A woman sat there, drinking tea. She was bound to a wheelchair, a pair of webbed glasses rested on her face, long black hair rolled down her head. "Hello there, readers." She chuckled. "Yes, I can see you. And I'm sure you know my tale … I'm Madame Web after all."
"Now you're probably wondering what this is." She asked. "It's a view into the web of life, and all the mysteries it entails. Except this particular web is bound to the destinies of the turtles … for the most part." She smirked ominously.
"Different strands lead to different paths. Histories altered, decisions changed, new courses come, and past and future become forever altered." The woman went on. "It is my job to navigate the web, to guide those that walk its strings, and lead them to where they're meant to be."
"Although some seem bleak and hopeless, there will be a day when they see light. And as for me … My time will come eventually … for now, let us embrace the web of life and destiny, and the strange strings of fate that tie us together in wondrous ways." She showed off a web on the back of a shell, inside were multiple images. "Go on … enjoy these stories."
Peni Parker groaned as the villain prattled on. "Yes, beware, the almighty, and mystic power of Mysterio, for your only choice is to surrender to my impressive might." This was soo dumb. The good thing about guys that prattled on was that it gave Sp/Dr time to analyze everything, one such thing was the gas, and how to form an antidote.
The bad thing was that they weren't always good speeches. {Annoyance} As her only partner in life could testify. And the worst part about this? "And soon, we will rid the world all evil, for the lovely Sp/Dr, fighting off injustice!" He was a fucking fanboy. {Mate?} Don't you fucking dare.
This was absolutely not what the thirteen year old signed up for…in fact she never signed up for anything at all, given that she was apart of a secret government project that gave her clearance to operate her dad's exo-skeleton.
No notoriety other than the odd pictures here and there, no help from the police who found her a vigilante, and no paycheck either. She needed to find a job, but that was a bit hard to do in an economy where Mutants and Robots could do it ten times better than a human.
It wasn't an easy life to live. Hardly any friends and she basically dedicated her life to an over glorified hobby when it wasn't on school? Why the heck did she do this anyways? {Responsibility} Right, the ol' Parker saying that screwed her more than helped her half the time.
With Great Power must also come Great Responsibility. A saying quoted many times by her father, and his father before him, the very first Spider-Man, who swung around and saved the day back with four giant mutant ninja turtles. At this point in her life it would have been a mundane sight to see.
"Look, I'm…flattered…and all, but if you want my attention, there's better ways to do it than killing everyone, Quinten." She rolled her eyes as she made her appearance known.
"Oh my heavens, Sp/Dr!" He shouted. "I'm honored to have you aboard my vessel." This was gonna suck.
"... Yeah, see the thing is, controlling people against their will is a crime. So i'm gonna need you to stop …" The mecha she piloted gave a gesture. "All of this."
"But what is a kingdom without loyal subjects?" The idiot shrugged like a doof.
"A democracy." She sighed. "Look, either stop this now, or I'll do it for you. And unless you have cyborg parts under that dollar store costume, I will break something."
"Oh, your confidence is as alluring to see in person as it is on video." Barf, someone put her out of her misery. "But cheap as my outwardly appearance might be, it backs a lovely surprise underneath." The villain snapped his fingers, and what appeared to be a giant monstrous decayed hand popped from the side. "I'm certain that you can see beyond the illusions with your tech, but I still have total control over everything on my vessel, including every inch of tech. You essentially landed on a giant ball of clay I can mold to my whim."
"Are we talking play doh or something genuine here?" She groaned out. Start prepping mobility and power, they needed to either hack into their systems or get him off the ship. {Understood.}
"A mix of both. I've fiddled with some of the old Stark archives from way back in the Heroic age, and found something interesting." Mysterio explained as the ground suddenly went all gooey. "Adaptable liquid smart metal, like nanotech, except more creepy and mysterious in execution."
"Great, Stark tech." As if she needed to fight a mind that could rival the best of the best modern pieces of technology. Sp/Dr jumped to a ceiling, unloading web cannons at the decaying hands. We need to hack into this thing now, put sixty percent of our processing power into it.
The smart metal would be tricky. Literally anything they touched or landed on could turn against her in a matter of seconds, which wouldn't be too bad if this creep's attention wasn't solely all on her. This is why it sucks to be solo. {offense} You know what I meant.
Maybe she could call in a friend. Sure, she technically didn't have any friends, but in this day in age there were a lot of supers that still went around. Peni would take anyone at this rate. "Cowabunga!" She turned to the four colored turtle mecha that rocketed up to Mysterio's 'space ship', wielding various ninja tools … alright, correction, it was still weird to see.
"What the, who dares enter the lair of the mighty Mysterio!?" Shouted the wannabe.
"The Shellrazors." The mecha in blue stepped forward, raising a weapon. "So surrender now or prepare for a beatdown."
"We're supposed to be the Turtle Terrors. And I'm the leader, so I should do the talking." The red mecha complained.
"Does it really matter what we're called? The point of being a ninja is to not be noticed or identified…something that we've pretty much given up on by using brightly colored mech suits." The purple one's shoulders slumped.
"Ninja robots are epic, that's literally the first lesson Sensei taught us." The orange turtle raised a hand.
{Bafflement. Disappointment in species.} First time I genuinely agree with your emotions concerning humans. "Well if you wish to fight against the great Mysterio, nameless turtles, then first you must compete against the powers of Stark tech, the easily-"
"Done." The purple one spoke instantly. The liquid-like properties of the room around them started to appear more solid and less fluid.
"…What?" Mysterio was as baffled as she was over the situation.
"Thing about Stark Tech is the Ultron Protocol the government installed after multiple hijackings from the armor. It's easy to get access to when hijacked." The smug voice responded. "Of course, all you have to do to kick me out is say the voice command Tony Stark himself placed into it, but someone great and powerful like yourself had to already know that, right?"
