of the petty crime in the city being run by Tombstone, aka the Big Man, only for him to be usurped by the new Big Man, aka the Green Goblin. After all of that, I want to make sure. I wanna make sure that I'm not dealing with some new rising crime lord by taking down these guys."

"Who cares, I say we go and take these creeps down." Raph jerked a thumb towards where the old man in the shop was getting thrown into a wall.

"Huh, well so much for not hitting people tonight, at least that's what a normal person would say about this."

"Well that's a damn shame, I guess we'll just have to make do."

"And that's what you'll say about it. As for me, I say hello to misplaced aggression."

"And I say, booyakasha!" Mikey was the first one to leap into action, with the other Turtles and Spider-Man following close behind him.

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Holy crap." the leader of the group (Fong) looked over at the others (Tsoi and Sid) "Those guys were serious, Spider-Man really is hanging out with a pack of giant ninja turtles!"

"...Oh boy."

"You know about us? Holy shell dude, that means we're famous!"

"In case you forgot Mikey, for you guys that's a bad thing."

"...Oh. Right."

"Yeah."

"Back the hell off Spider-Man, we don't need to deal with any of your crap right now." Fong spat at him "This neighborhood is our territory, so why don't you go spin a web and your turtle freak buddies over there slither back into the ocean they came from?"

"Oh I plan on spinning a web, only with you and the rest of your idiot trio at the center and leaving you for the cops."

"And besides, myself and my brother happen to be freshwater turtles." and then Donnie started talking, much to the annoyance of the other Turtles "I suspect the four of us are derived from the diamondback terrapin, but it's also possible that we're little more than common box-"

"Okay dude, I'm all for messing with these guys by deliberately not shutting up, but do it while you're punching their lights out. In other words, multitasking."

"Yeah, like beating the crap out of all five of you at once! Get him!" Fong made the call, which prompted Tsoi to charge at the Turtles, only to be met with a sharp kick to the face from Mikey that sent him into a wall, but that didn't stop him from getting back up and charging him once again.

"I got him." Raph stepped up next and met Tsoi's charge with a sharp jab to the nose.

"Hey what's this?" Mikey broke off from where he and Donnie were in the middle of beating around Sid to look at a bowl of ramen on the counter, though he did land take part in beating Sid back and forth with Donnie, eventually leading to Sid hitting the ground with a loud thud.

"And now I swoop in to do my thing." as the fight carried on, Spider-Man promptly started to crawl his way along the ceiling and scouted Murakami lying on the floor, to which he dropped down and slung him over his shoulder "From his elevated position, watching within the shadows, the Spider-Ninja spies his objective: an innocent blind man lying wounded on the ground, courtesy of cruel assualt by a trio of poorly-dressed and clearly incompetent scoundrels."

"Are you narrating to yourself?" April poked her head around the corner and shot Spider-Man a raised eyebrow.

"What? No, of course I wouldn't do something like that… out loud anyway. Now take this old guy and let's get him out of here. But first…" he fired a quick shot of rapid webbing at Tsoi as he tried to attack Mikey from behind, webbing him to the floor "You good?"

"You know it bro, thanks for the save." Mikey gave a quick thumbs up.

"Anytime dude. April take the guy and get him out of here."

"What are you going to do?" asked April.

"I'm gonna head out and set up a little surprise for these guys in the way that only a spider really could."

"But shouldn't you help the guys fight these creeps?" the two of them looked back to see the Turtles trouncing the Purple Dragons pretty thoroughly.

"...Yeah, I'm pretty sure they've got this covered on their own." and so the two of them promptly took Murakami out of the shop right before Sid got knocked into a wall next to them, courtesy of a kick from Donnie.

"Good, they got the old man out of here." Leo glanced over to see Spider-Man and April make their way out of the restaurant with Murakami, then turned towards his the opponent in front of him, who just so happened to be Fong, and dropped into a stance "Now we don't have to worry about holding back against you or your cronies."

"Go ahead and try it, freak!" Fong brandished the cleaver in his hand and promptly charged Leo at full speed, only for the cleaver to be knocked out of his hand and for him to be blown into the wall behind him.

"You were saying?" Leo grabbed Fong by the vest and prepared to let a fist fly, only to stop when he saw the terrified look on Fong's face 'This… This isn't right.' and so he stopped "Hurry and go."

"Wh-What?"

"You heard me, take your cronies and get out of here before I change my mind."

"...Y-Yeah whatever, but don't think this is over greenie!" Fong shoved his way past Leo, then grabbed Sid and Tsoi and the three of them took off running out of the shop.

'And there he goes. Why do I get the feeling this isn't over?' Leo was met with the sound of a loud splat, and he looked outside to see the three Purple Dragons trapped in the center of a gigantic net 'Well that explains where Spider-Man went during the fight?'

"What the shell was that?" Raph on the other hand took the chance to round on Leo in his ever present anger.

"What?"

"What do you think, you just up and let those punks go?"

"Those punks weren't exactly a threat, it was pretty clear they'd had enough."

"They were beating up a blind guy you dipstick, there is no enough! Now they're gonna think that we're wimps and we don't have the guts to finish the job!"

"And what job is that, beating them within an inch of their lives?"

"Getting the point across that they shouldn't look down on us, but now they're sure as hell gonna do that because you let them go!"

"Yeah, letting them go is the operative phrase here." Spider-Man swung his way back into the shop, with April supporting Murakami as she helped him back inside "In case the four of you didn't bother to look outside, I strung them up in a giant web."

"Huh. Well that solves that problem." Donnie then glanced over at April "Oh hey April, did you see the way I caught that one guy and flipped it over the counter. Did it look cool? I bet it looked really cool."

"She didn't see it dude, she was outside with me."

"...Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well I'm sure it was great." April just patted Donnie on the shoulder and gave him a small comforting smile "But he's right, you guys were busy fighting so we had to get Mr Murakami out of there and somewhere safe. At least we made sure that he's alright now."

"That you did my friends, and I am indebted to you." Murakami gave a small smile "Please, allow me to make a meal for all of you, free of charge."

"I take it you're not gonna take no for an answer?" Spider-Man was met with only a blank stare from Murakami, to which he let out a sigh "I guess that answers that."

"Tell me, what is your favorite dish?"

"Well knowing what these guys are like, they're probably gonna say-"

"PIZZA!" was the simultaneous chorus from all four Turtles.

'...Yep, saw that coming a mile away.'

"I believe I can make something that will satisfy all of you." so Murakami made his way back to the counter, with a little bit of help from April, and promptly got to work on the food in a surprisingly masterful display of skills.

"Huh. You know I think I've heard of this kind of thing before."

"What, you mean where a chef at a Japanese restaurant makes the food in front of the customers so they can watch?" April shot him a raised eyebrow.

"No, I mean the thing where people that are blind have their other senses heightened. I sort of know what that's like."

