Leo idly played with the rubber ball. "Slow week." He muttered. "Are you sure there's no criminal gangs you forgot to mention?" It was getting pretty mundane at this point. He was starting to see why Raph was always so itchy for a fight.
"Let's see …" Spidey muttered. "Marko and O'hern are still in police custody last I checked, Purple Dragons got their buts kicked again, Spider Bytes is still missing somewhere, Kraang are quiet, we haven't heard anything about the Foot, then again their ninjas … oh, there is the Mafia, but they've been inactive since Silver mane was arrested over ten years ago."
"Silvermane?" Mikey asked. "That actually sounds like a decent villain name that wasn't made by me."
"More of a nickname for Silvio Manfredi, he ran the underground till the feds busted him. There were rumors that he kept himself alive by implanting robotics in himself." Spidey shrugged. "I always thought that was just an urban legend, but given the world we live in…" Yeah, it was hard to know what counted as unbelievable when aliens were a thing.
"Speaking of robotics, is Donnie still working on another Metalhead?" Raph asked. "He's been in his lab a lot more lately." It's true, for the past week the turtle hasn't left his lair unless asked.
"He said he was working on 'his master plan', last I asked." Mikey answered. "I figured we'd grab a pizza before stopping him from taking over the world or whatever."
"Okay, seriously, I get Pizza is the first human food you've had, but we have to expand your pallets at some point." Spidey sighed. "I mean, you can't expect to live off Pizza forever you know."
"We've lived off of algae and worms for fifteen years." Raph deadpanned. "Ain't no one going to tell me what I can and cannot eat anymore." Well, sushi wasn't that bad every once in a while, or corn dogs.
The lab door opened up, Donnie leaning out. "People of the sewers, please, step inside."
"Donnie, if this is another robot, I can't guarantee we won't immediately try to destroy it before it destroys us." Leo turned to his brother as they approached.
"Nonsense, you wouldn't be able to destroy it." Day by day, the turtle marched forwards towards being a mad scientist. "Besides, this is something far more important and prevalent."
"Your need for a better social life?" Raph asked sarcastically.
"I understand the joke, but that is actually pretty on point." It was? "Behold, the master plan!" He unveiled a whiteboard with multiple drawings and pictures taped to it. "Multiple layers, pathways, and steps all set on obtaining … the hand of April O'Neil."
"Isn't that romantic?" Mikey responded with a little laugh.
"Mock all you want, little brother, but I have come up with every eventuality! Each line represents a step I can take so that I can maximize my time with her that all emphasize my best qualities." Donnie pointed to a green path. "For example, if she says she can't go out with me because she needs to study, I'll suggest a study session served with healthy brain stimulating snacks."
"What if she calls you too nerdy?" Raph asked.
"Well I show her I'm not by showing off my parkour skills at a skatepark, and demonstrating survival skills on a camping trip." Donnie showed off a flex that just made him look dorky.
"What if she doesn't want to date you because you're a turtle?" Leo pointed out what would probably be the obvious obstacle in his path.
"I show her the DNA scans I have of my biology that prove the capability and that there's no need to concern herself with catching salmonella." Because THAT'S what every girl wanted to see on a date.
"What if she's into girls?" … Everyone turned to Mikey. "I just wanted to ask a question, is that so wrong?"
"I've actually taken that into consideration, and have concluded, mostly through whenever she talks about her friend Irma, that she isn't, or at the least is bi-curious, which means my chances are seventy-three percent to work in my favor."
"Once again, impressed yet terrified." The spandex vigilante looked it over. "Good job man, this might actually work out unlike most TV shows." It did seem pretty common to overplan a date.
"Wait, you think he has a shot?" Raph asked.
"Honestly, he has a better shot than the guy under the mask." Spider-man pointed to himself.
"I KNEW you had four eyes!" Mikey accused.
"I will neither confirm nor deny that." Spidey responded. "And hey, at least he has the guts to try asking a girl out, mutant ninja turtle or not."
"Yep, and I will, once I get step fifteen rolling." Donnie nodded. "Steps one through five are pretty much the same with every path, except for in the unlikely chance a deadly virus breaks out, in which case I reworked steps one through seven. Then there's the chance of mole people coming in, in which case I bring back the previously aforementioned 'prove I'm not a total nerd' survivalist path."
