Glad to see this story has gotten a little more attention while I was on vaction. And a few points, yes, Peter wouldn't want to let Spider bytes go, but this is PRE-spectacular cannon as previously mentioned. Marko and O'Hern haven't gotten their powers yet, thus the prison hasn't gotten the oscorp upgrade to hold people with powers.
For those worried that this'll just be a retelling, don't worry, we have plenty of cannon divergence coming down the road, espcally for the spider man portions.
And for those that have questioned the fact I've paired liz AND April with peter, know that this ISN'T a harem story. No one's going to have multiple partners in this story. There's a specific reason why I put Liz and April like that, as well as why I didn't put Gwen in that group. Those reasons though will be made more clear WAAAAY down the line.
Donnie hummed in content as he took another bite of Pizza, sitting on the rooftop his brothers plus their web headed friends joined in observing the night sky. "Thanks again Spidey, we'd get some ourselves but …"
"Yeah yeah, mutants not aloud." The probable teenager waved off. "Just make sure to start finding some way to save money and we'll call it even."
"The only money we come in contact with are the pennies that fall through the sewer grates." Leo explained.
"I've been storing up to five hundred at this point." Mikey spoke in an abnormally moody tone. "But I'd give 'em all away just to talk to the pizza guy without him screaming at me." Yikes, even the heavenly taste of Pizza wasn't improving his mood.
"If it makes you feel any better, with or without the mask, I'm not exactly mister popular around this city." Spidey waved off.
"Well it's not like your need to spout your mouth off helps in any way." Raph snarked as he took another bite.
"It's either annoying the enemy till they make a mistake or punch so hard I end up ripping out their stomach and entrails." Spidey responded.
"Can you really punch that hard?" Donnie asked, the scientific curiosity of his personality wanting to know more about the walking enigma that was their vigilante acquaintance.
"There was one time where I broke somebody's arm just by holding out my palm to block a punch. Been making sure to hold back ever since then, though busting Kraang heads made me slip a little." The web head looked thoughtful. "Never actually tested just how hard I can actually hit, I just know it's around the equivalent of a man sized spider."
Oh math time. "Let's see." Donnie muttered, starting the mental calculations. "Average strength of a human punch is about sixty to one seventy psi, pounds per square inch. That evens out to about one hundred and fifteen, then multiplied by a spider's ability to carry a hundred and seventy three times its body weight …" He paused. "You could hit with around nineteen thousand eight hundred and ninety five pounds of force."
Everyone looked at the vigilante, the scrawny looking, presumably teen, guy in spandex. "Really? Huh, neat."
"We tell you that you have enough power to make cranes irrelevant, and you call it neat." Donnie muttered as he ate his pizza. "I'd be mad if I wasn't so curious how your genetics actually functioned."
"Well I don't need that kind of power to take down the avage gas station robber, but if I ever need to punch a t-Rex unconscious, I'll make sure to remember."
"Do you really think we'll be fighting a T Rex?" At Leo's question, Spidey merely sent him a look. "Right, right, fair enough."
"Why is tonight so quiet?" Raph asked. "I know we can't expect to crack Kraang skulls every night, but you'd think there'd be a crook or two runnin around."
"Well we busted the infamous duo of Marko and O'Hern, and the Purple Dragons have been hiding in whatever lair they like to crawl in after I kick their butts." The web head smirked.
"Really, only two famous villain groups?" Mikey asked. "I thought there'd be more."
"I wouldn't call them villains or famous as much as incompetent goons that never graduated, but trust me when I say once the ball starts rolling, you yearn for the quiet nights."
"I highly doubt that." The moment the words left Raph's mouth, his slice of pizza was hit with … a ninja star? "I stand corrected."
They looked around, surrounded by men in black gis, masks on their heads. On the forehead were bandanas, marked with a symbol of a foot. "Ninjas in New York…that aren't us?" Donnie looked around.
"I'll admit, this is new." Spidey nodded, jumping up and shifting his body straight with an over exaggerated hand wave. "Hello there, welcome to the city, I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider Man. I take it you're not here for the statue of liberty."
The ninjas were completely silent, something Donetello knew all too well his brothers weren't the best at being, and unsheathed their weapons. "I think they're here for a fight." Leo slowly withdrew his own blades. "Advice about ninjas, keep your senses peeled, they like to pull a lot of fake outs."