"You mean you're blind underneath that mask?"

"No I mean the heightened sense, see the whole "getting spider powers" thing gave me sort of a sixth sense that acts as a heightened awareness of my surroundings. Speaking of stuff that came with the spider powers…" the two of them glanced out the window of the shop at the giant web holding the Purple Dragons "Just throwing this out there, you'd better put a call into the cops to get those idiots before that becomes too much of a problem. But you might wanna wait until we're done eating, I don't want them to see the guys."

"Good call."

"Thanks, I like to think that I can get one of those among my many screw ups at least every now and then."

"Hey guys, you gotta check this out!" Mikey was quick to call them back inside "This dude is totally awesome, he's like a ninja but for food!"

"Master of his craft then?"

"Years of training under an excellent teacher." Murakami gave a smile, then whipped out five trays for Spider-Man and the Turtles "I give you pizza gyoza!"

"Huh. Interesting. So what exactly is gyoza?"

"They're a type of dumping." Leo told him.

"Oh, so these are basically dumplings filled with pizza ingredients?"

"Are you complaining?"

"Nope, just making an observation. On the plus side, this is the first time I actually get to use chopsticks. Let's see how it goes." so Spider-Man lifted his mask up above his nose and downed a piece, and then he proceeded to down two more "Never thought I'd see the day, someone actually found a way to make New York pizza even better."

"I think I'll be the judge of that." Mikey's gaze hardened as he and the other Turtles tried the pizza gyoza themselves, only for their eyes to bulge out of their heads as they started digging in all the way "It's like I just got a one-way ticket to a new realm of flavor!"

"And if the connoisseur of pizza says it's good, then that's when you know for a fact that this stuff is the real deal." Spider-Man downed another piece, but then promptly turned his attention over to Murakami "But getting back to the three idiots webbed up outside, do they come around here very often?"

"Yes, I'm afraid they do." Murakami let out a sigh "They demand funds from the various local businesses throughout Chinatown."

"Protection money?"

"That and funds for their mysterious new benefactor. No one knows who he is, but it is said that he is just as dangerous as the other crime lords of New York City, and in some ways, that much more dangerous. The Purple Dragons themselves will more than likely return."

"Yeah, guys like them never really learn their lesson on the first try."

"That wouldn't be a problem if someone hadn't wimped out and let them go like a freaking wimp." Raph promptly shot a glare at Leo, causing his expression to turn downcast.

"I wouldn't count on that, once we're done we're gonna stick them behind bars, so you won't have to worry about those guys themselves for a while." Spider-Man then frowned underneath his mask "Them at least, but…"

"You okay dude?" Mikey glanced over at him "You stopped touching your gyoza."

"I'm just thinking, what if the Purple Dragons are just the beginning? He said there's some big new benefactor they're working for. As far as I know, that's how it starts."

"How what starts?"

"To put it in simple terms, a war against a crime lord. From my experience, even if it really was only once, it starts out with you taking out a bunch of hired thugs, then you end up taking on the bigger bads, then you end up working your way up to their boss, who happens to be this huge and powerful crime lord that you can't bring down then for two reasons. One, you don't have any legitimate proof of his criminal activities. Two, he's also insanely strong and you can't beat him at that moment. Either way, then you have to commit yourself to playing the long game and winning the war you suddenly find yourself a part of. And be careful of the possibility that there might be someone else even worse out there waiting to take his place."

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience." Leo shot him a raised eyebrow.

"That's pretty much how it went down for me over the past year. It started out with me tangling with lower level crooks and thugs, then escalated to the Enforcers, with one of them becoming the Shocker, and along with him I faced Sandman and Rhino. After them I confronted the one responsible for them being created in the first place, a certain albino by the name of L Thompson Lincoln, aka Tombstone, aka the Big Man of Crime. That's where my previously mentioned two points came in, that he was insanely strong and I couldn't prove he was a criminal, so I had to commit to taking him down in the long run. Of course there were a few times I actually worked with him, mostly to take down a bigger threat: the Green Goblin. Anyway it took me about four more months to bring down Tombstone and expose him as the Big Man."

"And that got him put away for good?"

"Nope, he made bail, but he got exposed as the Big Man to the world and he's still being watched by over a dozen government agencies. His operations were crippled. The only problem with that is, as a wise man once told me, it created a power vacuum in the criminal universe, and nature abhors a vacuum. It turns out he was right, because only about a week later, a new Big Man came into power: the Green Goblin, and I think you guys all know exactly how that turned out."

"Yeah, he was the bad guy and you took him out." Raph pointed out dryly from where he was still munching on his gyoza.

"You say that like it's something I'm supposed to be proud of."

"He was the bad guy and you did what you had to do, plain and simple. Maybe if someone else had the guts to follow through." he shot another glare at Leo.

"Not everything is so black and white."

"Why not? It sounds simple enough to me."

"Yeah well, it isn't."

"You sure you okay dude?" Mikey patted him on the arm.

"I'm fine, just kind of lost my appetite." the two of them shared a look, and a long pause came over the group "You want my gyoza don't you?"

"Do you not know me?"

"...Fine, go ahead and help yourself."

"All I needed to hear!" Mikey gave a wide grin as he downed the gyoza.

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A short while later, at the Lair…

'Dammit, it shouldn't feel like this!' Leo gritted his teeth as he let his anger out on the practice dummy hanging in front of him 'I thought I was doing the right thing by not taking my anger out on those thugs, so why does it feel like it's all gonna turn into… Dammit!'

"Hey come on there Leo, take it easy tough guy." and then Raph started taunting him "I think he's had enough, you'd better let him go or he's gonna start crying."

"I get what this is about, you're making fun of me for not mercilessly beating up someone that couldn't even defend himself."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing. You showed weakness in front of the enemy, and those kinds of guys only understand one language."

"Muscle-bound stupidity?" was Spider-Man's response as he poked his head out of the doors to the lab.

"No you dipstick, I'm talking about fists."

"I'm pretty sure that's akin to what I just said."

"Would you just- the point that I'm making is, we can't go soft on guys like these."

"You are mistaken, my son." this was when Splinter made his way into the room "To show mercy to an adversary is not soft, it is a sign of true strength."

"But sensei these guys are criminals, this is all out war we're talking about."

"As was once stated by a Daimyo of the sixteenth century: In times of peace, we must never forget the possibility of war. In times of war, we must never forget compassion."

"I'm guessing that guy lost a lot of wars." Raph was immediately met with the end of a cane being pointed at his throat faster than he was able to react.

"Now do you see my son? The value of mercy." and then he whacked Rapahel on the arm with the end of said cane.

"Okay look sensei, compassion is great and all, but the Purple Dragons and all the other thugs out there aren't just gonna leave Murakami alone."

"Keeping in mind that the cops took them away, so I doubt we'll have to worry about those thugs themselves for a while. But still…" Leo frowned in thought "I think Spidey had a point with what he was saying to us before?"