"How come you're beating us up in this path?" Leo pointed to an image.
"That's for the unlikely event April ends up interested in any of you, in which case I prove myself better by surpassing you all in whatever quality she finds the most admirable." Really feeling the love there.
"As much as I'd love to kick your butt, don't bother with me." Raph rolled his eyes. "Human skin gives me the creeps."
"This coming from the reptile." Spidey retorted.
"I don't see you go all buddy buddy with hairy people." Raph countered. It was getting hard to keep track of who was able to annoy Raph more, for the moment Spidey and Mikey were practically tied.
Before the web head could put another point in his favor on that front, the lab door burst open, and in walked April with her laptop. "Guys, check this out!"
"April!" Donnie quickly flipped the board around to the other side. "I mean, hey, April." How can such a smart guy fail to see how lame that was?
"I've been looking all over the internet to keep track of any more Kraang sightings when this came up." She opened up her computer and flipped to an article on the channel 6 website.
"'Renowned Neuroscientist Dr. Rockwell reported missing." Spidey read it over. "Hey, I've heard of him before. Last I remember he was involved in some kind of study involving precognition."
"Precog-wha now?" Mikey asked
"Future Vision." Donnie dumbed down. "You think the Kraang are involved?"
"Probably, which is why we need to go to his lab and check it out." April spoke seriously.
"April's absolutely right. Wait, you guys have something else to do?" Donnie spoke up.
"I didn't say.." Leo tried to butt in.
"Fine, be that way. April and I will investigate it ourselves." The nerdy Turtle took April out of the room, sending them a wink before they left.
"What do you know, he didn't need a plan after all." Spidey chuckled.
"Yeah, I bet he didn't plan for this." Leo rolled his eyes and looked at the board, before his stomach dropped. "Oh my god he totally did." He pointed to the four of them looking at the whiteboard.
"He even left a post it note for Spidey to tail them in case they run into a dangerous mutant he can't beat one on one." Raph read said note aloud.
"Okay, that's a little spooky." Mikey noted as they all nodded. "What else did he plan for?"
"Let's see…wow, he has a plan for cosmic rays, sharks with lasers, and satanic rituals." Spidey looked with wide eyed shock. "I think making a deal with Mephistopheles is taking it a bit far."
"A man does crazy things for love. Look at what happened with Splinter and Shredder." Leo pointed out. Hopefully Donnie could stay sane enough to not kill them over a crush.
This was great! Just Donnie and April, alone at night as they went investigating for a missing scientist, showing off his skills and his science simultaneously to impress her, while potentially getting a lead on some mutagen!
Sure the investigation was going a bit slow, and Rockwell's lab was an absolute wreck with little to no evidence, but he was still here, and his brothers weren't around to laugh at him. He'd show them just how smooth he could be.
Absolutely nothing could make this night better. "So, what do you think happened?" April asked.
"Not sure, but it looks like something was struggling to escape." He looked top to bottom, seeing numerous scratches all over the room, including a cage that was busted open and bent everywhere. "Maybe the Kraang got someone mutated in the struggle?"
"I hope not, bad enough the Kraang are kidnapping people, now we got to worry about everyone getting turned into monsters." April groaned. "What's the point of that anyways?"
"Well, there's a small number of possibilities, making their own mutant army, creating a food source, finding ways to enhance their own physiology." Donnie listened as he continued to search.
"Maybe that's why they keep taking scientists, to make it do one of them …" April muttered.
Donnie walked over, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We'll find him April, both Rockwell and your dad, don't worry."
The girl sent him a small smile. "Thanks Donnie. You being here helps remind me not all scientists are evil jerks." Aha, victory! Now to respond with a sincere compliment.
"Hey, don't count yourself out, you're the one constantly gathering information, you've got a good head on your shoulders." Such a pretty head it was.
"Thanks, but I'm not exactly into science like you are..though the investigation admittedly is a little fun." Score, the date was going great!