"Damn you mecha Ninjas! You won't get away with your transgressions!" The loser yelled as he typed in some sort of panel on his arm. "I still have access to my bots, all linked on a private server! Attack!"
"And that's where the fun comes in!" The orange one shouted, pulling out an energy flail. "Let's rack 'em up."
"Obviously the best will go after Mysterio himself." The blue one moved to Mysterio. "The rest can deal with the mooks."
"If we're sending the best, then don't start with the macho egotist bit now!" The red one shouted as both it and the blue mechs went forward, colliding with each other as they were oblivious to robots from behind.
Time to do the hero thing. "If that's the case, you morons should both leave this to the professionals." Peni jumped up and webbed the bots aiming from the behind, and threw them over to the stage Mysterio was standing on, making the floor crack and the loser lose balance.
"Woah, Sp/Dr!?" The red one shouted, the eyes on the mech almost looking sparkly with how big they widened. "I'm a super fan, can I get your autograph pretty please?" That was a first.
"Ah…maybe later, you know, when the poindexter isn't a threat to the whole city."
"Mysterio is no poindexter, Mysterio is the savior of the mortal race-" The man was cut off as the blue mech rushed in, swinging through multiple robots as he cleaved his way straight to the nerd. "Mysterio may need to start running."
"Mysterio should stop referring to mysterio in the third person, it's only proving this whole villain thing you have is just compensation for you lack of popularity in whatever school you go to." The orange one stated as she was in the middle of slashing bots by spinning like a top. How did she not get dizzy?
"Mysterio will have you know Tokyo 2 is a perfectly decent school-"
"So if we don't beat you, search Tokyo 2 for you." The red one deadpanned.
"Would you all stop dismantling everything Mysterio set up for Sp/Dr!?" This was getting sad.
"Ugh, that's just sad, and disturbing." The purple one noted as his staff was glowing while piercing one of the bots. "We'll be sorry for ruining your date, except I'm not, but your private server is now not so private."
"HOW!?"
"Your passcode is just Sp/Drocks75."
"So do I have permission to knock him into a coma?" The red one asked.
"You will become my best friend if you do." Peni groaned.
"Step back Jackson, Mama's got this one in the bag!" Jet propulsion popped out of the back as the mecha lurched forward.
"Way to not expose ourselves, Frida, you just gave away my name." The blue mesh rolled his eyes. "Because that's what a ninja leader does."
"You're the one who refused a codename!"
"Blue Blade is not a codename, it's lame!"
"So I take it you guys aren't government sanctioned." Peni took a wild guess.
"Nope, we're underground, just like the good old heroes." The orange one twirled their flail before absorbing it back into the suit. "Besides, the government sucks, I'm personally a fan of anarchy."
Thoughts? {Unruly. Undisciplined. Dunderheads.} Yeah, but they're also probably my age. {You're Mature.} Because I experienced things they shouldn't have to. {Alert authorities} I can't do that. Who knows what will happen to them? Taking the mechs away would be the least of their problems. {Not your pro-} The Spider stopped as Peni felt her body tense. {... Proceed.}
It was probably a bad idea, but that summed up the Parker family in general; a slew of bad ideas that somehow fumble into a win…eventually. Even Grandma's side had that going for her, and she used to be an assassin!
"Seriously, purse snatching?" Spider-Woman asked as she swung down in front of the crook. "Don't you have better things to do, like find a job, or watch anime?"
"Shouldn't you be on a talk show or something, Spider-freak?" The mugger asked her as she hung him upside by the foot. "Since when do you celebrity types actually care about stuff like this?"
"Since I realized I can actually put these powers to good use." That and a guilty conscience built from her dad's constant commentary. "Now, I'll be taking this." She snatched up the purse, jumping down. "Here you are, mam, make sure to keep it more secure for the future."
"Thank you young lad."
"Young lad. Spider-Woman is the name." Gwen snorted as she jumped up to the rooftops. Alright, so far it was just ordinary crimes … I mean, it should be. It would be weird if people other than her genetic anomaly of a self existed, causing crime for everyone.
Like seriously, powers from a radioactive spider bite. She hardly believed it herself half the time. Peter would've blown his geeky little mind over something like this and probably spend the next decade studying every inch of her cell structure. Mary Jane would've used it as a gimmick to advertise their band. And Harry…Well, hopefully he'd find it impressive and not gross.
Now when she discovered she had powers, she obviously tried to cash in on it. Who wouldn't? But then she got an indirect lecture from her dad, and the guilt started to pile on. Now, she just tried to help people the way she could. That didn't mean she still couldn't have fun every once in a while? I mean, who in their right mind wouldn't have fun swinging from the high cities of New York?
"Now what to do next?" She wondered. "Maybe I could have some fun with the papers … oh, a photographer!" She shouted … before rolling her eyes. "Come on Gwen, don't be a moron. The modern era is all about social media." Maybe an account? She'd have to find a way to make it untraceable to her. And while she had a solid A- in science, a tech geek she was not. Heck, she didn't even make the web shooters, that was all Ms Van dyne.
"Maybe I should try and get a friend in the media then, someone fun enough to hand around as Spider-Woman and-"
Buzz
She was cut off from her thoughts as a little green mosquito flew by. Normally she'd ignore it … if it wasn't for her spider sense screaming {Chemical} whenever it got too close. "What the heck?" She webbed up the little bug to a wall before it could take a sting at her. "What kind of science experiment did you escape from?"
{Chemical. Chemical. SWARM}
She took a glance at the massive swarm of bugs coming out of the ground like a volcanic eruption. "... That seems like a fun little start." Guess she wasn't the only science experiment gone wrong anymore. Taking a swing, and webbing up as many of the glowing bugs as she could, she eventually approached a construction site, looking down as a couple of figures ran from the area. "Caught red handed aren't ya?" She snarked as she jumped down to meet them.
"I swear, whatever you're thinking right now isn't what's actually happening right now." One of the figures, with a blue mask on, step forward.