"About narrating to yourself like an idiot?"

"No not that, though personally I can kind of understand the motivation behind that. I mean what he said about the whole thing with organized crime under some kind of Big Man. What if it turns out the Purple Dragons are just a bunch of hired thugs working for someone even worse? I don't think this is something we want to take risks with, so I say we track down the Purple Dragons' hideout, see if there are any other members we didn't know about or any sort of clues as to who they might be working for."

"But that raises another question." Donnie spoke up "How are we gonna be able to track someone down when we can't even talk to anyone?"

"That… does raise some concerns."

"Not necessarily." Spider-Man made his way out of the lab, a brown satchel bag slung over his shoulder "I think I might know of a way for us to get the information we need for that."

"How so?"

"I have a certain contact in the NYPD, I'll check with him tomorrow and let you guys know what I find. In the meantime, I've gotta get home and take care of… non spider-related stuff, so I'll see you guys later." and so he promptly made his way out of the lair and started swinging down the subway tunnel.

"Well I guess we don't have many other options right now, or any at all really."

"I wouldn't worry about it bros. He's got this." Mikey gave the others a knowing grin as he downed a few more gyozas, earning a series of confused looks from the others.

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Morning came, and the sun was rising over the skies above New York.

'Looks like things are changing in the city once again.' a certain man with blonde hair in the uniform of a police captain (George Stacy) made his way to the roof of his police precinct, and he gave a smirk when he heard a splat and turned around to see Spider-Man sitting on the ledge of the roof "I take it there's something I can do for you?"

"Well if it was gonna be anyone, it would be one of the few guys that doesn't want to see my head on a pike." Spider-Man gave a shrug, but then his demeanor quickly turned serious "And I do need your help with something."

"I'm listening."

"After we brought down the og Big Man in Tombstone, you told me that I created a power vacuum in the criminal underworld, and that nature hates having a vacuum. Then the Green Goblin came along and filled that vacuum, but after I brought him down it created a whole new one. Now recent events make me think that someone else has filled that vacuum and is taking up the reins of his predecessors: My guess is they're as strong, powerful and influential as they are crazy, ugly and potentially psychotic."

"And you want me to help you find out who that person is." George frowned in thought for a moment "Do you have any ideas yourself?"

"Not at the moment, all I know is that they more than likely hired a bunch of thugs to do the dirty work and get funds, in this case the Purple Dragons. They've been running around terrorizing Chinatown, and last night I actually nabbed them beating up the owner of a noodle shop to get him to cough up some protection money."

"Yeah I know, some of my men were the ones that found them and brought them in. They refuse to give us anything we can really use though, since they claim that anything we can do to them still pales in comparison to what their new benefactor will do to them. Also as far as that colorful description of the reigning crime lords of the city goes, you may want to add ruthless if you want it to be entirely accurate."

"I'll add it to the list. Speaking of lists, do you at least know how many members these idiots have in their little club, or where their base of operations is?"

"The three of them are the only ones in their gang, and as far as their base goes… this is the address we got from an anonymous source." he pulled out a notepad and wrote something down, then promptly handed it to Spider-Man "This oughta help you out, the same with these new friends of yours working with you."

"I already said that I have no comment about them."

"I figured as much." George let out a chuckle and took a few steps closer to Spider-Man, his voice low "When you do see them, one of them at least, tell him that I wanted to thank him, and you too for that matter, for saving my daughter."

"It… It's just part of the job."

"I figured as much." and then his voice lowered further, his expression solemn "She really does miss you Pete. I can tell you for a fact, there's nothing that she wants more right now than to see you." there was a brief pause.

"...I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss her too. But what I want more than anything is to make sure that she stays safe. If that, along with everything I'm dealing with now, means that I have to keep my distance from her, then I'm prepared to do that… even if it hurts like hell." and on that rather solemn note, Spider-Man promptly swung away from the precinct and out into the city.

'You won't hear any questions about that from me Peter. There was never a doubt in my mind that you would keep Gwen safe. But at the same time, I do know that you and her want to be with each other more than anything. Whatever happens, please don't give up on my daughter. And make sure that the city stays safe.'

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Nightfall came, and the stakeout was in progress.

"Alright guys, here we are." Spider-Man led the Turtles across the rooftops of Chinatown until they came across their target, which happened to be an old tattoo parlor.

"Are you sure that this is the place?" asked Leo.

"This is what my contact in the NYPD told me, and it does make sense if they wanted to hide out where people wouldn't really think to look. At least if they're idiots, but that pretty much fits the bill for these guys based on what I've seen so far."

"Oh hey guys, can we get tattoos while we're here?" Mikey gave a wide grin "I wanna see if I can get one of my face over my actual face, it's gonna be like I'm wearing a mask and the mask is still gonna be me!"

"...Wow."

"Yep, I just blew your minds didn't I?"

"You do it just about every time you open your mouth." Spider-Man noted dryly, but then his gaze hardened when he felt a familiar sensation going off in his head "Hold that thought you guys, my Spider Sense is going off again. I think we've got incoming."

"Yeah I can see that, he's over there." Raph directed their attention to where a certain figure clad in purple-colored armor (the Prowler) was making his way across the rooftops from the tattoo parlor and onto the roof of another nearby building "That another one of your guys?"

"Nope, I've never seen that one before. That's the third new villain I've met over the Summer, at least so far."

"So what, we'll just go down there and beat the crap out of him."

"Let's not jump to conclusions and assume he actually is a bad guy." Leo told them "For all we know, he could just be some random guy on his way to church or something."

"You said the same thing about Blister Stockbroker (continuing the running gag about Baxter Stockman where they get his name wrong), and look how that turned out. Besides, what kind of dipstick goes around breaking into abandoned fortune cookie factories on his way to church?"

"Well… Look, we do know he came from the address Spidey's contact gave us, so if it turns out he is in league with the Purple Dragons, we'd better keep an eye on him regardless."

"Agreed, though I can't help but wonder." Spider-Man frowned underneath his mask.

"About what?"

"Remember that incident last week with me, Mikey and Kraven in the sewers? The hard drive I got from Gwen- I mean that girl… Hydro-Man was created as a commission by the Kraang, which means that they've resorted to making supervillains once to take me out… what's to stop them from doing it again?"

"You think this guy might be in league with the Kraang?"

"And by extension the Purple Dragons too. Either way, we shouldn't take any chances with something like this. Let's head in there and check it out."

"And then get some fortune cookies?" asked Mikey "I love those things."

"Come on dude, the only reason people actually get those things is so they can read the fortunes inside them. I can't think of anyone who actually likes eating those things."

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And now for a continuation of that running gag…

"Hm…" Bradford opened up the cookie in front of him and scowled as he read the fortune that came out of it "You will be surrounded by high amounts of eloquence and intellect in the form of your closest allies." his scowl deepend as he glanced over at Xever "Yeah right."