"Glad you think so, because we're about to have more fun." He noticed something small and blue on a nearby desk. "I just found a flash drive. We might be able to use it to discover what exactly Rockwell was working on, and maybe where he is now."
He pulled out his T Phone, placing the small usb in the slot as a video file was displayed. Clicking on something labeled 'project psionic' as it loaded up.
"Week twenty three. I, Doctor Tyler Rockwell have finally been able to make significant progress with my research." A man came on screen as a video played. "I've been in touch with a scientist overseas, doctor Morbius, as we've worked on linking the cells of the blood to the nervous system, allowing for a safe way to alter the brain chemistry without surgery."
"Why am I getting a 'Curt Connors' vibe from this?" April asked hesitantly.
"The pursuit of discovery isn't always the cleanest path." Donnie sighed.
"I've been approached by an anonymous organization claiming to fund my research. While I'm weary to trust, the mutagen provided has proven to greatly expedite my experiments."
"Well at least we were right about the Kraang connection." April noted, looking around the room. "Along with an inkling of what caused this mess."
"The simian dna has shown to be greatly effective, to the point the cells of the brain have proven to greatly accelerate mental function, to the point it almost gives psioic-like abilities. My college Dr. Falco has shown great fascination with this development, though I'm inclined to have hesitancy at his zealousness."
"I'd argue against the impossibility of mental powers, but the genetics of Spider-Man still baffle me." Donnie groaned. "Alright, you go find out who Dr. Flaco is, I'm going to go look for a giant monkey with Jedi mind tricks."
"A mind reading monkey. And here I thought giant turtles were where the bar was set." April joked as she walked out of the office.
"Now if I was a massive simian, I'd probably head to central park." Donnie muttered. "There'd be plenty of trees all around for it to interact with-"
Smash
"Or it can show up right now." Donnie grabbed her and jumped out of the office and into the alleyway to get away from the seven foot chimpanzee. They'd looked pretty boney with their arms covered in broken off shackles, but the bulging bloodshot eyes were filled with crazed intensity. "Stay back April, I got this."
"But what about the part about it reading minds?" April asked.
"Just because it knows what i'm about to do doesn't mean it can react." He just needed to focus on quick jabs-nope, it grabbed the stick mid attack.
"AAAK!" The Chimpanzee lifted him up and slammed him against the wall.
"DONNIE!" Her screams of concern almost made this worth it…but his inflaring internal organs begged to differ.
"Just a lucky shot, now I've sized him up!" He reassured April, not wanting to look bad in front of. Okay, so he could read his movements, he just had to think smarter about it. Whack him across the head and kick when his guard was-
"AH AH AAAHHHHH!" The monkey rushed in and jumped on his shell, consistently pounding his fists against his skull. "AHHHH!" It screamed again as the monkey flipped off him with a kick, sending Donnie's face right into a nearby dumpster.
"Okay, not my best plan." Donnie got up, watching as the monkey turned to April, growling. "April!"
Thwip
"If it wasn't for the fur, I'd mistake you for the common New Yorker." Great, Spidey read his note. He was sure any of his brothers would just humiliate him, so that guy was the only one he could trust to act as backup. The master plan was working out flawlessly!
"AAAK! AAAK!" The simian screamed out in rage, trying to jump after him.
"Agile little fella, aren't you? Sorry the city can't afford a public jungle gym, but maybe you should stick around anyway." Spidey moved as he fired a few more webs, all of which were avoided. "Wow, Monkey see Monkey do isn't just an idiom."
"Spider-man, be careful! The monkey's a mutant that can read minds!" April warned the wall crawler.
"Oh really? Maybe I can ask it for a palm reading later, or can it only guess what number I'm thinking of?" Spidey said almost nonchalantly as the simian tried to swing at him, only for the masked man to avoid each swing, sometimes even in mid air? How was he able to dodge so easily? He didn't even look like he was paying attention half the time.
"AAk … aak …" The monkey paused, staring at Spidey in confusion. "Aaahhh." It began rubbing its own head.
"What the …" Spidey looked at the thing in confusion. "Hey April, Donnie, are we sure it's just thoughts he can read?" He asked, slowly mimicking the movement of the simian.
