Raph punched another Kraang bot in the head. "Been a while since we've seen you guys." He snarked as he stabbed its chest, causing it to spark out. "Still angry about the Power Crystal?"
"Kraang will grab ahold of what is the property of Kraang from the one known as the turtle so that Kraang can continue to use the property that belongs rightfully to Kraang."
And his next target was snagged by a speeding blur of black. "Sorry to say, the price for power crystals around here rounds up to one stopped invasion, and I have a feeling that's a bit too costly for you guys!" Spidey said as he battered through the Kraang one after another.
Ever since he got that weird suit he's been constantly showing off and testing out what he can do. Namely? Make them all look like chumps as he takes all of the enemies out himself. This already bugged Raph enough, given he was the turtle that loved to fight, something he was proud of, but the way Peter just went around carefree and nonchalantly… it wasn't him.
The Snakeweed incident made Raph aware when Spidey was coping and when he was careless. This was being careless. "The man of spiders will face that which is known as a comumpance." Another Kraang tried to blast him, only for Leo to stab them overdramatically.
"Another Kraang bot downed by the fearless leader!" Raph would question the overdramatic shouting … if he didn't notice the turtle looking up to a nearby Karai every once in a while.
"Humans, why do they make everyone go crazy when love's involved." Raph grumbled.
"I have no idea bro." Mikey patted his shell. "Me and you? Single for life." … So many sad things were so true in that sentence it made Raph angry beyond belief. So he did what he did best, rush forward and smash a Kraang bot over and over into submission.
"RAAAAHHH!" He shouted, beating the machine down.
"And here you have it folks. A raging Raph in its fully developed form." Spidey's commentary didn't make anything better as they shot a web at a Kraang head. "What may look like an angry mindless bull from a distance is a carefully thought out strategy of directed rage that just so happens to spread everywhere and demolish everything." They swung like a wrecking ball and slammed it into a pile of Kraang that Raph was heading towards. "Well, when there's something to destroy at least."
Donnie rushed to take out a Kraang, only for Leo to stab it. "You're saved, brother!"
"I totally had that!"
"No need to thank me."
"Thank you!?"
"You're welcome."
Between the love sick Leo and the more annoying than usual Spidey, Raph couldn't tell who was the bigger douche between the two of them. "Are we even needed?" Mikey asked. "I haven't even hit one of these guys yet."
"You contribute with your lovely commentary Mikey!" Spidey shouted, webbing up a large section of Kraang with a huge net. "Like so. Alright, Spidey's up to bat, it's the bottom of the ninth and the old web head needs to keep his lead. He's stepping up to bat, he's taking his swing..!" He took the large net of webbed up Kraang and swung it into the group Leo was trying to cut up. "And it's a home run! Watch those Kraang shout for joy as they fall from the sky in utter agony!"
"Annnd that was the last of them." Raph sighed. He needed some alone time with the training dummy to make up for this.
"Good job team!" Leo shouted with a dorky over the top grin. "I trained you well."
"First off, no you didn't." Donnie, rightfully miffed, accused. "Second of all, you and Spidey were hogging all the Kraang."
"Hey, I needed to test out the new threads." The web head said, cracking his knuckles. "And so far, I feel like I can solo one of those tanks they used in the warehouse. Heck, the rhino doesn't feel like much of a threat one on one anymore."
"Sure you're not just letting the adrenaline puff up that big head of yours?" Raph glared. He would never say it out loud, but he owed Spidey a lot. Part of paying him back involved making sure he wasn't going out to get himself killed…again.
"Might be, might not be, all I know is that I've gone from spider strength to triple spider strength." They grinned as they approached the sewer drain. "Plus the ability to just hide in a crowd on a whim in an emergency is also a win." Peter said as the suit went into his clothes. "Do you know how many clothes I lost rushing out to change? Pretty sure there's a sizable portion of the homeless population that own at least three of my shirts."
"Well you always wanted to help people, now you gave them clothes." Raph rolled his eyes. "Are you sure that thing isn't eating you up on the inside for all the good it's doing you?"