"I told you those things were a waste of time." Xever rolled his eyes as he downed a fortune cookie of his own "I say don't even bother reading the fortunes."

"Of course you would say that, I'm not even certain you know how to read."

"You wanna try and say that to my face after I shove my boot so far up your-"

"If you guys are gonna fight, can you at least pass me a fortune cookie before you do?" this was when the Prowler made his way into the room with a bag in hand, and he promptly caught the fortune cookie, opened the bottom part of his mask and then downed it "That's better. This is one of those times I'll actually side with Xever though, the fortunes are a waste of time."

"Then why bother with the cookie at all?" Bradford shot him a raised eyebrow.

"Because I actually like the taste of it."

"Whatever. Did you get anything useful out of those idiots in their cell?"

"One of them tried to talk me into giving them money for the info. I said Xever would crack their skulls if they didn't talk."

"I would." was Xever's blunt input.

"Which is what I told him, and he said that they saw these Turtle guys that Shredder was talking about, along with Spider-Man."

"Where?"

"At some place in-" Prowler cut himself short when he glanced over at the window "Looks like you don't need to know after all. They just came to us."

"What are you-"

"Hold it right there, dirtbags!" this was when Leo and the rest of the turtles burst through the windows and landed on the ground, with Spider-Man dropping down behind them, only for his confidence to waver when he saw Bradford and Xever, along with the Prowler, standing before them "Aw crap."

"Okay, it seems like the chico in the fancy armor was right. The tartarugas came to us, so that makes things that much easier."

"Oh great, as if this wasn't awkward enough." Mikey let out a groan "It's Chris Bradford, the jerk that I thought was my friend, and that other guy that looks kind of like a Spanish version of Sam L Jackson."

"Flattery won't be enough to save you from me, and the name is Xever. In order to make sure that you don't forget that, I'll be sure to write it on your shells." Xever gave a smirk as he pulled out a set of pocket knives "And I'll use these to do it."

"Bravado aside, you two should focus on taking on the Turtles. I have my own target that needs to be dealt with."

"So be it, I have some irritating reptiles that I wanted to de-shell anyway." and so Xever led the charge against the Turtles, one swift blow being enough to catch Leonardo off guard and send him hurtling down a flight of stairs, with Bradford and the other Turtles getting involved in the scuffle almost immediately after.

"And then there were two." Prowler glanced over as the two-on-four battle got underway, then turned his attention towards Spider-Man "Those two are way too arrogant and sadistic for their own good, or anyone else's for that matter. It's not that hard to make them look like a bunch of idiots."

"I'm pretty sure that applies to most of the guys I fight. Speaking of which…" Spider-Man took a moment to look over the Prowler "So is this some kind of Iron Man cosplaying thing? Because as far as those go, this is actually pretty good."

"Appreciate the flattery, but this whole thing is for business and business only. As far as that goes anyway, go ahead and call me the Prowler."

"I have to admit I was hoping that I wasn't going to meet you like this, believe it or not I'm actually a pretty big fan of your work."

"You could've fooled me, given the whole thing about running around in a high-tech suit with the hired thugs of some evil ninja clan with a stupid name."

"The name of their organization sounds a lot more eloquent in Japanese. Anyway I have my reasons for having to work with these arrogant morons, as excruciating as it is. I knew they would never be able to beat you in a fight, though they don't seem to think that. You're way above any normal person in terms of strength, speed and agility."

"It also helps that they're way too full of themselves."

"That too. The only thing is, all of your enhanced strength, speed and agility isn't going to mean much against their boss, the Shredder. I've seen what that guy can do in a fight… It's like he's not even human. I hate to say it, but I doubt even you would be able to beat him."

"I think I'll see for myself when the head honcho decides to show up."

"Just don't say I didn't warn you. Of course even before that, there's one other thing you have to keep in mind."

"And that would be?"

"If you wanna get to him, you're gonna have to beat me first!" on that note, the Prowler burst forward and dealt Spider-Man a solid elbow to the face that sent him hurtling backwards, and then he leapt in to land a follow up attack from behind.

Spider-Man managed to rebound in time to leap over the follow up attack, and then he tried to land a kick aimed at the Prowler's head, only for Prowler to grab his foot and throw him into a nearby wall, though Spider-Man managed to rebound on the wall, then latched onto the opposite wall with his webs and use it to send himself hurtling towards the Prowler in an attempt to land a counterattack.

"Good try, but not good enough!" the Prowler easily ducked underneath Spider-Man's attack and subsequently landed an uppercut to the jaw that sent him hurtling into the air.

'Dammit!' Spider-Man gritted his teeth as he rebounded just in time to avoid another follow up attack and dealt the Prowler a sharp kick to the face that sent him hurtling back, and then he used his webs to launch himself forward for his own follow up attack.

The Prowler retreated back to the opposite wall and waited for Spider-Man to close in, and once he did he dealt him a swift uppercut to the jaw, then landed a roundhouse kick that sent him hurtling across the building.

"Alright that's it, Mr Spider is done holding back!" Spider-Man launched himself forward with two streams of his webs, and he and the Prowler began trading a series of even blows, which came to ahead when Spider-Man webbed a nearby table and attempted to throw it at him.

Thinking quickly, the Prowler summoned a set of razor-sharp claws and ripped through the table, as well as the front of Spider-Man's suit, leaving a large bleeding gash on his chest, before the two of them broke away.

'Dammit.' Spider-Man gritted his teeth as he wiped the blood from his chest, then lifted up his mask part of the way and wiped some blood from his lip 'So much for being able to finish this fast and help out the guys.'

"You're definitely good at what you do, I guess I shouldn't be surprised." the Prowler stood upright and cracked his neck "But a quick word to the wise, even you won't be able to measure as well as you'd like against an opponent who actually knows what they're doing. To put it in simple terms, even your enhanced levels of strength, speed and agility aren't going to measure up very well in the face of pure skill and technique, not to mention experience."

"You talking about yourself? Because that's kind of pretentious, and I definitely know what that sounds like. I've fought off guys like Kraven and Mysterio before, remember?"

"Believe me I know, I was there at the ice rink when you fought off Electro and Vulture. But in any case, I wasn't talking about me." Prowler suddenly ducked under another chair Spider-Man was throwing at him, and subsequently dealt him a fist to the gut that sent him skidding back a short distance "If you're only doing this well against me, then I can tell you for a fact that you don't stand a chance in hell of beating the Shredder."

"I've taken on the Sinister Six, the Enforcers, Tombstone, Venom and the Green Goblin. How much worse could this guy be?" Spider-Man glanced down to see Bradford and Xever managing to corner the Turtles in their two-on-four battle "Crap."

"And just wait, it's gonna get worse for you guys."