She finally got a clear view of the perpetrators. "... My first thought is that you broke these guys out of prison, and in the process unleashed mutated mosquitoes across the city." Gwen mumbled as she looked at the four … GIANT Turtle men.
"Okay, so what you're thinking is about seventy five percent accurate to what actually happened." The turtle guy in purple groaned.
"Oh my gosh, it's the Spider-Woman!" The orange one shouted, running over. "Can I get your autograph?"
"Same! Girl, you rock!" The only human of the group, one Gwen was fairly certain she's seen around school before, rushed forward.
"Uh, sure, Pretty sure I have a pen somewhere-Aha!" She still carried one from her brief stint being a celebrity. "So you people wouldn't have happened to be bitten by radioactive turtles in a freak accident?"
"What, no." The one in Red responded in confusion. "We were born like this."
"...Okay, I'm just going to take that with a light grain of salt and say I believe it." These guys were friendly enough, and they weren't aiming to punch her like every meatheaded thug in this city, so no need to step on any toes.
"Says the girl that, by that sentence, was 'bitten by a radioactive spider'." The purple one air quoted.
"Getting back to probably radioactive animals …" She gestured at the green sky. "What's the deal here?"
"Well first, we found this teleporting dog." The orange turtle pointed to an animal that didn't look like any dog she's ever seen before. "Then we were attacked by dog trainers that were actually guys that rode swords with wolves."
"And you're saying the radioactive spider part was unbelievable?" Gwen raised an eyebrow.
"But he can teleport, watch." The girl picked up the dog. "Show her Mayhem." The little pokemon looking creature simply yawned and snuggled into the girl's arms. "He was totally doing it earlier, otherwise we all would've gotten a face full of mutant mosquitoes."
"Anyway, we followed them down into a magical underground city." The blue one continued.
"Can you show me the underground city?" She asked, slightly skeptical.
"... We broke the key." The big red one sighed.
"Really convincing me here." Maybe they weren't THAT trustworthy.
"But we do have proof, right here!" The orange one pulled out a ball and chain. "Check it, magic weapons we stole from a bad guy lair. All I have to do is swing it around…" As he did so, the ball stopped in mid air, and set itself on fire while laughing maniacally what the FUCK!? "And then it does thiiiiii-!" He began flying, the ball laughing as it bounced the turtle around.
"...So what I'm getting is that a bunch of mutant mosquitoes from a magic underground city got accidentally unleashed unto New York by a bunch of mutant turtles with magic weapons."
"We're also ninjas!" The blue one exclaimed.
"...Of course you are." Why couldn't the weirdness bar just stop at radioactive spiders? "Tell me they don't make people dead when they bite them."
"No, they just become mutants like us." The purple one explained.
"Eh…?" Gwen shook her head and slapped herself. She needed to keep a straight face. "Alright, I'm assuming you guys are new to the whole hero thing like I am."
"These were our first super villains, so yes." The red one nodded.
"Okay, alright, we all have our slip ups, and you guys are presumably not evil masterminds." The orange one crashed into the ground, sending them tumbling into the trash. "… Or masterminds period."
"Glad you realize that!" The blue one shouted, before coming in for a whisper. "But between you and me, you should probably keep an eye on Donnie." He pointed to the purple one. "He collects DNA samples in our sleep."
"For your own protection." The purple one grumbled.
"You guys really need to work on presentation." Well at least they didn't seem intentionally dangerous. "So mutants are going to be swarming the city pretty soon and I really don't feel like taking them all on by myself." Gwen sighed. "So let's skip the cliche misunderstanding fight and skip to the team up."
"See Raph, someone gets the tropes." The blue one smirked. "Now let's catch some bugs … where did the bugs go?" They all looked to the clear sky.
"Must've dispersed into the city, probably to find habitats and food sources." The purple once droned on.
"Please don't let me regret this." Maybe she should've just stuck with the celebrity status.
Raph looked at the jet black city, covered in the stench of crime and despair. Many criminals ran through the streets when the depression kicked in, it was so bad some days that they did it in broad daylight without any problems from the police. The town was riddled with thugs, and someone needed to bring back the grainsburo white sky, no matter how saturated with blood their souls became.
Every night practically played out in an unending spiral of events that refused to end. Around every alleyway, silver bullets would litter the streets, rolling down as monochrome blood followed through. Every night, there always seemed to be a new form of degenerate the shadowy underbelly created. Muggers, Crooks, Murderers, Fascists, Nazis, the list could go on and on.
Not that Raph didn't enjoy a good fight every now and then, along with teaching punks some manners … but at this point, it was just wearing down its welcome with how repetitive it was. Especially with the Foot showing its ugly mug once more.
And this latest batch … Some weirdo clad in night black leather from head to toe with a trenchcoat and fedora, beating up on some hunchback guy. "So even circus clowns are joining in on the bloodshed." Raph groaned. "Does that mean I need to keep an eye out for Mikey at night?"
"Beat it Bozo, this aint got anything to do with you." The leather clad joker laughed huffed as he sent a pretty harsh and nasty blow to the hunchback.
"Look Leatherface, normally I ain't the guy that stops a brawl when it starts getting good, but when I see a creep dressed in black wailing on some random Crippie, I tend to make it my business." Raph growled, getting his sais ready for a long duke out.
"Random Crippie, eh?" The fedora wearing fool laughed. "You clearly have no idea who..or more actually, what you're trying to defend here. Now beat it, before I stop trying to be so nice."
"So this is nice?" He pulled out his sai, twirling them around. "I'd love to see what a bastard like you calls mean." And with that, he rushed forward.
The fedora bastard jumped into the air, sailing over the turtle as he aimed his hands in a peculiar manner, white balls launching out of the wrists and landing on his hands, covering them in a sticky substance. "Don't make me incapacitate you, the freaks here will eat you alive."