"The files we got on Rockwell's drive said they'd created psionic abilities." Donnie answered, cautiously approaching the mutant. "I guess we didn't properly assess how developed those abilities were."
"Right." Spidey looked the simian in the eye, tilting his head as the animal did the same. "Hey there big guy … feeling weird. Thoughts, feelings, tingle in your skull … we just wanna help you, alright?"
The monkey's eyes still looked worried and confused, but its breathing was beginning to slow down. "You don't want to hurt anybody, right?" April approached, reaching out a slow but comforting hand. "You don't have to be angry or scared. I promise, everything's going to be okay." So beautiful and serene, even with a mutant that just tried to kill them all.
"Aaahh … Ah." It gently reached back, gazing into her eyes as April blinked.
"Guys … call me crazy but … I think this is Doctor Rockwell." April said with wide eyes.
"Alright Crazy." Spidey answered instantly. "What do you make of his prisoner fashion statement?"
"That was meant to protect him, and everyone else." A new voice came into the alleyway, as they saw a gray haired man in a lab coat, the sight of which seemed to instantly agitate the mutant simian.
"AAAK! AAAK!" The apparent Doctor Rockwell began freaking out, trying to flee.
"Sorry doc, but we don't have any more time for monkey business." Spidey quipped as he webbed the monkey up, who seemed to get instantly confused upon looking at the masked man, making the mutant struggle a whole lot less than Donnie expected him to. "Alright, mysterious man in a lab coat, explain yourself."
"I'm Dr. Falco, and that man you have tied up is my friend." Donnie didn't need psychic powers to know that he should take that line with a grain of salt.
Spidey wondered how many mad scientists were in New York. Baxter Stockman, The Lizard, The Vulture. If someone else became another giant animal from science he was gonna lose it. "So Doctor Falco … you've had Roswell chained up?" Spidey asked as Rockwell filled the monkey with sedatives.
"I assure you, it was the only option I had." The scientist spoke up. One thing he would give the doc credit for was that he didn't ask too many questions about a giant turtle, a masked vigilante, and a teenage girl investigating a missing scientist.
"I don't get it." Donnie looked over the trapped scientist. "Mutation does a lot of things, yes, but it shouldn't produce such a feral nature. Rockwell should still be capable of speech at least." True, if Snakeweed was a half plant able to converse, then everyone was.
"I scarcely comprehend it myself. It all started with our research. Tyler and I were working to increase the cognitive functions of the brain, a large piece of our research coming from an organization calling themselves the Kraang." The doctor explained. "I didn't trust them, but Tyler was fascinated with the results of this strange mutagen they provided."
"They usually just kidnap scientists. Count yourselves lucky." Spidey patted the man on the back.
"What's with the cage?" April asked, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"Rockwell developed empathic abilities when he developed his mutation. He takes on the emotions of those nearby." The man explained.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Donnie asked.
Falco sent them a deadpan look. "We live in New York."
"Ahhhhh." Spidey and April realized at the same time.
"A large part of his tests came from the monkey he experimented on…poor thing, it was never treated too well." Falco gave a saddened sighed. "When it grew tired of its treatment, it bursted free, causing the accident that…well you know. I've been trying to keep Tyler calm ever since, trying to find a way to at the very least bring him back to sound mind."
"I can see that." Spidey looked at the creature. "You know, I can recommend you to the Connors at ESU, they're very discrete and would probably be a lot of help looking for a way to help Rockwell."
"I will take that into consideration." The man nodded, before turning back to the transformed doctor Rockwell. "Now if you'd please be on your way, Tyler needs all the rest he can manage."
"Of course." Donnie nodded, signaling them to exit the room. "Wait, one last thing." He paused. "He was experimenting with mutagen, right? You wouldn't happen to say … have a spare canister with you?"
"No, I believe it was all lost in the accident." The man replied slowly with a regretful look.
"Alright." Spidey tossed over his card. "Just send an alert if the Kraang decides to stop by again, alright?" He asked the Doctor.
"I shall. Thank you." Both groups nodded as they made their leave, a slightly unfulfilled feeling in Spidey's gut hanging over him.