"How much worse could it-" Spider-Man was cut short when his Spider Sense started blaring, only a few seconds before a large group of Foot ninjas burst through the walls with weapons drawn, prompting him to retreat and meet up with the Turtles "Yep, that figures. So how are you guys doing on your end?"

"To put it bluntly, we could be doing better." Leo told him flatly "So I'm thinking it's time for a tactical retreat."

"That… might actually be for the best. For all of us at least, I'm not gonna keep fighting if it means putting you guys at risk."

"Fair enough. Alright turtles, it's time for us to fall back!"

"What are you freaking kidding me?!" Raph rounded on Leo in his rage "We're supposed to just run away like a pack of cowards?!"

"Oh yeah, it's all part of this hilarious routine that I worked up that involves all of us not getting ripped out of our shells, now move! Spidey!"

"I'm on it!" Spider-Man latched onto a nearby crate with his webs and threw it into the window behind him, allowing the Turtles to burst through it, and then he followed immediately after them.

"Hey, where the hell do you think you're going?" Xever let out a snarl as he tried to hit them by throwing his pocket knives, to no avail "Stay here and fight you cold-blooded cowards!"

"Right, because they're bound to listen to the guy throwing knives at them." Prowler noted dryly, only to be met with a dark glare from Xever "Fine go ahead and glare all you want, I'm gonna go make some repairs to my suit, so I'll be back in a few minutes." and so he made his way out of the room, though as he did he glanced back at where the Turtles and Spider-Man had fled 'Call the pieces of advice I gave you a form of friendly warning. Like I said, I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to fight you while I was working with these guys. But at the same time, I do hope that it was a wakeup call for you. As good as you are now, I highly doubt you're going to stand a chance against the Shredder. You're gonna want to be prepared for something like that.'

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A short while passed, and the group returned to the Lair, though not in high spirits.

"Dammit, that was a total wreck." Raph let out a snarl as he let loose on the punching bag in front of him "Could that fight have turned out any more embarrassing?"

"Well we could all be lying dead or bleeding out in a ditch somewhere." Spider-Man pointed out dryly from where his chest wound was being cleaned by Mikey "Thanks for that man."

"No worries bro, I told you before that I got your back." Mikey gave a grin and put an arm around Spider-Man's shoulder, his voice low "In the mask and out of it."

"I'll… remember that. I'm kind of surprised you know how to do first aid."

"Who do you think patches up the guys after they get hurt?"

"The giant rat you call your father?"

"Well yeah, but when he's not around who do you think does it? Plus who do you think does all the cooking for us?"

"Huh. I didn't know you were a turtle of so many talents."

"What can I say, I'm like an onion."

"Because you have so many layers?"

"Sure let's go with that."

"Do you just screw around and make jokes all the freaking time?!" Raph rounded on the two of them in his anger "We just had to run away from a fight like a pack of cowards!"

"Get over it Raph, it's called fighting smart." Leo snapped at him "In case you didn't notice, it's obviously the Shredder that's been backing the Purple Dragons, and that means that by extension they've got Bradford and Xever on their side, and the last time we fought those guys we were barely able to beat them. What's more, now they've got this guy in high-tech armor-"

"When I fought him he called himself the Prowler." was Spider-Man's input.

"And the point is that we have to play it carefully, because they're formidable."

"Yeah, and you know why?" Raph let out a snarl as he got up in Leo's face "Because those guys are willing to fight to the finish, and the only way for us to beat them is to be just as ruthless as they are."

"Raphael." this was when Splinter made his way into the room to offer some wisdom "Foes such as this Xever can cross lines that you will not. One one hand, this will make him dangerous. On the other hand, it does not necessarily make him strong."

"But Xever and his cronies win fights, isn't that the important thing here? And he'd never be soft enough to show mercy to anyone."

"Stuff like mercy is what separates people like us from the thugs and sadists that we're fighting against." Spider-Man pointed out, his tone hard "Mercy and compassion, they make us different from people like the Purple Dragons, or people like Tombstone or Green Goblin."

"Or like the Shredder." Splinter's tone was grim.

"You lose sight of that and you're no better than we are. Are you willing to take that risk?"

"...Whatever." Raph just brushed him off and walked away.

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Meanwhile, at the bad guys' hideout…

"You can get your hand off of me anytime now." the Prowler tensed when he felt Xever grab him by the shoulder, and then he grabbed Xever by the wrist "You did get your hands on those turtle creatures you wanted didn't you?"

"Spare me the condescension idiota." Xever spat at him "I'm inclined to believe that you were the one that led them here."

"You weren't complaining when you and Bradford got to thrash them. I was only working with the information those idiots in that cell provided."

"Yeah well, so much for those street connections this gutter trash took so much pride in up until now." Bradford grumbled "I should've known that those common punks wouldn't be able to give us anything we could actually work with."

"Nothing that doesn't cross the line in my eyes at least."

"Which means that it's a job for someone who has enough of a stomach to do what needs to be done." Xever retracted his arm as he leveled his glare on the Prowler "Where did those buffoons say that they saw the turtles?"

"Apparently they met them at some restaurant in Chinatown, a place owned by this old man by the name of Murakami. From what they told me, they were roughing him up and looking for him to give them some cash, then the turtles jumped in to defend him, and then Spider-Man webbed them up and left them for the cops."

"Oh did they now?" Xever gave a smirk "That's all the information that I need."

"So what? How is that going to keep the Turtles or Spider-Man from running away like they did tonight?"

"That's a simple matter chico, I'm going to give them a good reason to stay. As of tomorrow night, Shredder is going to have four de-shelled turtle corpses dropped at his feet."

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Another night came, and things were about to heat up.

"I'm telling you, my contact on the force said that someone reported a kidnapping about an hour ago." Spider-Man led the turtles to Murakami's noodle shop and led them inside, only to find that there was no one there "Since he was dealing with something else he asked me to come and take a look, and that right there is what I found." he jerked a thumb at where a note was pinned to the wall with a certain familiar pocket knife "So does that seem suspicious to anyone?"

"What does it say?" Leo took the note and read it out loud "No more running. If you want the old man, meet us on the roof of the fortune cookie factory. And don't bring any cops, or the old man goes splat. Yeah this just keeps getting better and better."

"The calling card is Xever without a doubt, but I have to wonder who reported it. Whoever it was though, they did point out the whole "no cops" thing, so that explains why the captain asked me to look into this instead of just sending people himself."

"Whoever it is, if they witnessed the Foot clan in action then there's a chance that they might be targeted too."

"I say who the shell cares about that." Raph clenched his fists "Let's go down to that factory, bust a few heads and save Murakami."

"It's not that simple, you have to think Raphael."

"Two words that I'm sure don't go together very often." Spider-Man noted dryly "But in all seriousness, it's pretty obvious that it's a trap, and that's not just a Star Wars reference."

"Exactly, if we go charging in then that's just what they want us to do."