"Jokes on them, this batch of turtle soup's got some bite of its own!" Raph charged ahead and tackled the clown into a couple of trash cans on the side, sending as many hits into the smug bastard's masked face as he could. "Now stay down before I bring the boot and shove it down your throat."
"I'm not a shoe licker, so I'll gladly deny that." They stood up … and screamed. "He got away!" The masked bastard shouted. "You let him get away!"
"Figured an ugly son of a gun like yourself would be used to that." Raph snicked, before a hit across his head was sent, one faster than he could register.
He was grabbed by the shell, lifted up into the white eyes that almost screamed with more rage than he had himself. "The circus runs a human trafficking operation! Slaves, Black Market Organs, Canibals! The last of which you let run free to take another innocent soul!" A fist was raised again, and the bastard sent it straight through the brick wall beside his head. "That was my ONE shot at nailing that Vulture, and you saved his sorry ass!"
They threw him in the trash. "I don't care what the hell you are, but if you wanna play some wannabe hero, crawl back to whatever sewer you came from and stay there, and let the professionals do their job." With that, they jumped to a wall, running up the side of it and leaving the turtle alone.
"Hardass." He grumbled to himself, trying his best to ignore what the man had just explained to him. Raph hated to admit it, but he may have, sort of, unintentionally just let his short temper get the best of him this time, and now he had a stubborn but freakishly strong hardass vigilante most likely gunning for him and his family. He thought he learned his lesson from Casey Jones.
How was it that fighting Ninja's was easier? With them, you didn't hold back and they were less confusing to identify. Now he had to worry about freak shows that could crush bricks with their hands and cannibal circuses. Why was this starting to sound like a bad comic book plot?
"And a twenty five, and a twenty six, and a twenty seven." Mikey knocked out the last of the Purple Dragons. "My score is twenty seven, what about you guys?"
"Forty Four, clearly I'm the victor here." Raph smirked, knocking his hands together.
"Sadly, I only got seventeen." Donnie sighed. "I was more focused on trying to dismantle the bombs."
"Too bad Don, I managed to get forty-six." Leo laughed as he did a backflip onto a lamppost. "Once again proving why I'm the leader."
"Oh sure, mr. moodswing over here disappears for three months to deal with his temper tantrum, and suddenly he thinks he's top turtle again." Raph rolled his eyes.
"You're one to talk about temper tantrums, Raphael." Leo continued. "You still don't go a day without sending a threat to Mikey."
"And you're saying he doesn't deserve it?"
"I say he walks into half of them." And out from the corner, old man Spidey swung from the roof. "So outside is clear, no cops on site. And I've got enough pictures to last me another month. I say today was another win for Parker Luck." He sent them all a smirk look. "And I took out Hun, and since he's head honcho of these goons, I automatically win."
"Head Honcho only counts for ten, unless it's Shredder, a Goblin, or Venom being worth a hundred." Donnie argued. "Only Carnage is an automatic win."
"Hey, let the guy have it, in his old age, he needs as many wins as he can get." Raph laughed.
"I'm thirty six, I'm not even middle aged yet."
"Yeah, keep living in denial, Old timer, we won't judge you as you go through your crisis." Leo joined in on the laughter. "Just like when we didn't judge you for your Spider-themed restaurant."
"How was I supposed to know the health inspector thought there would be actual spiders within the burgers?" Yeah, it was kinda obvious in hindsight. "I should have gone for a turtle themed Pizzaria."
"I told you Mikey's would've been a hit!" Said turtle had to call out. "You even had the perfect spokesperson for it too: The Turtle Titan! Imagine my face across billboards all over New york!"
"If that's the case, I think the city was saved from a major catastrophe in the making." Raph snickered.
"So, how are you and Mary Jane doing?" Leo asked as they made their way to the rooftops. "You've been married for a while now."
"Its….I can't lie, she's started to get more worried again after Karai broke my back." Their aged superhero friend sighed as they began running across the city. "I really feel like I'm failing her."
"Hey, things like this happen." Mikey tried to help. "One minute you're chasing the Green Goblin, the next minute he blows you up hard enough to crack your shell."
"Don't remind me." Donnie shivered in place. "It's almost as painful as the time Doctor Octavious' brain swapped with Peter. What was it he tried to go by again?"
"The 'Superior Spider-Man'." Raphael recalled with a snort. "The only thing he was superior over the real deal was being a blow hard."
"Meh, it was still better than the Symbiote Invasion." Leo shivered. "Seriously, those guys were mentally straining."
"I'm still feeling the bruises from the time Allister Smythe took over Nano and turned the entire city into one giant Spider Slayer." Peter sighed.
"I still say we beat up that old crown Jameson for that." Raph argued. "He funds killer robots and creates the Scorpion, and the wacko somehow becomes Mayor of New York."
"If the man endorses the economy for family restaurants, he has my vote." Mikey grinned.
"Besides, we don't take out civilians … no matter how much we don't like them." Leo muttered the last part.
"Believe me, no one wants to see old pickle puss eat pavement more than me, but I'll just let karma deal with him. I got better things to do than hold a grudge, like finding a job." Peter grumbled.
"Isn't MJ a super model that pays for everything?" Donnie asked.
"Yeah…but I was top of my class and I've saved the world countless times. I want to do more for her than just be the amazing house-spider."
"I feel you beating up multiple crooks trying to kill her makes it even." Raph deadpanned.
"Yeah, didn't in your early years have to constantly save her because she somehow ended up getting kidnapped over and over again?" Mikey asked
"Almost as much as April." Spidey continued. "I really should give them full time spider tracers."
"I mean April has Casey, so she's pretty good as is." Mikey pointed out. "When your boyfriend can kick Hun off a roof, you're pretty protected."
"Yeah…You guys are right, I'm overthinking everything like usual." The older hero smirked. "I say we end tonight with a victory slice."