"Nice to know, I'll definitely keep it in the back of my head for later!" Spidey yelled as the enemy ninja attacked.
"Huh, feels weird fighting something that isn't mutated or a robot." Mikey noted as he whacked one of them repeatedly with his nunchaku.
"I know, now I have to actually avoid stabbing them." Raph grunted as he kicked a guy off the side of a building. "I won't hold back on the punches though."
"Look around for their leader, they're obviously too coordinated for them to be attacking us at random." Leo announced as he knocked a few off to the side of the roof.
"We have been taking on a lot of crime, maybe someone got scared and decided to do something in advance." Donnie thought aloud as he blocked an overhead slash, only for his bo staff to break. "I really hate this thing sometimes." He muttered as he used the two halves to hit the ninja on the head.
"Is there some kind of convention in town I didn't know about!?" Spider-man complained as a sword cut through his webs. "Last I checked, New York was less infested with Ninjas!"
"Maybe they're fans and we started a trend?" Mikey asked hopefully, before a kunai nearly went into his head.
"I've seen fandom forums before, this isn't too different from how some fans say they'll act." Leo mentioned as they looked up, seeing a much bulkier ninja with more hints of red in their uniform, as well as a flat metal sharper helmet on their head. "Found the leader."
"And he has a little bullseye mark to boot!" Spidey zipped over and stomped on the ninja's head, sending him into a wall hard enough to leave a mark. "I mean seriously, what kind of Ninja has a giant foot mark on their body?"
The head Ninja got up and cracked their neck, and rushed Spidey. "Apparently one that's more durable than a kick." Raph deadpanned as he ducked a few ninja stars.
"What are you?" The head ninja asked in a deep gravelly voice as he caught Mikey's chain trying to wrap him from behind.
"We're New Yorkers!" His younger brother shouted, using the chain to swing into a punch against the head ninja like Spidey did. "And we're going to de-Feet you, Foot!"
"Okay, ow, hearing that was more painful than anything else that's happened this month, no competition." Raph groaned.
"Come on Mikey, now you're being ridiculous." Spidey said as he kicked another ninja away. "They may have foot marks on their bodies, but that doesn't mean they call themselves foot, that'd be worse than any names we've encountered so far."
They didn't have any more time to discuss it as the police sirens sounded off in the air. "Foot clan, retreat for now." The head announced as the enemy threw down smoke bombs, and like the masters of the night, they vanished without a trace.
There was a silence for a moment, before Spidey started snorting above all things. "Okay, alright, my entire night has been made. Nothing will bring me more joy than this."
"And I saw your butt getting whipped by another ninja, and nothing brings me more joy than that." Raph added on. "Except knocking Mikey across the head, that's a good close second."
"Glad you guys are happy, because on top of the Kraang, we got a gang of Ninjas to deal with now." Leo stated to them in a deadpan tone.
"We can worry about it later, cops?" Donnie reminded the group.
April was watching the TV as the 'heroes of new york' came into the sewer lair … it was sad she'd gotten used to the smell by now. "Seriously, my uncle watched this stuff as a kid, and you like the cheesy junk?" The web head asked.
"Half the stuff you say sounds just like it, so I don't know what you're complaining about." Leo countered back.
"So, any Kraang attacks?" She asked, hoping there'd finally be a lead on her dad for once.
"Not tonight, sadly." Donnie answered with a low head. "It was quiet, almost the entire time until other ninja's came and ambushed us."
"Other ninjas?" The lack of news about her dad was disappointing, but this did peak her curiosity. "Is there a convention or something I missed the memo on, or do you just regularly congregate in New York?"
"Ha, I'm not the only one that made the joke." Spidey chuckled. "Get this though, they have the silliest name of all time. The 'Foot Clan'."
A crashing sound came into the room as they all turned, seeing Master Splinter drop his cup of tea. "Repeat that name for me."
"…The Foot Clan.." Repeating that name seems to take the breath out of the old man.
"Master Splinter, are you alright?" Raph went up to his sensei
"No…" Splinter closed his fists tightly. "The Foot Clan has been the long, hated rival of the Hamato Clan…of my family for generations." He looked at them. "They are dangerous and are not to be trifled with lightly."