"Well it's not like we have any other choice." Raph let out a snarl.

"Actually we do. Maybe we do need to think a little bit more like Xever in this situation."

"You wanna run that by me again?" Spider-Man shot him a raised eyebrow from underneath his mask "Didn't we have this whole conversion last night about-"

"Yeah yeah I know, but Xever crossed the line when he dragged Murakami into this, so I think it's about time for him to learn that the rest of us can cross a line or two ourselves. That means it's no more Mr Nice Turtle."

"...Let me know how that goes." Spider-Man promptly walked out of the front of the restaurant and prepared to web a line.

"Dude what gives, where are you going?" asked Mikey.

"Here's the thing, I'm supposed to be the hero here, crossing any lines pretty much goes against all of that. Whatever you guys are planning to do, let me tell you now that crossing the line is never worth it. I would know, I did it once and it cost me dearly. If you're going to do this, then you do it without me."

"Are you talking about…?"

"The night I learned that with great power comes great responsibility. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about." Spider-Man's tone held a certain bitterness to it "It doesn't matter what the reason might be, if you cross a line like that then it's going to cost you. I can't let myself be part of that. I won't. Not again."

"You could talk to the others about it, they-"

"Even if I did, they're not gonna listen. You know that. And besides… I'm not ready to tell them about that night, or about myself. Not yet anyway."

"So… what are you going to do then?"

"What else? There's a good man being held hostage by a ruthless thug with no morals, and I have the responsibility to use my powers for the right reasons. You do the math. I'll see you guys later." and so without another word, he started web-slinging in the direction of the fortune cookie factory.

'Spidey… Peter… this is really bothering you isn't it? Hey guys-"

"Mikey." this was when Leo ushered him back inside the restaurant "Any chance you actually had been listening when we went over the plan?"

"Uh… you wanna go over it one more time?"

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Meanwhile, with the web-slinger…

'Okay, well one thing is for certain…' Spider-Man quietly made his way across the rooftops of Chinatown, only to stop when he noticed Murakami tied up and hanging off of the roof of the fortune cookie factory, with Xever looming over him and pulling out a knife "This guy is going on my list of people that I wanna punch in the face." then his demeanor hardened as he felt a certain sensation going off through his head "And he's not the only one."

"Yeah well, at least I have a decent personality." this was when the Prowler suddenly appeared before Spider-Man and subsequently ducked underneath a stream of webs "Like I was trying to say last night, I don't wanna fight you if I don't have to."

"Doesn't seem like it's that hard to convince you."

"Look I don't enjoy this, but… I'm doing what I have to do. That's all I can really say about that right now. But that doesn't mean I have to like it, or that." he promptly jerked a thumb at the scene with Xever and Murakami.

"If you don't like it, then why don't you do something about it."

"I already did. Who do you think called the police and reported the old man being kidnapped from his restaurant?"

"What do you-" Spider-Man paused as the realization dawned on him "You were the one who sent the call to Captain Stacy."

"Just because I have to work with the Foot doesn't mean that I enjoy it. One thing I've learned is that if we wanna do right by the people we care about, we have to do things we don't like. I think your turtle buddies understand that on some level too." they glanced over to see the Turtles show up on the roof of the fortune cookie factory and reveal Bradford tied up in a trash can "Though their methods leave a lot to be desired."

"Crossing a line like that never ends well, and I didn't want any part of it. Why do you think I'm here on my own?"

"Probably the same reason I am, to do what you gotta do and make sure that nobody gets hurt if they don't have to."

"Uh huh." Spider-Man studied Prowler for a moment, and then something seemed to click "This isn't your typical "struggling with inner demons" cliche is it? Do these guys have something on you?"

"If I talk then I'm as good as dead, that's the policy of working with a ninja clan. What's worse is that if that applies to me, it applies to my family too."

"It doesn't have to be like this, maybe I can-"

"You just do what you have to do, and I'm gonna do the same. Like I said, having to do things we don't like." Prowler glanced over to see the Turtles release their hold on Bradford and start fighting off a squad of Foot ninjas "Well it looks like negotiations broke down, and their little hostage scheme didn't pan out."

"That sort of thing never ends well, not for the good guys anyway."

"If we're going to be completely honest, Xever was never going to let the old man go. He was just using him to lure you and the others here."

"Of course he was, truly the epitome of a shocking plot twist, and yes I'm being sarcastic right now. Speaking of which, I think we're supposed to fight." Spider-Man promptly ducked as a random Foot ninja attempted to attack him from behind and webbed him to the wall behind them "No chance of talking you out of this?"

"You do what you have to do, and I'll do the same."

"Fair enough." and so the two of them promptly charged each other and began trading a series of even blows, though they broke away upon Spider-Man receiving an elbow to the face and the Prowler receiving an uppercut to the jaw "I gotta admit I am kind of surprised, you're a lot more spry than I figured you were gonna be."

"I had a few good teachers that showed me how to fight, and the suit enhances my capabilities beyond normal human limitations."

"Fair enough. Anyway let's hurry and get this over with, in case it wasn't already obvious I am kind of on a schedule here." he gestured to where the fight was taking place on the roof of the fortune cookie factory."

"You sound pretty sure of yourself, so frankly it's not hard to understand why some of your more serious enemies want to rip out your tongue."

"You talk to them?"

"I don't need to, there's a whole blog about it."

"Huh. Gonna have to check that out later. Anyway I don't have time to screw around with an innocent life at stake, I should probably come clean about something."

"Which is?"

"That I'm constantly holding back." he proved this point by rushing forward and dealing the Prowler a swift kick to the chest that sent him hurtling onto another nearby rooftop as he swung after him "A part of me feels like everyone and everything surrounding me is made of cardboard, like I have to be careful not to let myself lose control, or else one wrong move and I could snap a person in half. It's only in really rare cases that I get to let myself cut loose, with certain people like Tombstone or Venom or the Green Goblin. You've already proven that you can take what I can throw at you, so let me show you what happens when I stop holding back." and so he let himself off the webline and burst forward, dealing the Prowler a swift fist to the face, and then following up with a brutal knee to the spine that sent him hurtling into the air.

"If you're gonna stop holding back, then I guess it's only fair that I do too!" Prowler latched onto a nearby wall using a grappling hook extending from one of his gauntlets, then used another one to try and latch onto Spider-Man, only for him to leap over it and kick the Prowler in the face, sending him crashing into a nearby AC unit. As the dust settled, the Prowler pulled himself out of the rubble and summoned a set of claws on each hand as he charged forward and tried to use them to rip through Spider-Man, only to be met with a fist buried in his gut with enough force to break through the metal part of his armor, prompting the Prowler to open up the bottom half of his mask and cough up some blood "Okay… you definitely weren't bluffing… when you said you were holding back… But I'm not done! Not yet!" so he braced himself and let both of his sets of claws fly forward.