"Do you really want to do that?" Donnie asked. "I didn't want to say anything, but I'm pretty sure you've been stretching out the costume within the last month, width wise, not height."
"Donnie, don't argue against Pizza. That's sacrilege to all turtle kind." Mikey argued.
"I thought your existence was sacrilege to our kind." Shut up Raph.
Three days. Three days he's wandered this empty plane. Miles Morales had to after all, he couldn't sleep. Whenever he slept he was in the open for predators. The few that survived … it. The explosion of green, it whipped out everything. There were no buildings, and people were mutated into monsters. Miles was unaffected … for the most part.
He didn't know all the rules to all this genetic stuff, it all happened to him so fast when he was barely four years old. The streets of Brooklyn on fire, the giant wave of ooze that desemated everything in its path, and him about to be drowned in the glowing sludge if it wasn't for him, his hero, the one that allowed him to be here today.
From what he recalled back in the olden days, many called the old guy many things. Freak. Menace. Vigilante. Good Samaritan. Friendly Neighborhood chatterbox. Wall Crawler. Web Head. The headache of his father. Miles just knew him by one name … Spider-Man.
The last thing Miles saw before the entire world went to hell was the spandex wearing man shielding him from being drenched in the gunk. Things hurt when some of the man's blood landed on him. He felt like his entire body was being electrified all over, and Miles felt something strange crawl on his soul.
Then he woke up, and the world he loved was dead, along with the man that saved him. Miles Morales … the killer of Spider-Man … what a cruel joke the world played. A cruel and painful joke he's had to live for the last thirteen years. Seventeen year olds back in the day would have to worry about tests, dating, and acne.
Not in this horrible hell. For seventeen year old Miles he had to deal with giant mutated Caterpillars with acid spit, sleeping for one not that didn't freeze his ass off, and just finding a decent water spring or something so he didn't shrivel up like a raisin.
The only reason he survived was the second cruel joke that he lived with … spider powers! Because of course he would live with a physical reminder of the man who died for him personally attached to his body, because why not?! Sticking to things, super strength, a tingle in his head, the ability to live with little substance, camouflage, and electro palms, something that he was 90 percent sure wasn't a spider power.
What he didn't get was the webs, the part that would probably help him live against the giant creatures trying to eat him. Maybe it was the universe correcting itself, only giving him half the awesomeness because he got the real hero killed.
His vision blurred, he was pushing the no sleep rule. The boy glanced around, trying his hardest to look for any form of shelter. Every attempt to find some sort of population or shelter was thwarted by the arrival of the Honey Badger Ravagers, always taking whatever resources they could find and leaving entire villages, mutant and human alike, depleted and left for dead.
Miles attempted once or twice to play the hero, to actually be someone worth being saved by Spider-man…and got his ass kicked several times for all his trouble, the last time being to near death. If it wasn't for the freaky fast healing, he'd likely be spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair right now.
Who was he kidding, face it. A hero wasted his life saving someone that wasn't worth it, and now they would die alone in the desert, having done nothing but cause failed expectations everywhere they walked. That was the story of Miles Morales … that was his story as he faded into unconsciousness.
For the next few hours, he felt the presence of very, very vague and dim dreams. Dreams where his father was still around, telling him of all his potential, dreams of his mom treating him whenever he scraped his knee, dreams of his Uncle Aaron sneaking him ice pops whenever he came over. That was the good life, that was paradise…if heaven existed, please just allow him to live in those precious moments…please.
"Durability wise, the cell structure is actually more dense than Peter's." What sounded like a filtered and mechanical voice interrupted his lull into more pleasant thoughts. "There seems to be less of a radioactive signature within the bloodstream, though I've never seen a mutant retain this many human-like qualities aside from April….more tests need to be conducted."
Tests … he was being dissected, wasn't he? A little lab frog for others to obsess over. Whatever, he didn't care, let whatever mad scientist work as they please. "Yo, sleepy head, you awake?" He felt himself getting booked by something metal.
"Just kill me already…maybe I'll finally be useful as a science experiment.." He muttered as he turned to his side, just waiting for the end to come.
"Normally I'd be ecstatic about being given free reign to study your biology, but I was hoping you'd explain why remnants of my friend's DNA are inside you."
He processed that with curiosity. "Who was your friend?" Maybe it was that worm girl who split in half and got digestive goo on him.
"His name is Peter Parker, but you'd probably know him better by Spider-Man."
His entire body tensed, he tried opening his eyes, but he could barely see a figure other than a blurry thing in the light. "You knew him?"
"Smartest friend I had, fought a lot of enemies with the guy." The figure stated. "And from that reaction you obviously know something."
Miles sat in silence for a moment. "I was close to the epicenter … the force was too much, nobody could survive it head on … he used his body as a shield." He could feel tears form. "When I woke up … there was nothing left but a mask and a skeleton."
There was a brief silence that followed. Well, he was probably going to die now. At least he gave someone closure. "Sounds exactly like how he'd go out. My brother's and I would always joke that the job would eventually kill us….rather unfortunate that I haven't shared the same fate yet."
Mile's vision finally cleared up, gazing at the … turtle robot? "Are … how much cactus juice did I drink?" He asked himself.
"From my scans, about two cups worth. You gotta be careful with biting random plants, you've essentially been drinking naturally grown alcohol. If it wasn't for your powers, you'd have dehydrated by this point."
"I know …" He glanced at his hands. "Life is cruel that way, isn't it? Too strong for death, too weak to help. That fucked up balance that doesn't do anything right."
"Wow, and Peter thought anyone who'd take his powers wouldn't understand what he went through on the daily." The robot mocked. "You might have him beat on the cynical depression, so you've already taken the first step in being Spider-Man."
"I'm NOT Spider-Man." Miles said almost threateningly. "I can't fight, I can't be brave, I can't even shoot webs.."
"Well that's because you don't have web shooters." The robot Turtle presented bracelet-like things. "Lucky for you, it's as easy as making toast for me."