"What's with the name?" Mikey asked.
"They were named after the footprint of Koga Takuza, inked with the blood of an entire village … warriors and innocents alike." Splinter looked at Spider Man in the eyes. "And their followers believe in that same mindset. They do not fight fair, they know nothing of honor, so if any of you are to come across them, take ANY advantage you can without hesitation."
"Yes, Master Splinter." The turtles all bowed.
"Leonardo, come with me to my study, and tell me everything about who you encountered tonight." The Ninja master stressed sternly."
"Hai sensei." Leo answered respectively, and all the room was down by two people.
"….I…I got nothing here." Spidey said, sounding a bit put off as he took his seat. "Has he ever sounded scared before?"
"Never like this." Donnie answered. "He only gets this intense whenever he talks about his past as a human."
"He used to be human?" April asked with curiosity.
"Oh yeah, guess we never explained the whole story." Mikey shrugged as he grabbed a slice of pizza from what looked like an old box. "So Splinter use to be this butt kicking ninja master from Japan that moved to New York, went to a pet store, and adopted four baby turtles…I was the cutest one obviously."
"I'll take your word for it." April was pretty sure Spidey was rolling his eyes under his mask.
"Then he came across a back alley meeting with these guys in … suits …" Raph trailed off. "Which I'm now realizing were probably Kraang."
"Would explain why they were carrying mutagen." Donnie nodded. "Anyways, he tried to sneak out, but his position was given away when he stepped on a rat, and a fight ensued with the mutagen, and us, dropping."
"Then he raised us to be four buttkicking , hero turtles!" Mikey shouted. "… With no human friends." Before sighing. "Even the Pizza guy is scared, and we're his best customer." A cough. "Spidey's his best customer.
"You have me." April pointed out. "You know, a completely human girl that's also your friend."
"We saved you, you have to like us." Well that was rude, and also not true. She could've just minded her own business, but she didn't, because that's how her dad raised her.
"And what about me?" The spider-guy asked.
"Full disclosure, I'm still not completely unconvinced there's a spider under that mask." Mikey said honestly. "If I don't see at least four eyes under there, I'll be slightly disappointed."
"It would explain the eyes in the back of his head." Raph said with a lazy swipe that Spidey avoided without any issue. "Because unless you're psychic, I don't see how that's possible."
"Oh wouldn't you like to know." Spidey joked ominously.
"I would." Donnie raised a vial. "Seriously, like a blood sample please?"
"Maybe later." Spidey waved before turning to Mikey. "If you want friends that badly, why not try the internet? Millions of people meet there all the time without ever seeing them in person."
"Really?" The turtle looked up in surprise.
"Yeah, social media is ruining most lives, but you could actually get some good from it." April pulled out her laptop, pulling up a friend site. "So we just put in your name, along with an account password."
"Shell yeah, thanks April, your the best!" Mikey snatched her laptop and began typing.
"You type fast and accurately for a guy with three large fingers." Spidey observed.
"Video games." Donnie answered. "Completely turned his brain to mush, but the finger coordination is unbelievable."
"And send!" Mikey clicked. "… Now what?"
"Now you wait for a reply." Spidey answered. "It could take hours, days, even weeks-"
Ping
"Or right away." April was shocked. "Who'd you send a friend request to?"
"Chris Bradford, the most amazing martial artist ever…don't tell Splinter I said that." Mikey answered.
"Chris Bradford?" Spidey asked. "Wasn't he that guy who got really famous in the eighties over a bunch of false moves people got really hyped over?"
"The one and the same! And there's nothing false about him, he's got a whole chain of dojos across the country!" Mikey responded. "And look, it says he's in the city this week for a martial arts expo! That means I can meet him!"
"Woah now, not the best idea." April waved off. "First off, he doesn't actually KNOW you're a mutant turtle."
"But I posted it in my bio. Why have friends if they don't know the real you?" The turtle replied with innocence too pure for the world.
"Gonna have to edit that." Spidey mumbled. "Second, he's a celebrity. He probably hired someone to manage his social media accounts, you know, to keep the number of followers high."
"Like Chris Bradford isn't awesome enough to train thousands of people, manage every social media account, AND drink fifteen Chris Bradford brand coffee cups at the same time." Mikey waved off.