"I don't trust Falco." April spoke up the moment they were outside. "Did you see how freaked out Rockwell got when he came? If he reacts to emotions, what does that say about Falco?"
"It could mean Falco was freaked out, and caused a panic." Donnie theorized. "After all, it was only violent because we were."
"I don't know…With Rockwell, I felt this weird….rush of fear and pain ….I know that sounds weird, but I just…get these feelings sometimes."
"You're psychic and you never told us?" Spidey joked.
"You never showed who's under the mask." She pointed out. "Besides, you're the one constantly flipping up and down fighting in the air backwards. How do you do that?"
"Nothing much to it, my body's just able to move on its own sometimes before I'm able to think clearly. Gets easier with more experience." Spidey shrugged.
"Now that I think about it, Rockwell had a weird reaction … and you mentioned a tingle?" Donnie asked.
"Just good ole spidery intuition." He laughed off, not wanting to say too much about his spider-sense. It was his most helpful yet confusing power. The less people knew about it the better. "Now let's get back to the lair, and hopefully the guys can keep a straight face when we explain we fought a mutant monkey."
Splinter walked past Donatello as he fought against a training dummy. "Come on, faster, too fast to think." The child muttered as he continued to jab it.
Strange, he's never seen the turtle so focused on training his body, something they often ignored. While he would pride his son for improving himself on all fronts, his mentor and fatherly intuition told him this was stemming from a deep rooted frustration. "What troubles you, my son?"
Donatello sighed. "We fought a monkey with the ability to read minds tonight." …. New York was really the city of the strange and curious. "And I kept trying to think of stuff to do but it just kept countering. How do you beat someone who knows what you're going to do before you do it?"
"You are intelligent, Donatello, and it serves you well with planning and strategy." Splinter complimented. "But in a fight, you can't be all up here." He gestured to his head. "To adapt, you must be fully in the moment without thinking."
"But thinking is my whole thing, how can someone just, not think while in a fight?"
"So you're saying there's an entire franchise based around tornadoes made of sharks?" Mikelangelo asked the Spider-Man as they made their way past.
"Exactly, it's as nonsensical as it sounds. The cgi's fake as hell, the sharknado barely appears, and it focuses on human characters no one cares about."
"Observe." Splinter smiled, making a strike towards the unobservant turtle.
"That sounds so awesome!" Michelangelo ducked under the fist. "It's like a horror movie without the fear." They jumped over the sweep. "And not to mention the weapons!" And slid past a chop. "Tell me, do they have mutant sharks too?"
"Oh believe me, that's only scratching the surface of what they'll put on the sy-fy channel." He extended his attack to the Spider-man, who ducked under the staff and stepped aside from the kick. "There's time travel involved with the last sharknado, there's the one about a wear-shark, one about sharks living in sand dunes, it's pretty much it's own perpetual motion energy machine of b-movie madness." The vigilante jumped over the tail and caught one of the punches.
"As you can see, fighting without thought is possible, if one's mind is clear." Splinter explained to his son.
"Wait, we were fighting?" … It appeared Michlangelo still needed a few lessons on focus.
"Okay, so it's possible, but how does one get like that, is there long term meditation involved, or do I plan on not planning or…" And his son was overthinking it again.
"You must travel to the part of your mind, where no thoughts cloud over you. Do not overthink it." He explained.
"But Mikey has a lot more space than me." He looked over to see the turtle eat a pepperoni off the ground, much to the disgust of Spider-Man.
"True…but Michelangelo has his own challenges to overcome."
"And what about Spidey, he does it without any training whatsoever." Very true, a most peculiar case the old master had trouble reasoning with.
"Not sure how much this'll help you, but when I'm out there, doing my friendly neighborhood service, most of the time, I try to hone in on one main goal." Spider-man answered. "If I look at a robbery, my whole thing is to 'stop the robbery', not how many guns they have or how many are in front of me. You don't start off thinking you'll save the whole world, you start by saving one person."
The words rang with someone who spoke with experience and wisdom. In a lot of ways, Splinter was grateful his sons met the masked man, as they were able to speak to someone who both guide them and spoke on their level. Donotello started thoughtfully at the vigilante, looking down at his own hands. "I …"
"Guys!" They turned and saw April rush into the space, Splinter forced to look away. The girl had potential with her compassion and natural born intuition, but their talk about Kunoichi left … much to be desired. "I've been looking it over, Rockwell was experimenting with simian DNA, not simians themselves!"