"Wait." He paused. "Those were mechanical?!"
The robot snorted. "I think that's the first thing you've said to get the guy rolling in his grave." The robot dropped the web shooters in his hands. "Try them on, one size fits all."
"Maybe it shouldn't." Miles sighed. "I'm the last person who should have these powers. I'm not a hero, I'm not…I'm not…"
"Responsible enough?" The robot finished for him. "Peter said the same thing to himself over and over again. He never thought he was worthy of his powers either, yet he still went out everyday, taking on all manner of mutants, mutates, aliens, demons, you name it, and he was no more prepared for it than you are right now."
The boy stared at him in silence, taking that information in for a few moments. He felt only one thing to say. "Demons aren't real."
The robot sent him a look. "You're talking to a mutant turtle who uploaded his brain to a computer kid, anything is real."
"Fair enough I guess, but still." Miles looked at his hands. "I'm not sure if I'll ever be ready for this."
"No one ever is, especially not Spider-Man." The robot chuckled. "But now at least you have someone that can show you the ropes a little." They held out a hand. "I'm Donnie, nice to meet ya kid."
Miles looked at the hand, reaching out to grasp it. "Miles." And sparks began to fly. "Oh shit, might want to get away-!"
Sheeeek
The bot buzzed and was sent into a wall. "...Okay, not the m-M-M-M-ost bullshit power I've seen a Spider-man have."
Leo gripped his blades tightly. So much belittlement, slavery, death, all by the hands of the Beastials, genetically mutated animals that the so called High Evolutionary populated the entire planet with. That's how life has been for Leo all sixteen years he's lived in this proverbial hell. Orphaned by the creatures that dare to call themselves superior.
The only family he had left were other orphans, three others humans just as lost and angry as him. The bond of revenge drew them close, their nameless selves taking the names of famous humans as a way to spite the animals. He had chosen Leonardo, the man that would lay the groundwork for modern invention. "When we get up there, strike fast and hard. Don't give them a chance to recover."
"We know the drill." Spoke Raphael, glaring at the manhole cover with fury. "Hopefully we can score some better gear up there than just a few farming tools. We're never going to change anything unless we're fully prepped." He was the muscle of the group, always ready to brawl with even the strongest of the animal freaks.
"If I can just get my hands on one of their blasters, or even just get one of their flying cars, we could change the tide much easier." Donnetello moaned. He was the brainiest of the bunch, but sadly hardly got to exercise that mind of his with them constantly fleeing to the underground. Tech may have advanced and 'improved' the world, but that didn't mean it was shared equally.
"We'll do it, don't worry. We stick together, and emerge victorious and free." Michelangelo patted the man on his back. He didn't do much combat wise, but he was fast, and his heart gave them hope … and in times like this they needed that so, so desperately.
"Alright, if there's one thing we know about the Knights of Wundagore, it's that they never split apart." The four main enforcers of the High Evolutionary. Lord Tiger, Ursula, Lady Vermin, and Sir Ram. "That's where we'll get them. Divide and conquer." He placed a hand onto the ladder.
"Wait, do you guys hear that?" They all stopped at Michelangelo's question, silently listening as they heard the sounds of … "Distant gunfire, getting closer." What?
"Someone must have decided to screw them over before we got the chance." Raphael growled out. Damn it, he understood the rebels weren't the most organized bunch, but he never expected this. "What's the plan Leo?"
"There's still a chance we can grab the discarded weaponry. We proceed, but this time we stick to stealth. Hate to admit it, but whoever's out there will have to serve as our meat shield." That's what happens when you grow up at the bottom, there's no limit to the low you need to go. "Let's move before our distraction runs." He commanded, beginning the climb.
They headed up, their eyes piercing through the thin veil of the manhole cover, where the fighting and explosion was more prominent. "Just for once can thou sit down and die like the pest thou are!" The old voice of Sir Ram shouted.
"Sorry goat boy, but you ain't going to fry my bacon today!" White strands of…Leonardo wanted to call it webbing for some reason, to fly everywhere. He took a glance to see who could be causing this commotion, slowly lifting the cover for him and his brothers to see. "Excuse me good sir, I believe your friend dropped this." Spoke a pig in a spider costume, throwing a gun at the beastial's head. "Just being a friendly neighbor, no need to thank me."
"Die Spider-Ham!" Sir Ram shouted out with rage.
"Well at least you didn't thank me!"
The four of them silently processed the event. "You know, I always wanted to witness something unbelievable as a kid." Michelangelo whispered. "Now I can safely cross that off my bucket list."
"As if we didn't live in old Mcdonald's farm already." Donnetello rolled his eyes.
"Who cares, the bozo's keeping the freakshow distracted. Let's move it before they realize we're here." Raphel impatiently began to move up.
"Remember, keep low and hidden, we don't need our cover blown with all the gunfire raging about." Leo followed close, keeping an observant eye on the fight. The four of them slowly made their way to grab some weapons.
"So Ramsey, wanna tell me what's with the brain people I rounded up last week? When I looked over their disguises I noticed your insignia inside of their pockets." The 'Spider-Ham' asked as he shot some webs at Sir Ram.
"Nothing a primitively unevolved mind such as yourself should concern yourself with, seeing as you'll be flayed within a matter of minutes!" The bear lady, Ursula yelled, trying to tackle the pig from behind.
"Oh, so it's a full house of you Wondorks trying to serve me honey glazed! Now I've just gotta know the juicy gossip you plan on discussing over a barbeque!" He swung in, delivering an admittedly satisfying kick to the bear that sent her crashing into a wall.
"It gives me the warm fuzzies seeing the freaks fighting each other. If they all did that, our job would be so much easier." Raphael let out a dark smirk. Leo silently agreed with his brother. Now if they could just keep going..
"Humans!" A guard shouted, aiming at them. Shit, they've been spotted.