"And third, who he is online and in the movies and shows can be completely different than who he is in real life." April added.
"Yeah, that wall's a dead end." Donnie commented as he idly watched the Space Heroes show. "Mikey still thinks every comic ever produced is real."
"The moment I show you Captain Wingnut, you'll eat those words!" Mikey closed the laptop. "Either way. I better get going now."
"You do remember the dangerous ninja patrolling the streets for us, right?" Raph asked.
"As long as I avoid them, I'll be good." Mikey shrugged, grabbing a skateboard.
"This is going to end up being a stranger danger PSA somewhere, isn't it?" The masked vigilante groaned.
"Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." Mikey smiled.
"Yeah, and people don't get stranger than you, Mikey." Raph laughed.
"Chris Bradford won't think i'm weird!" The orange turtle shouted as he left the lair.
"... So what's Chris Bradford actually like?" Donnie asked.
"Dunno, despite being a movie star he's got a surprisingly quiet personal life." April shrugged. "Shouldn't you guys go and … you know, make sure he stays safe?"
"Mikey may be a doofus, and scatterbrained, and have little to no common sense, but he can take care of himself against one overhyped action star." Raph waved off. "Worst that'll happen is Bradford runs away screaming and we'll deal with another mopey Mikey tonight."
Donnie sighed. "I'll put together his video game pile." The purple turtle then looked to Spidey. "Can you spot us for another…"
"Yeah yeah, I know the drill by now." The vigilante took out his wallet, but paused. "Wait, April can pay too, right?" He asked, turning to her.
"No job, dad, no allowance, sorry." She waved innocently, making a mental note to never tell them about the stash she's been saving under her bed.
Chris sighed as he walked through the door. "All these new recruits are lousy." Not that he didn't comprehend it, not every generation was going to give him golden stars … but people like the Foot wouldn't take that for an answer.
It was getting harder and harder to find anyone of true potential for the Foot. His celebrity status gave him a leg up in life and many comforts, but he owed that all to his master, and he sought to repay the man in any and every way possible.
Sad to say there weren't many ways to do so. As there were five toes on a foot, there were five things he was obsessed with. Karai, his dead lover, power, destroying his enemies, and Hamato Yoshi's skull. He wasn't quite sure about the order however.
Hearing about Master Shredder's sudden decision to come to the New York branch of the foot filled him with both excitement and dread. All it would take was one screw up for his own head to be severed and cast into the streets.
The master had finally found a lead to where his old hated rival was hiding, and had tasked him personally with finding them. But the problem was that the new york branch in question … was a mess. Not only was their long time eternal rival, the Hand (he always wondered if one intentionally made a name to oppose the other or if it was just the mother of all coincidences), gripping the city's underbelly with a tight grasp, a 'Big Man' had been playing with a lot of money as of late.
And that was ignoring the fact that they lost to a man in spandex, and four giant turtles! Seriously, why couldn't they go back to the good old days of normal weapons killing people? Why did the world have to get so weird and complicated?
Unfortunately, that little incident also happened to be his only lead, as they were trained in the style of the Hamato clan, and given how freakish the turtles were, it was unlikely they'd ever be seen out in the day. The only other sliver of a chance he had at finding Splinter was the Spider vigilante, as he seemed active throughout most of the day as well as night, but tracking him was an equally daunting task.
Chris groaned as he exited his building, disappointed in how everything was going. No new students, no new rewards, and no new news about Hamato Yoshi. "Hey there Chris!" He jumped, as one of the turtle freaks in question jumped from the roof.
"Who …"
"It's me, Mikey, remember?" Yes, from fighting on the roof top obviously. "You accepted my friend request?"
"I did…" He needed to fire the guy handling his social media accounts… actually no…this might work in his favor if the freak hadn't connected the dots. "Oh, you're that Mikey. Sorry, I just met so many friends today it was hard to keep track."
"YES!" The freak shouted with joy. "I knew it, my friends said that you just had an account manager or something, but I knew you were as awesome as in Lone Warrior."
"You watched the Lone Warrior?" It wasn't one of his best sellers.
"I watched all the movies from the greatest martial artist of all time." Well wasn't that an ego boost?