"What?" Donnetello looked in wide eyed surprise. "But what was Falco going on about?"
"I went through the files, Rockwell never had a monkey, which means Falco lied." April continued. "And if he lied about that…"
"Then he probably lied about having more mutagen." Spider-Man growled. "He probably mutated Rockwell as well to further whatever physic experiments he was trying to develop."
"Come on, lets go get Leo and Raph, then take him down." Donatello stated as the group rushed off.
"Remember Donetello, you must be in the moment." He warned his son, knowing all too well his son would most definitely be learning the lesson in a very hard, and painful way.
"Yes, that's right Tyler, keep sleeping, stay asleep as I evolve beyond the normal man." Falco could barely contain himself with giddiness. He would never subject himself to the horrendous mutation process, but with Rockwell oh so kindly providing his mutated brain, he had enough DNA to synthesize a serum to grant him his own psionic abilities.
He didn't see the big picture here, the man had hoped that 'world peace' could be formed with emotions. Not the military applications of seeing your opponent striking before they do. And with the Kraang providing their funding … the results spoke for themselves.
Dr. Falco could feel it coursing through his veins. This mutagen, this power to transcend genetics itself. All it had taken was some experimenting with that damned Rockwell, and now he had this power for himself. Falco could hear and see it, the thoughts of all those around him … including the six intruders making their way to his door.
The Doctor turned to the door, cracking his neck and loosening his joints as they all burst through the entrance. "If it isn't the bad old Doctor … drugging himself like no other." Spider-Man spoke with confusion. "Seriously, eyes aren't supposed to be that bloodshot man."
"A small price to pay with Tyler's neurochemicals coursing through my veins." Falco laughed. "For great power comes at a great price."
"Unfortunately for you, we're here to cash the check." … Everyone turned to, from what his thought reading told him, Leonardo, the leader of this band of clowns. "What, it's not like I said.."
"...'You're done Monkeying around?'" Falco finished with a laugh. "You were about to if I hadn't said anything. Nothing in your mind is closed off from me now, they're all like open books….very, very small books granted."
"Enough talking." Raphael, the muscle, rushed forward. He could see the attack trail on forward, which Falco dodged easily, hitting in the turtle where he knew was soft and pathetically easy to damage. "I'm going to-"
"Wipe the white off my lab coat? How humorous, you're more of a clown than the arachnid." He chuckled as he kicked Rapheal over to the side of the wall.
"Maybe you can read his mind, but you can't deal with two of us at once." Leonardo thought pathetically as he rushed in, trying to land a blow that he avoided like the telegraphed move it was, before hitting his leg hard enough a crack was heard, launching him to the side.
"Such bravado, but do you really think you're a leader? After all, it's not like you earned your position." Falco snickered as he tripped Leonardo into Rapheal.
"Guys, we just have to not think!" Michelangelo … the turtle that was there, shouted with a grin, before pausing. "Wait, now I'm thinking about not thinking. Now I'm thinking about thinking about not thinking! Now i'm-" He just walked up and hit them for the benefit of everyone there.
"Anyone else want to challenge me?" He asked, looking at April. "Or should I just continue about my day?"
"I'll tango." Rolling his eyes at the vigilante, he ducked under the punch, aiming for the stoma- {Impact} the stomach of the creature that avoided him. "As you can see, I've got better dance moves."
"Wha …" What was that, that odd tingle in the base of his brain. Was there some sort of error in his synthesis? "You miserable excuse for an Arachnid!" He went on the assault once more, using one of Rapheal's discard Sais to attempt to pierce the fool into the wall.
{Projectile} "Mad scientists. Can't stand them, but they're the only ones to not call me an insect." Falco dodged the web counter, only for a leg to swing by, forcing Falco to block the powerful blow.
"Keep it up Spidey!" The girl, April O'Neil, cheered as she tried to free Rockwell.