"Humans?" Spider-Ham asked.
"Human!?" Lord Tiger growled. "FIRE ON THEM!"
"NO!" He grabbed a crate behind them, throwing it forward to act as a barrier.
"The Mutagen!" Lady Vermin screamed as it was about to topple on her.
"Muta-what no-Know what, I'm gonna think about it later." The Spider-Ham webbed up the crate and carried it as he ran on the ceiling. "Yo, Wondorks, you seem to have a hard on for this stuff, must be pretty important to your plans, huh?"
"Your charming personality won't stop me from slicing you apart, pig boy." The rat lady said flirtatiously as the rest of the knight's attention was drawn all on the masked swine.
"We need to move, now." Donnatello tried to grab Michelangelo and run.
"Shouldn't we help him?" The youngest of them asked.
"Get your head on straight, Mike, he's still a beastial, they ain't going to start being nice to us just because he's a bigger pain to the furry farm over there." Raph groaned.
"See what you're doing you old coots? You're giving us animals a bad name. How's a pig spider supposed to save everyone at this rate?" Spider-Ham asked as they formed a barrier of webs.
"You have been a thorn in our side for too long!" Sir Ram pulled out a blaster, charging it as the weapon began to glow.
"Sir Ram, keep long range artillery at bay, we must not damage the supply." Ursula warned as the Spider-Ham began to make his own way out.
"Better to be damaged than lose it to an enemy." The goat bestial spoke, before being tackled having the blaster struck out of his hand by a tossed dagger from Michelangelo.
"Sorry, no spoiling the Christmas presents! Gotta wait 12 months like the rest of us!" The younger brother laughed as they jumped into the nearest window they could find.
"Into the hole, go go go." Leonardo told the group as they ran to the manhole cover, opening it up. He took one of the blasters, using it to give covering fire while his siblings moved down. Beastials fighting Beastials. Wasn't that a sight?
Karai, silently awaiting orders. "Master Shredder, what is our next mission?" She asked the man. She trained herself to the absolute peak to equal the man she called father, and to one day, surpass and succeed in his foot steps.
"Expand to the west … I'll leave the details to you." Her father spoke off-handedly. It has been like this for a long while now. Oruko Saki may have been the most dangerous man in the world, but he was possibly also the least complicated and most hollow.
The spark was gone. With his mortal enemy, Hamato Yoshi gone and defeated, used as their symbol for victory, he has no more flame other than moving with the motions of life. His only testimate to leadership in the last two years was simply being undefeated in combat. For the most part, it was her that ran the Japanese branch of the foot, making sure every deal went off without a hitch and every debt was paid.
So much power, yet the man hardly found a reason to use it. "I understand, sir." She bowed. This was the man that raised her, she wanted to do more, but even as strong as she was, he was still leagues above her in terms of combat.
Wiiir Wiir Wiir
The alarm went off, as panic set in. She ran over to the coms, opening a channel. "What's going on?" Karai asked.
"Our monster soldier containers, they're being destroyed!" The soldier responded, with screams following from the background.
"What?!" She yelled. Those were essentially the Foot's best weapon. Japan had a monster problem, as cliche and movie-esqu as that sounded. Mindless beasts that terrorized the country. So the Foot did what it had to do: Take control of the strongest of them and lord it over the populace and make them submit in fear.
"It's-It's-" Another explosion, this time cutting the connection.
Growling, Karai opened another channel, this time to the guard room. "There is an intruder, send in reinforcements."
"We sent everyone mam, but nobody is responding upon contact!" The commander argued. "We can't warn others what to expect. But we have mapped out a path … he's heading straight to Lord Shredder."
"Well don't just stand there, throw everything at him! The Foot Elites, Bradford, whoever we have, taking them down no matter what-"
"Let him come." Her father interrupted calmly, only the slightest hints of curiosity appearing on his otherwise withdrawn face. "If this fool wishes to enter an early grave, I will gladly oblige."
Karai tensed, but for once her father had initiative. "... Let him pass."
"But mam-"
"This command came from Lord Shredder himself." She threatened. "Do not oppose." There was the sound of shuffling before the line cut, the two of them waiting.
After what seemed like an eternity, the door burst open, in came … a man with red and blue spandex, webs adorning his body, two white eyes staring vacantly at the room. "Are you the leader of the Foot Clan?"
"I am the Shredder, Lord of the Foot … and who do you claim to be?" The man asked.
"I am the Emissary of Hell. Spiderman!" The man shouted, aiming a hand forward. "I bring the vengeance of righteousness on my side, and will avenge the lost souls the Foot has claimed, and prevent new ones from being taken!"
"If it is the lost souls you wish to comfort, I'll gladly rejoin you with them shortly." Her father stood up. "Shredding Cleavers." He unsheathed his blades and stepped forward.
"Spider String!" With a strange gesture, the device on the 'Spiderman's' right arm shot a line of web right at the Shredder's foot, stopping his movement. "Crawler Assault!" With a speed faster than the normal blink of an eye, the bright colored man began a barrage of attacks that sent her father into the wall.
Her father recovered fast. "Shredding Style: Death of a thousand Sakura!" He shouted, running forward with a flurry of slashes.
The Spiderman managed to jump over the attack by slinging from the ceiling. "Web Sling!" The man then shot his line at the Shredder's back, and beang throwing him around like some kind of cheep yo-yo. "Ultimate Web!" And smashed her father into the ground over and over against, each one creating a new crater in the floor.
"I admit, you are strong, Spiderman." The Shredder stood up. "You are more monster than man under that mask … however, I have been fighting monsters my whole life, while you have not but a testament to a title." He pulled back. "Shredding Style: Soaring typhoon!" And struck the very air, an invisible slash soaring across the air itself and directly onto the Spiderman.