"Why don't you come inside my dojo? We can learn more about each other there." Learn all the moron's secrets and get him to spill where their hideout was. "We can talk about so many things, like where we live, or our masters…"
"Or all the names I gave all my toes!"
"...Or anything else that might be slightly more important." Why did he get the runt of the litter? Something told him the Spider-freak might've been more tolerable.
"More important?" The turtle asked. "You mean like insecurities?"
"Umm …." Was finding Hamato Yoshi worth opening that can of worms? "... Yeah." Compared to failing Shredder, yes.
"Oh, good, because I've been meaning to get so many things off my chest, and I feel like my brother's would just laugh it off." Keep calm and you just might stay sane enough to avoid therapy afterwards. "Like, they think I'm a joke, and I'm not actually good at being a ninja compared to them. But Master Splinter taught us all to fight, and that means I have to be somewhat good, right?" Well that at least confirmed that Hamato Yoshi was involved. Shredder once ranted about the Splinter alias … when he was drunk and breaking the bones of his sparring partner, but the point stands.
"Of course it does!" Chris put on the best supportive celebrity facade he could, one he's practiced for years that allowed him to go by the bare minimum of social interactions with fans. "You're clearly a truly formidable fighter just by looks alone.." From what he remembered, his form was sloppy and undisciplined. The only advantage he had was speed and improvised moves he could barely predict. "I can't imagine how impressive this Splinter must be."
"Oh he's one of the best!" The freak smiled. "He kicked all our butts and came from japan, the land of ninja. He never talks about it much, though, saying 'the past is history' or something like that." He quoted in a stern voice.
"Oh really? My master always tells me to hold onto the past with a tight iron grip." Chris called up the first years under his training with the man, the weeks of recovery he had when he was almost killed. "He says 'as long as one remembers where they come from, they know where to go'."
"So cool." They had sparkly eyes. "Maybe we can introduce them some time." This was working faster than he expected. "Oooh, maybe you can show me your secret Kata! I'd do anything to see it in action!"
Anything, huh? "Tell you what, since we're such good friends, I'll go head and show you my secret Kata: The Death Dragon, and in return, you introduce me to your brothers. I'd love to get to know all of them."
"For something as awesome sounding as Death Dragon? Deal!" They bounced in place. Incredible, by the time Shredder would return, he'd already have the disciples of Hamato Yoshi gift wrapped to hand over.
"Glad we have an agreement, just make sure to never tell anyone about the Death Dragon." He just got the copyright, and he wasn't about to risk it getting ripped off.
"I swear!"
"And now we're best buddies!" Spidey had been listening to Mikey's rant about the entire meeting between him and Chris Bradford. The strangely casual acceptance, the 'real talk' he wouldn't elaborate on, telling them that he learned a secret move he swore to tell no one, and finally he wanted to introduce his brothers. "Isn't it awesome?"
"So he just … didn't jump at all?" Spidey asked. "No 'you're a giant turtle man' or anything like that?"
"Yeah man, Radbrad is just awesome like that. If his beard contains two hidden fists, then he can accept anything!" Mikey cheered.
"Pretty sure that's just another one of those memes that got out of control." Donnie rolled his eyes. "There's a whole website dedicated to listing off ridiculous 'factoids' about him."
"Are any of them actually funny?" Leo asked.
"I found the one about a snake dying after biting him mildly amusing." Donnie shrugged. "So you just … trained Kata together?"
"Yeah, I can even beat Raph now." Mikey grinned cockily.
"Oh really?" Raph smirked, walking up to the soon to be creamed little brother. "Bold words for a turtle about to be acquainted with the ground. You don't just say something so ridiculous and false without backing it up."
"Oh really?" Mikey still kept the smirk as he moved to one side of the room. "Bring it on then bro, let's see if you can handle the Death Dragon."
"Oooh, spooky." Raph cockily waved his hands in the air as they prepared to fight.
"So how far does Mikey exactly fair against the rest of you guys?" Spidey decided to ask the two other brothers. "I want to know what level of underdog I'm rooting for."
"Donnie beats him." Leo deadpanned. "And he's the guy who fails after ten push ups."
"I'll be sure to remember you said that when the tv's fried and there's a space heroes marathon." The brainiac turtle glared.