Spider-Man launched himself towards the Prowler using his webs and caught both of Prowler's hands in his, then tightened his grip with his superior physical strength "You wanna give it up this time?"

"Not… just… yet!" despite being caught in Spider-Man's grip, the Prowler leapt up and tried to land a smash attack on Spider-Man's head, only to be met with a headbutt to the stomach and get caught in his webs, which promptly swung him around before being used to smash him onto the ground, leaving him writing in pain "Okay… now I'm done… Ow…" he took a quick glance over to see Spider-Man slowly stalking his way towards him "Are you gonna… finish me off then?"

"Nope, not my style." Spider-Man promptly shot a single stream of webbing onto one of the Prowler's arms, binding him where he was, and then looked over to see the Turtles being cornered near a water tower by Bradford, Xever and half a dozen Foot ninja "So much for their little bluffing routine. I guess Xever saw through it."

"Speaking in all seriousness, he probably didn't. He and Bradford aren't exactly the best of friends, as in they're the kind of friends where you put two male hamsters in the same cage and leave them to their own devices."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that they'll claw each other's faces off the first chance they get. What's really said is that I'm pretty sure your turtle friends are the only ones that didn't want to throw Bradford off the roof."

"That's true for three out of four of them."

"You're gonna swoop in and save them right?"

"What else would I do? Aside from tuning out those two idiots."

"See Bradford, that is how you catch a group of turtles." Xever let out a menacing chuckle "And what comes next is me showing you how to properly filet them."

"Don't act so high and mighty street rat." Bradford let out a scoff "You know as well as I do that you would never have caught them without my help."

"Says the one who got tied up, gagged and stuffed into a garbage can. What would we have done without your brave and noble leadership in such a way?"

"Hear ourselves think is the first thing that comes to mind." Spider-Man prepared to launch a stream of webs, only to find that nothing was coming out "Dammit, forgot to restock."

"Then how about you let me handle this." in a sudden burst of speed, the Prowler ripped through the webs binding him, leapt over Spider-Man's shoulders and discretely grabbed onto the water tower in front of them using his grappling hooks, before pulling on it, causing the water tower to fall over and all the water to spill out, leaving Bradford, Xever and the Foot ninja to get washed away, though this caused the ropes holding Murakami to snap, though the Prowler suddenly swooped in and caught him before he could fall, using his other grappling hook to pull both of them back up onto the rooftop "I know it may seem cruel to point out your blindness, but there are some things in life that just aren't meant to be seen." he set Murakami down and then looked over to see the looks Spider-Man and the Turtles were giving him, readying their webbing and/or weapons in the process "What?"

"You were helping the guys that wanted to kill us, and then you helped us?" Leo tightened his grip on his sword "Why?"

"It's not really that complicated. Like Spider-Man, I'm not going to stand by and do nothing while an innocent man is being put in danger. As for the other thing, the webhead here chose not to bash my face in when he easily could've, so helping you guys was my way of repaying him for that, so that makes us even. But don't assume that it's gonna turn out like that the next time we meet." and with that, the Prowler leapt off of the building and disappeared from sight.

"That… happened I guess."

"Well he did save the old guy, so call it the benefit of mercy." Spider-Man patted Leo on the back of the shell and gave a small smile underneath his mask "Good thing he did too, I don't think I would've been able to reload my web-shooters in time to save him, otherwise I could've just latched onto him with my webs and pulled him back up."

"If that's what you were planning to do, then it might be for the best that you ran out of your web fluids." Donnie noted from where he was untying Murakami.

"That's… actually pretty morbid coming from you."

"I'm serious, if you had latched onto him with your webbing it would more than likely have snapped his neck from the whiplash. Seriously, the better alternative would've been for you to use the enhanced muscles in your legs to propel yourself downwards with enough force to be able to overtake him, then use your webbing to latch onto the nearest structure, of course there is the wind resistance that has to be taken into consideration but-"

"Hold up a second. Didn't Splinter tell you not to overthink everything or else lose sight of the face of reality or some crazy Zen stuff like that?"

"Yes and I know he's right, but he did also tell me that when lives are on the line, it does help to consider multiple ways of ensuring the best outcome."

"...Okay that's a fair point. What if that one about the leg muscles doesn't work?"

"Well then I think the other most plausible option would be to grab hold of her with your webs and web her to a nearby structure while being sure to calculate the distance, speed, trajectory and especially the elasticity. The elasticity is the most important key here."

"Right, that's the big thing here. Huh."

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just… I don't really have many people that I can talk to about stuff like this."

"No one else in your life with a higher intellect or understanding of science and mathematical equations?"

"And knows about my life with this mask on at least. It's kind of nice." Spider-Man gave a shrug as he glanced up at the night sky 'He's not wrong either, I mean now that I think about it, if Gwen were the one in that position and I was so reckless that I tried to pull her back up with my webs, the whiplash alone would be enough to… No come on, get a grip Parker, you can't think about that. She's alive and safe right now, and that's the way she's going to stay. I'm going to make sure of it… even if it means I have to keep my distance from her to make it happen.'

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A little while later, back at Murakami's restaurant…

"Please accept this token of my gratitude to all of you." Murakami reached behind the counter and pulled out a large bag "Pizza gyoza, and once again free of charge."

"Oh shell to the yeah, Booyakasha!" Mikey caught the other Turtles in a high three, and then dealt Spider-Man a quick fist bump "Thanks a ton, you totally rule Murakami-san!"

"You're most welcome Turtle-san and Spider-san." he bowed to them, prompting the Turtles to do the same.

"Wait a second." Spider-Man's head snapped up as he glanced ahead at Murakami "Did you just call them-"

"Even without my sight, I do have other senses. Touch and smell, and your conversation with your female friend the other night about those senses being heightened…"

"...Huh." Spidey glanced over at Mikey, with the other turtles following his gaze "Of course it's your BO that tips him off. Say the big word with Spidey: Deodorant." then he turned his gaze back over to Murakami "And I take it you don't have any problems with them?"

"They saved my life, the same with you, so what right do I have to complain?" Murakami was promptly pulled into a hug by Mikey.

"Well that's good enough for him, and it's not just because you make these awesome pizza dumplings. You might wanna consider adding these to your actual menu, see what other people think of them."

"I actually did, and a young man came in here earlier today and tried them. He also said that I was lucky to have such good people looking out for me."

"Really?" Mikey shared a quick glance with Spider-Man "Any chance that…"

"Don't look at me." Spider-Man held up his hands in defense, but then he frowned underneath his mask as he shared a quick glance with the rest of the turtles 'This guy knew about us? I know it wasn't me… So then the Prowler maybe? There's definitely something more to this guy. I mean he was working with the Foot sure, but he helped save the guys, and then he saved Murakami and just left. I'm gonna need to look into this at some point. One thing is for sure, I doubt we've seen the last of him.'