"Believe it or not, no harm." Donnie said. "I managed to look over a small piece of the alien. The thing's feeding off of radiation for sustenance, which is likely how it was able to survive space in the first place."
"But space is a vacuum where cosmic rays can move freely compared to the limiting protection of an atmosphere." … Everyone turned to Leo. "I'm not a science guy but I know enough about it from Space Heroes. Point is where is all that radiation coming from?"
"Don't know. Guessing my blood's just constantly radioactive." Spidey shrugged.
"That doesn't even begin to make sense." Donnie groaned.
"Wait, if Peter got Spider powers from a radioactive spider, does that mean if he bites us we get Peter powers?" Mikey asked with sparkly eyes.
"That or he gets a case of salmonella." Raph pointed out. "In which case, go ahead, see if it works."
"Nah, save the guy some trouble. He's probably saving that for his platinum blond girlfriend." Donnie snickered. "Hah, I see why you guys always make fun of me."
"It is pretty fun." Peter said, hooking arm around Leo. "Isn't that right, Mr impressive leader?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Leo pretended to fake ignorance, glancing at the far off rooftop one last time. "... Wait, did you double check to make sure you weren't being watched when the suit went off?" He asked a valid question.
"It upgraded my Spider-sense. Now it tingles whenever someone I don't want to know is around now." Peter cackled. "It's like there's a psychic web around my head, and my reach got bigger.
"Great, not only is your body an affront to science, but so is the alien." Donnie grumbled.
"I'm an affront to science that can lift probably over sixty tons above my head, so I call that a fair trade." Peter chuckled. "Speaking of, I got to grab a non-radioactive sample of my dna to show for the gnome project at school. Can't have Peter Parker having a tarantula showing up on his family tree."
"Can't you just say no?" Raph asked.
"Nope, it's mandatory. It's worth about a good five percent of my grade, and I'm not about to fall behind now." He shrugged. "Catch you guys later!" He shouted, running down the alley.
"Then I guess it's just us for the night." Leo said. "... Space Heroes marathon?"
"I don't know, you sure the invisible force you keep looking back to will be impressed?" Raph snickered. Just because he wasn't telling anybody about Karai didn't mean he wasn't going to give Leo flack for it. The only thing that stopped him from saying anything was the fact Leo hadn't done something stupid….not yet anyways.
"So, you found an old comb buried under a pile of laundry?" April asked Peter. So far the day's been pretty normal. Wake up, go to school, and hang out with Peter because Gwen was still mad at him, Harry was in rehab, and Irma was weirdly absent from school today. The one truly off thing was Peter literally pushing back Flash when he was getting in his usual dose of bullying … dented the locker too.
"Took me three hours to find just one strand of hair that was pre-spider bite. Wish I checked the laundry before checking the shower drain." He shivered. "Somehow it's more disgusting than the sewers, and I saw a plant mutant turning people into fertilizer."
"Sounds painful. I just swabbed a sample of my spit." She chuckled. Even with the absence of most of their friends, it was nice to have at least Peter. Unlike everyone else, he was both human AND in the know of the weird side of her life.
"Lucky girl." He grumbled. "So, Kraang are out and about again. Really wish we had an idea of their agenda."
"Would help us figure out why they wanted my dad." Months searching with no results. "I almost want to talk more about Leo crushing on the enemy for the sole sake that it's slightly less annoying… almost."
"Eh, it's the guy's first crush. He'll get over it eventually." Peter waved off.
"Oh really?" April raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you guy's say about Donnie?"
Peter paused for a second, looking a bit agape. "..So you know about that?"
"Falco said it, after that it was pretty easy to spot." She said.
The boy looked at her for a moment, before sighing. "Unless you say no to his face he's just gonna keep on hoping and trying. The level of detail he has for trying to figure it out is … disturbing."
"I know, I just… I don't know how to feel about it if I'm being honest." April admitted. "He's a sweet guy and pretty dependable, it's just…"
"... Just the fact you don't know if you're ready to be in a relationship with a six foot turtle?" Peter asked.
"I would have said relationship period, but yes, that too." Life had gotten way too weird, and the weirdest thing was that it felt too normal for comfort. "Maybe once this Kraang business is behind us, I'll have time to figure things out."