"Alright, I'll be sure to get the pizza ready…man, I'm gonna have to get the number on speed dial by this point." And maybe find a job quicker than he intended with how much his wallet was being strained.
"Leo, call the match." Raph said, his body ready to rush forward.
"Alright, but take it down a notch this time, Raph. We just got Mikey out of his funk, we don't need you breaking his ego too much this time." Leo sighed as he walked into the middle of the room between his brothers. "Both sides ready?" The two dueling turtles gave a short nod, facing each other in stern determination. "Hajame!"
Raph rushed forward, hands ready to probably clober the poor sod … only for Mikey to slide out of the way and strike Raph from behind, sending him into the ground. "What the-?" The angry turtle called out.
"What's the matter, Raph, too smooth for yah?" Mikey mocked. "Oh are you just too shocked by my mad skills?"
"You got a lucky shot in, this time I'm pounding you!" Raph charged against Mikey, only for the little turtle to grab Raph by the arm and slam his shell into the ground.
"So was that a lucky shot too? Cause if so I think i've got a four leaf clover I keep in my wallet for emergencies." Mikey continued to banter smugly.
"Dang, I don't remember Mikey's comebacks being brutal." Peter noted as the fight continued to go in the orange turtles favor.
"I know, they're usually just annoying like yours." Donnie observed, unable to take his eyes off the fight.
"I guess some part of Chris Bradford really lived up to the legend." Leo said with wide eyes.
"Booyakasha!" Mikey shouted. "Is that game or what?"
"Why you little-!" Spidey swore he could see little balls of fire emerging from Raph eyeballs.
"What's going on here?" Splinter came in from the other room with April.
"Mikey's showing off new moves he learned from his new friend, Chris Bradford." Spidey explained. "And he's owning Raph's butt right now.
"Wait, he actually talked with the guy and got something out of it?" April asked.
"I know, you normally don't think New Yorkers could be as friendly as me." Peter joked.
"Perfect, now everyone's here!" Mikey had a troublesome looking grin on his face. "Now it's time to show off the death dragon!"
"You're going to have to rename it roadkill turtle, because that's what I'm going to turn you into!" Raph charged once more like a rhino, about to flatten Mikey when the little guy struck the angry turtle with an uppercut, hit him right in the chest with a palm strike, and sweeped Raph's legs, making him flip backwards before tumbling into the ground.
"Mikey….won." Leo's eyes widened in slight awe and horror.
"Against Raph." Donnie's jaw dropped in shock and surprise.
"Yikes." Peter winced under the mask. "I never knew Chris Bradford could be so brutal."
"Those …" They turned to Splinter, looking both shocked and in rage. "I've only met one man who used that Kata …" He turned sternly to Mikey. "Are you certain that this 'Chris Bradford' taught you that move?"
"Yeah! He's the best, all I had to do was promise not to tell anyone… so you know, don't tell anyone." Well he was still Mikey.
"Those moves…" Splinter looked like he was shaking. "They come from The Shredder."
All the turtles froze like statues, horror abounded on their faces. "Is that a name we should be aware of, or is this an exclusive club?" Spidey asked.
"He is the leader of the Foot Clan." Splinter reiterated, his voice sounding shaken and trembling. "Long ago, we were raised as brothers as I knew him as Oroku Saki. We trained together, laughed together. But we also fell in love with the same woman, and when my beloved Tenshen made her choice, he was filled with rage and jealousy and sought to kill me by any means necessary.."
He wandered off to a corner of the room, where a black and white picture of a man with a woman and a baby hung on a shelf. "Tenshen attempted to sway him away, but…." For the first time since he saw the man, he looked like he was about to cry. "In the end, I lost everything that day…my wife…and my little Miwai."
A silence enveloped the room. April was the one to break it after a few moments. "If he's working with the Foot … he probably only pretended to like you Mikey. Get in close and take us all down."
"No… no… no!" Mikey grabbed his head, trying to deny it. "But… but we talked! We hung out and… and he listened to me."
"He was fishing for information to learn more about us." Leo summarized. "Mikey, did you tell him anything important?"
"No, I didn't tell him about the lair or where we live. I know better than to just spill things like that." Mikey fell to the ground on his knees. "He said he was curious about meeting you guys, said he'd teach me the death dragon if I introduce you."