"No!" He attempted charge at the teenage fool, only to narrowly avoid getting webbed in the back. "How are you avoiding my detection!?"
"I dunno, how do you manage to read minds with a bird brain, Falco?" The fool quipped as they went in once more for a sweep. He jumped, trying to land his own kick {Impact} What WAS THAT!? That tingle came in every time he … attacked …
After being swatted away, Flaco paused, probing the spandex clad vigilante's mind … finding the source of his frustration. "Ah, I see, you have your own form of precognition." The man laughed. Something to note for later, when he would dissect the boy's brain for research.
"You what!?" The orange one, Michelangelo, shrieked. "How come you never told us you were psychic?!"
"I'm not! I don't really-Is this really the best time to discuss this!?" The spandex wearing vigilante's brain kept alarming him of any incoming attack basically by instinct, similar to how a spider felt the vibrations within its web. It was like there was a 'web' of psychic energy surrounding the vigilante's head. Luckily, as a scientist, Dr. Falco knew how to keep a few tricks up his sleeve to get ahead.
"Oh, I believe it would be beneficial for us to discuss matters personally….Peter Parker." There was a tense silence that enveloped the room.
"Peter?" April looked at the masked fool with surprise. Oh it was almost laughable how much of a soap opera drama the boy's memories made up. "That's…how…but…why…huh?"
"Now how about we talk this out like gentle-" There was a small error Doctor Falco hadn't quite taken into account. Seeing a punch and evading it was one thing. Seeing a hand with the speed and power of a moving train grab him was another.
"You are going to get out of my head, right now, before-" The rage filled voice started.
"Before what?" Falco asked. "I get arrested, I tell the entire planet your secret identity and let every villain attack … oh, an Aunt May?" A fist broke the metal wall next to his head. "But we both know you won't kill me …" Where was it … there we go. "Because you didn't kill him either."
"Shut up!" The fool shouted.
"Do you really think that you're in the position to tell me what to do?" Falco accused. "Oh, Uncle Ben would be so disappointed in all your failures.."
"Don't you say…" With so much emotional distress, the fool didn't even notice that Falco was still armed, whacking the vigilante on the side of the head with the handle of the sai.
"And then there was one." He looked out to Donnetello, the 'intelligent one'. The amount of information running in his head was admirable at least. "Or should I count the girl with no defensive capabilities too?" The Doctor asked.
"You leave her alone!" Oh, such a response …
"What, do you think you actually have a chance with her?" That made the pathetic mutant pause in place. "For a mind teeming with ideas such as yours, you really can't comprehend the obvious."
Donetello looked at the girl, both of them sharing embarrassed looks at each other before the mutant took a deep breath. "Don't think, just do." And charged forward with his staff, prepping to swing.
"Hah, your movements are so incredibly predicta-" (save her) "..wha.." Falco felt the bo staff strike him right in the chest. "How-" (save her) Another strike to the side of the head. (save her) This time it was a palm to his stomach. "Damn you …"
"Sorry, Falco, but your little cheat sheet aint going to help you here." Donnetello kicked him right in the side. "And I know exactly how fragile a scientist can really be in a fight!" Another roundhouse kick was made across his head, sending him into the air.
He was knocked to the desk … into all of his chemicals. "AAAGGGHHH!" Falco screamed in agony, feeling the flames lick his sides. "IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" He grabbed his head, stumbling around.
"April, grab the guys, we've gotta move!" Donnetello shouted as he picked up Leonardo…he thought…the world was starting to get so blurry and black.
"No, no, I need their vision!" He needed more serum. Where was it, where was his sight!? He needed it, he needed it.
He was stumbling, he was falling, where was he…he…there was nothing but black, nothing but a void…he was alone…he couldn't be alone…why…was he so alone?
April looked at the TV, reporting the chaos. "So … maybe releasing an empathetic mutant monkey onto New York streets wasn't our best idea." She tried to break the silence that had overtaken them since the lab.
"Doesn't feel right to place him in a cell when he didn't do anything wrong." Leo watched with her.
"I know, but we could have moved him to a forest or something." Donnie added his own two cents. Him and April had looked at each other a bit weirdly. Guess in hindsight it was a little obvious, but it was still awkward to know when a friend had a crush on you when you didn't know how to feel about it.