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Meanwhile, with the Prowler…

'Well that could've gone better…' the Prowler breathed a sigh underneath his mask as he made his way through the dark halls of the Foot clan's lair, only to stop when the doors at the end of the hall opened and the Shredder walked out in his typical menacing fashion "Am I going to get chastised for failing you?"

"I'm weary of listening to pitiful excuses, but you do know that failure will not go without punishment from me." the Shredder extended the blades from the gauntlet on one of his arms to prove this point, but then he subsequently retracted them "But before that, you tell me exactly how it is that Bradford and Xever were blindsided when they apparently had the Turtles lying at their feet."

"To put it in simple terms, Spider-Man happened. He was… more formidable than I expected him to be. I thought I had him, but apparently he decided to stop holding back, and you can see the results of that." he gestured to the visible damage on his armor "Do you remember what I said to you the other day?"

"I'm not so feeble minded as to forget about something like that. Even in the face of his strength, speed and agility, he's still a novice, an amateur with little skill or experience to his own name, and his own overconfidence will be his downfall."

"I never said that last part."

"Any fool would be able to see it simply by observing him."

"Fair enough. The point I made still stands, but not to the same extent. To put it simply, you're going to have a harder time against him than you think you are."

"Hm. We shall see soon enough."

"Which means what exactly?"

"I will no longer allowed the name of the Foot clan to be tarnished by the incompetence of those I entrust with carrying out my orders. The next time the Turtles show themselves, I will deal with them myself. And if Spider-Man should interfere, he will receive no mercy." on that ominous note, the Shredder walked away without another word, leaving the Prowler alone.

'...Well shit, that just got dark. Wherever you are right now Spider-Man, I hope that you're ready for the storm that's coming for you.'

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Meanwhile, at the Lair…

"Come on, will you just give one piece a try?" once the group returned to the Lair and dinner was in full swing, Donnie began trying to coax April into trying a pizza gyoza "Sometimes there are things that don't seem like they go together, but they actually end up turning out to be a great couple- I mean food."

"Way to be subtle." Spider-Man noted dryly from where he was downing a few gyoza, earning a pissed off look from Donnie.

"Just… give it a try, okay?"

"...Alright fine, hit me with one of them." April opened her mouth and let Donnie pop a gyoza in there, and then her face lit up with joy "Woah you weren't kidding, those are amazing!"

"See, so then by that logic-" Donnie was cut off by April snagging his plate and downing the remaining gyoza for herself "You'd end up more focused on what's right in front of you. Okay then."

"Word to the wise man, there is no logic when it comes to women." Spider-Man patted him on the back before lifting up his mask and downing a few more gyoza for himself "You know all things considered, that actually went pretty well, at least by my standards."

"A statement I wholeheartedly agree with." Splinter gave a nod of approval "All of you truly showed your strength today."

"What do you mean we showed our strength? We almost got our shells handed to us and got out alive by the skin of our teeth." Raph grumbled.

"The strength that you showed was mercy, and that was one of the reasons why the one known as the Prowler helped you when he did."

"Really?"

"That and I'm pretty sure a fair number of moral reasons applied." Spidey noted as he downed another gyoza "And depriving the world of these things."

"Yeah yeah, go ahead and rub salt in that wound."

"Speaking of which…" Leonardo promptly leaned towards Raph with a smug grin spreading across his face "How about it Raph, isn't there something you wanted to say to me?"

"Okay fine I get it, you were right after all."

"There we go, that wasn't so hard now-"

"I guess you being such a pathetic wimp isn't totally a bad thing after all."

"Oh I'll show you who's a pathetic wimp, no mercy!" and so Leo tackled Raph to the floor as the two of them started wrestling.

"Yep, that would be how tonight ends." Spider-Man let out a chuckle, but then he looked down and his gaze hardened.

"You seem rather tense." Splinter was quick to notice the change in demeanor "I take it that there is something troubling you?"

"Just thinking a little bit, about the Prowler I mean. He's the third new supervillain that I've met over the Summer, along with the Beetle and Hydro-Man, the only difference being that he's the only one of them that's gotten away so far. What's more, now the Kraang and the Foot Clan are running around out there, and they're in on the whole "hiring and/or creating supervillain thing" themselves. Things are only gonna get worse from here on out. Isn't that just typical."

"Perhaps, but my father once taught me that no matter what path you take in life, you certainly will struggle, so the best thing you can do is surround yourself with people that you trust and that trust you. You said yourself not long ago that you are surrounded by friends here."

"...Yeah. Yeah I did." Spider-Man gave Splinter a small smile, but then he let out a sigh "Still though, it would be nice to have at least a little bit of help. I mean seriously, where the shell are all of the other masked heroes running around? What I wouldn't kill to have one of them show up to help with all of this stuff about the Foot and the Kraang."

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And now, an answer to Spider-Man's prayers…

"Flight 420 is now landing."

Once the flight in question landed, the passengers on board began to disembark, one of them being a man in a suit with a pair of dark sunglasses covering his eyes, and he let out a sigh 'So I'm finally home. It's been a long time, at least three years hasn't it?' he pulled out his suitcase from the overhead compartment, then picked up a cane in one hand and a phone in the other as he dialed a number "Hello? Karen, it's me. Yes, my flight just landed. Is Foggy there? Okay that's good, it'll be good to see him when he gets here. Yes I heard, the so-called Big Man has been revealed, and I think I know who to thank for that, but that's for later. I think you know as well as I do what I have to do now that I'm back. Once we meet up, we'll have to focus on some more important business." he lowered his voice so that no one else could hear "I think it's time to put the Kraang out of commission once and for all."

A/N:

Before I go any further, I want to point something out that I think needs to be addressed: Spider-Man does have incredible strength, speed and agility yes, but he's still relatively lacking in experience, given that he's only had these abilities for about a year, and as far as actual fighting ability goes, he's completely self-taught. He doesn't have any of the skill or technique that other characters have, which is an area of weakness when fighting against enemies like the Foot. That is something I also plan to address later on, but I wanted to make that clear now before anyone gets the idea that I'm nerfing Spider-Man, because that's something I'm trying to avoid.

Adding onto that, one way I tried to avoid nerfing Spider-Man in the fights in this chapter is to introduce a new character, or more specifically a new villain from Spider-Man's rogues gallery: the Prowler. Yeah, I have a few plans in mind for this character. As for what those are, you'll just have to wait and see.

In case it wasn't clear, that little exchange between Donnie and Spider-Man is making a reference to the Night Gwen Stacy Died comic, and what the actual cause of her death was confirmed to be, at least as far as I know. As I said though, that's not going to happen in this story, I can't stress that enough.

And now to close out the last chapter, I introduced another new character to the story, and he'll be making his first proper appearance within the next two chapters or so. As for who he really is and what his purpose is, you're just going to have to wait and see.