The man had no room to dodge and could only take the assault head on. "AGGGGH!" He began bleeding profusely all over the room. "I…I know that facing you one on one was a nice thought at best. All of Japan has learned of your exploits, your mighty feats, your lack of honor." The Spiderman growled.
"I avenged the woman I loved and destroyed my enemy's family." Her father said simply. "I got what I want, the rest of the world could burn for all I care."
"Well I care!" Spiderman shouted. "So many people care, they wish to do good." The man squeezed his fists tightly. "And as long as tyrants do as they please, they will never have the hope that their good will do much." He raised a bloody finger. "This wasn't an attempt to take you down, this is your warning Shredder. The Foot clan will never take another life as long as I exist."
"Then you choose a very early age to die." Her father walked closer, clearly attempting to chop the man's head off.
"They say those that live without honor shall die without honor." The spiderman gripped his wrist with that weird looking bracelet. "I will show all of Japan how pathetic you are. How weak you are. Then, only then, will you have my permission to die. LEOPARDON!"
The room exploded, rubbleing falling down on top of her father as she barely managed to get away, a giant hand moving forward and grabbing Spiderman, pulling back. "He has a mecha of that size!?" She shouted, gazing up at it. "We still haven't perfected the technology, where could he acquire such a thing!?"
"I am the Emissary of Hell. You connect the dots." The Spiderman crawled inside the giant robot as the building began to break apart. "The Foot Clan shall no longer rule from the shadows, I vow to bring all you vile scum into the light." With a swing of one arm, the mecha tore the entire building apart to ruins and made its way out of the city.
"Father, I shall-"
"Karai." He instantly shut her up, arising from the rubble. "I do not care how long it takes … you will bring Spiderman to me … alive." He put away his blades. "I wish to cut that man's throat personally." The Shredder spoke with a passion he hadn't had in years.
"Understood, Father." She bowed, leaving the room and mentally preparing for the war ahead. Karai, for as much as she wanted to kill the man for attacking her father, was silently grateful to the bastard all the same, for finally lighting that spark that had died, for finally, bringing back the one and only Shredder.
Michelangelo didn't know how long he had been fighting for. All he knew was that when his battle high was over, he was left with nothing but the blood of Purple Dragons cascading his body. "Another pointless struggle …" He muttered, turning to the little girl shaking in the corner. "You shouldn't get involved in a life like this."
"Are…are you one of them..?" The girl shook timidly. "The one's the Foot fears? The terrapin warriors that saved New York long before?"
"I'm a Ronin, not a warrior." He grumbled, making his way to the roof. "I can't save anyone these days …" He coughed. It was a miracle, or a curse, that his body hasn't been turned to aged turtle jerky. Blasted Mutagen letting him live longer than he should. "I don't have a purpose other than not dying from the end of some thugs' guns." Leo would tell him to fight for honor…but what honor was there to gain?
"But you're trying to help me." The young asian girl spoke with wide eye innocence that had yet to be extinguished.
"It's not helping, it's a warning." He responded. "The moment you try and do something important, everyone guns for you. It's better to keep your head low if you wanna live." And with those words he jumped out of the window, running across the rooftops.
It was raining, the rain was good. It helped wash off the blood, like the time it washed away his brothers Mikey pushed down the dark thoughts, he could focus on them later. Right now he needs to focus on anything else happening.
The Turtle couldn't fight the Foot directly, he wasn't strong enough, he needed better opponents to help him grow in strength. He was too weak to save them. To think as teenagers, he thought the four of them would always be enough. Just four teenage mutant turtles, kicking ninja butt across Manhattan all the way to the bronx. Then Karai's little bastard son came into the picture.
Oroku Hiroto was strong, and morally confusing for Leo to fight. But they prevailed the first few times, they managed to land blows and come out on top … until the black thing infected him. It made the man stronger, faster, and gave him weapons with a thought. It invaded their minds and prevented even Sensei from being able to land a blow. And then it ate Master Splinter. Even when Mikey survived, all he could bury was the man's cane.
And not only was the man just an absolute monster, he was one that wasn't above cheap tricks. They followed April to her and Casey's home and blew the complex up, just for the sole fact they were friends. Mikey hadn't seen heads or tails of either human ever since. It sent Donnetello over the edge, riding the Party Wagon in an attempt to run the little creep over into a black smear on the road.
He was hit with too much shrapnel from the crash. They couldn't save him, they could only comfort him as he choked on his own blood. After that Raph lost it, he rushed in with nothing but rage and sorrow, trying to land just a single blow on the freak. He fell shortly after.
Leo was able to figure out the sound was able to hurt it, and tried banging his swords together. It disoriented the black beast, but did not stop it. Leo jumped in front of an attack Mikey couldn't avoid. His brother died saving him,
Hiroto had him dead to rights, ready to kill the turtle … but the words he said were so much worse. "Why should we kill the turtle that brought nothing to the team? We are above that." That was the cruel reality, wasn't it? Michelangelo, the Party dude of the teenage mutant ninja turtles, was a non threat? He was a failure as a ninja, as a hero, as a son, and as a brother.
It left him to bury the bodies, and wander aimlessly. The turtle was filled with nothing but hatred after that, wanting nothing more than to make the monster pay for what it had done. So he trained without honor, he fought without honor, and he'd die without honor.
As long as the creature calling itself Shredder walked the earth, he would never rest. He carried his brother's weapons, not only shouldering all the responsibility of the Hamato clan on himself, but allowing some piece of his brother's with him as he carried on the fight, as selfish as that might've sounded. Over thirty years later though, and he still wasn't anywhere close to ready.
How would he avenge his brothers when he wasn't able to defeat a single man covered in slime? How would he live his life without blood soaking through his clothes? What kind of turtle was he … maybe people were right. He was a freak.
He couldn't even beat a person who called himself plura-Mikey paused. "... It's alive …" The goo was alive, which meant it was somewhat sapient, which means … "It can die …" He needed a scientist, he needed someone smart … "I need to find April." If she was even alive.