"To probably lay a trap …" Spidey clenched his fist. "But now the jokes on them. They tried to set a trap, and we're not falling for it. We are going to go there, make them pay, and teach them that New York is our territory."
A beeping came from Mikey's shell cell. The young turtle looked like he was close to cracking the screen. "It's Brad, he says he wants to meet up for B-Ball."
"He wants to play ball, we'll play ball." Raph held his hand to help Mikey up. "And will be using his stupid head to play."
As he went to follow the turtles, a hand rested on his shoulder. "Do not let my sons go to war with the Foot … they are not ready to face the threat they possess."
"...I know a thing or two about being in over your head… I promise I'll keep them safe." He wasn't about to let his friends get killed, not now, not ever.
Mikey jumped on top of the dojo, silent as he moved closer to the window of his supposed best friend, hoping it was all some kind of misunderstanding. Maybe he was blackmailed, or didn't know the truth.
"When is that turtle freak going to show up?" And with a single sentence from the man, his hope was shattered into a million pieces.
"So it's true that celebrities have no patience." Another man in the room, one with an afro and leather jacket, smirked as he looked at one of the swords that decorated the room "Seriously though, turtle freak? I know that New York has a lot of rumors, but what kinda mushrooms have you been taking?"
"None, because if I did, I'd end up in jail for drug possession, and I'm not stupid enough to land in jail like a gutter punk like you." Bradford glared at the other man. "Why Master Shredder paired me up with you I'll never know."
"Because he wants to make sure the job is actually done competently." The leather jacket man countered.
Mikey gave the signal for the others after a second of processing, Spidey instantly moving in through an opening. "Well competency and crooks don't normally go hand and hand, so maybe the cheese grater is onto something."
"Ahh, so you're the spandex wearing freak that's given the Purple Dragons such a hard time." The leather jacket man instantly went to attack with a series of furious looking kicks.
"And I take it by that accusation you're the guy that keeps patching those thugs together?" Which Spidey weaved around no problem. "And here I thought they were just cockroaches with human skin." He quipped as he shot a few webs at the jacket guy.
"Chris!" Mikey rushed forward, swinging his chucks at the guy. "I trusted you! And you just wanted to stab me in the underbelly!?"
"Like there's anybody in this entire stinkin city that wouldn't do the same after meeting you for five minutes!" The bastard shouted back, taking the sword off the wall and taking some swings. "I take it by your attack that you're not as stupid as you look, or you got someone else to point out the freakin obvious!"
"Hey!" Raph came in, catching the sword with his sai. "Nobody insults my brother but me!" He shouted with a kick to the ribs.
"Ah, the rest of you freaks." The traitor muttered, before whistling as more ninjas jumped into the room. "Unfortunately for you, we came prepared."
"I'm fighting an eighties movie star with everyone but me being some sort of ninja!" Spidey shouted as he kicked away a Foot soldier. "Like seriously, why does New York have so many ninjas? Haven't you heard of variation in style?"
"Maybe you're just out of style." The jacket guy smirked as he and Leo went head to head, using knives against Leo's katana surprisingly effectively. "Red and Blue aren't exactly inconspicuous at night. You almost stand out more than these giant tartaruga."
"Now you make a valid point. Counterpoint." Spidey took a Foot soldier, and swung him into three other guys. "I'm not exactly one that needs to be inconspicuous."
"And we don't intend to hide as we kick your butts across the city." Raph and him doubled team Bradford, making sure to land some blows for everyone one he blocked or countered. "We're going to make it loud and clear for shred-head that you don't mess with us!"
"And that you don't do rotten stuff like fake being friends with people!" Mikey shouted as he ducked under a swing, delivering multiple blows to the stomach. "So don't you dare try it on some innocent person!"
"Oh, for the love of, are you really this childish!?" Bradford knocked Raph back and struck Mikey across the head. "This isn't a dojo, this is real life, where people are going to get hurt and die! Where anything goes! Do you really think I care about whether or not your feelings are hurt!?"
"Dude, there's a difference between being a criminal and being a jerk." Spidey shot a few more webs at Bradford as he and Leo worked on that jacket guy. "There's breaking a law and then there's just bad table manners."
"Aww, is the spider going to shed a tear?" The jacket guy asked as he tried to stab him.