"Yeah …" Spider-man….Peter….wow that was weird to imagine, stood up. "I'm gonna go home, review stuff for a test, maybe hope we never talk about what we learned ever."
"Come on, Peter, stick around a little.." Mikey began to say.
"Can we please not use the P-word when the mask's on? I don't want my name to get casually said out loud while in the middle of a fight." The vigilante groaned.
"So you really are a teenager under that thing." Raph commented. "And you've been taking your own pictures to boot."
"I was trying to help my Aunt May. The bills are piling up at home, and we haven't been in a good position since Uncle Ben…" There was a tense silence again.
"Yeah, Gwen told me about that…you don't have to explain." This did explain the constant disappearing, and the lateness, and why Peter always seemed so awkward around her. Now she didn't have to take Irma's guess about Peter having a crush on her seriously. "So…" April whistled. "No hard feelings about the 'pencil necked jerk' comment?"
"No, I deserved it." Peter sighed. "I needed a job, I took an opportunity that could let me double as Spider-man. Not to mention I can't really explain why I'm never around to help when trouble shows up …" He waved off. "But it's cool, I just … need to wait a couple years until the whole thing blows over … hopefully."
"We're going to find where Falco went, and we'll make sure he doesn't spill anything." Leonardo reassured him. "Besides, it's not all bad now."
"How can this be a good thing?" Peter asked.
"Well, we know who you are, which means we can work better together, we can coordinate better during the day time, heck, knowing where you are in a crowd will be better in the long run." Donnie listed.
"Besides, now you got someone to help cover you." April patted the boy's shoulder. "In case it gets super hard to get an alibi."
"Yeah dude, you're not in this alone. We're a team, all of us." Mikey gave a thumbs up. "Although I am gonna hold you accountable that you never told us you're psychic."
"I barely know what my Spider-sense is, only that it tells me about danger before it happens." Peter groaned.
"That's not even a spider ability!" Donnie shouted.
"Whatever the case, the point is your secret is safe with us." Leo nodded at the boy. "We can help you like you've helped us." Leo smiled. "You don't have to hide behind a mask with us."
Spidey looked at them. "Alright, guess it would be hypocritical of me to not share my secrets with you guys. So let's do this formally." Slowly and gently, he pulled off his mask. "My name is Peter Parker."
"Ahh, it's more hideous than I could've imagined!" Raph dramatically yelled out. "Put the mask back on before your face melts someone's eyes out."
"Haha, very funny. I'll remember to do the same when the bandana comes off." Peter rolled his eyes.
"Alright, is the sarcasm a personal thing, or all you?" April had to ask. It also just dawned on her why Peter was always wearing baggy clothes, the spandex did leave little to the imagination….it was weird imaging 'puny parker' with muscles.
"A bit of both. Spider-man says what Peter Parker would say if he wasn't an awkward nerd, friendly banter between friends and snark against Flash notwithstanding." Made sense, also explained all the dejavu she had when he spoke, and the ringtone, and wow, this was so obvious if you just thought about it for five seconds.
"The mask both shows what is underneath, and hides it at the same time." They turned as Splinter came out. "It's nice to meet you … Peter."
"Yeah, it's nice to be here." Even if today didn't end on an awesome note, April felt it ended on a good one, one that would lead to more good days in the future.
Splinter turned to her, gazing curiously. "April, have you thought about my offer?"
"What offer?" Donnie asked.
"Splinter offered to train me to be a kunoichi." April wanted to be more involved, she didn't want to be some damsel in distress that constantly weighed her friends down. "I have…and I accept."
"Our lesson begins tomorrow, after school." The man bowed, walking away.
"Wow, ninja girl, it seems everyone picks up the tricks." Peter joked.
"We could train on Kata sometime if you want." Donnie offered.
"Ah.." Think this through. On one hand, this could just be his way of wanting a date, and she still hasn't sorted out her feelings yet on that, but on the other hand, she'd learn to kick butt much faster if she trained as much as possible. "Sure."
"Yes-I mean, cool, cool." The turtle nodded. Why was the obvious just NOW ringing in her head?