"No, but he might break a rib or two if you keep up the hurting innocent people thing the Purple Dragons tend to do." Donnie noted, on the ceiling as he held something in his hand. "And on the note of everything goes.." The sprinkler system went off.
"You're going to stop us with water?" Bradford questioned.
"Yes, or more accurately.." Donnie's device began sparking yellow. "Highly electrified water." The egg head of the group casually dropped it to the ground. "Spidey, now!"
"Got it!" The web head began covering him and his brothers with webs. "Five insulated web coatings coming up."
"Ah nutAAAAAAAAHHH" Mikey could barely hear the screams with the web coating, just waiting until the sounds all died out, before slowly carving his way out.
Outside, Bradford and all of his goons were on the ground, twitching. "Damn it …"
"Alright twitchy, once you feel your internal organs become uncharcholed, tell this to the Shredder." Spidey picked up Bradford, glaring into his eyes. "New York is protected by us, and nobody he sends will ever hurt someone on our watch." He gripped hard. "You got that, you washed up overhyped celebrity hazbin?"
"Crystal …"
Spidey turned to him. "Any parting words, Mikey?"
Mikey thought long and hard as he looked at the backstabber. "Consider yourself….unfriended." And struck him across the face, sending him across the room. "Wow, that felt good. No wonder Raph's addicted to payback."
"Ah, his first rage filled beatdown. I feel proud as a big brother role model." It was nice when a day could end with him feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside.
Shredder watched as his battered minions returned through the door … with nothing in their hands. "Report." He commanded, waiting for whatever excuse they had.
"We made contact with the enemy, and confirmed that they were trained by Splinter." So Hamato Yoshi was involved in this affair. He gripped his chair tightly in anticipation for the upcoming revenge. "However, they caught onto our trap, and fought back with their own."
It seems his hated rival had trained his pupils well. As expected, he should've known that locating Hamato Yoshi wouldn't be an easy task. That still didn't excuse failure. "Braford. Xever. Stay. The rest of you miserable excuses for ninjas, leave."
The Foot Soldiers bowed, moving out and shutting the door behind him, leaving them in silence. "Since it was your first encounter you will not be punished too harshly … instead, you will not lead the next attack." He looked at the jacket wearing man. "Xever will."
"But, but, this gutter punk…!"
"Are you questioning my authority, boy?" Shredder threatened. "You, who would be less than dog food if it weren't for my teachings?"
"...No, Master, I shall follow your command." His student kept his head low and bowed in fear.
With that taken care of, Shredder turned to Xever. He may have been a thief, but he was the most skilled one he's come across, as well as the only one with the iron will to ever attempt to steal from him. Not to mention how brutally vicious he could be on his victims. "Xever, have you dealt with the 'issue' that pertains to this 'Big Man' of New York."
"I have identified a man to act as a speaker, however, he would not give me his information." Xever bowed.
"I take it you will give him more 'motivation' when the time is right?" The leader of the Foot asked.
"Actually … I tried to threaten him with a knife, which he proceded to headbut …" The thief pulled out a fragmented blade. "Apparently there was a reason he was nicknamed 'hammer head'."
New York seemed to attract the most obscure and bizarre of people. Fortunately, an open mind and a long life had allowed Shredder to not be baffled by such abnormalities. "Track them down and do what you must. I will not have anyone question the power and authority of the Foot Clan."
"Of course sir." Xever bowed. "But please do note that tracking both the turtles and the enemies of the Foot simultaneously will take time."
"I've waited over sixteen years for my revenge. I can wait a little longer." Revenge wasn't a dish best served cold, it was carefully prepared and crafted.
"I shall be on my way." Xever made his way to the door, but paused. "Remind me Bradford, didn't you have a message to deliver?" He asked the tense disciple.
"Yes….it was nothing, just the babbling of a young fool trying to be intimidating…"
"What was it?" He had patience for revenge, not for incompetence and bumbling.
"It..It came from an ally of the Turtles, this vigilante that calls himself Spider-Man, he said New York is their territory, it's under they're watch, and they won't let anyone get hurt….just the foolish outcries of a couple of clowns."
"Yet those same 'clowns' managed to beat you." Shredder bluntly pointed out. "Make sure their arrogance becomes their downfall the next time you clash."