"Pffft, I remember when I was that young and naive." Peter laughed. "There's never 'time' to figure things out. It's what you do in the moment. One second opportunity knocks, the next it's gone. "
"Is that why you and Liz aren't a thing yet?" She shot back. "You know, the girl that all but said she wants to be an item with you?"
He flinched. "Yeah … plus i wouldn't have to make too many excuses when I run off …" But it would still get hard.
"Not that hard." She patted his back.
Peter blinked. "Did I say that part out loud?"
"Wait, did you not say anything?" April asked, rubbing her head. Even since she started her kunocichi training, her feelings, or as Splinter called it, his intuition, felt more active.
The boy narrowed his eyes. "Didn't you say you were able to read Rockwell's mind back when we thought he was just a mindless monkey?"
"Yeah, but that was feelings, not words …" She paused. "Am I getting stronger?"
"You better learn to make sure you don't read minds accidentally." He said. "Otherwise you'll start hearing the entire school at once. Or worse, you'll see what Flash thinks about when he's alone."
"Uggh, don't put that image in my head." She shivered. "Bigger question is why am I having these powers at all. I've never been exposed to mutagen or any other lab experiments."
"Side effects of hanging around mutated individuals for an exposed period of time?" He questioned aloud. "Apparently I'm walking radiation according to Donnie."
She paused for a second. "...You're not going to give anyone cancer just by shaking their hand, are you?"
"I really hope not. I'd rather not be the guy who has to live alone in the bermuda triangle." He answered as they made their way through the hallway, which had become weirdly empty.
They walked to the door, until a woman walked through the front door, carrying a clipboard with a serious smile … somehow. "April O'neil."
She blinked at the name. "Um … yes?"
"I'm Ms. Camble from the world wide genome project. Are you April O'Neil?"
"...I just say yes." April was already feeling unnerved.
"I have the results from your DNA sample. Come with me." She said almost robotically.
"Aren't you supposed to mail those results in?" Peter pointed out.
"I have the results from your DNA sample. Come with me."
"You just said that." April said, backing up. "Sorry, but I have an appointment with a teacher. I could give them your name."
"I'm Ms. Camble from the world wide genome project." They were just repeating the same thing over and over.
"Look, we really should be getting to class, so if you would kindly let us pass…" Peter said as he tried to move them along.
The woman reached out, grabbing onto Peter's arm, throwing him into a wall hard enough for cracks to appear in the wall. "Come with me, April O'Neil."
"...Can I get a raincheck?" She joked with a broken chuckle, getting herself sent into a wall, where she barely had time to call upon her instincts to roll out of the way. "Oh thank you Master Splinter!"
"Don't count your chicken just yet, we still got lady terminator to deal with!" Peter shouted, his clothes, which she just noticed were all black… and it seemed to just be from where she was standing… but she swore she could see it moving in ripples. "I'm sorry ms, You don't quite have the right credentials!" He shoved the woman from behind, sending it down nearby stairs. "April, she's after you, start running and I'll-"
The woman stood up, with a sparking head. "Are you April O'Neil?" She asked more robotically as their arms opened up, firing missiles at Peter.
"Sorry, your princess is in another castle." Peter grabbed onto a locker door and pulled it off, sending it into the projectiles, knocking them off course as he leapt forward. "Class is in session!" Peter shouted, kicking the robot in the stomach. "Can I see a hall pass?" They produced more missiles. "Might have hit that head too hard. I'm getting nothing here."
Come on April. This is the kind of think your training was meant for! Don't be the damsel! Actually pull your weight and help for once! What could she use, what could she…aha, the school trophy cabinet. "Well it's not like these things are being used anyways!" She grabbed onto the biggest one she could find, and threw it into the robot's shoulder's, making it go limp.
"You are coming with me." They muttered, aiming their free arm … only for Peter to shove a locker door into the opening.
"Terminators, don't make them like they used to, always a jamming problem!" He shouted as he kicked them away, running back to April. "And the sequels are always terrible from three onwards."
BOOM
"My first fight … my first fight and I was actually slightly useful!" Success!
"Nice job April. Pick up something that can cut through machines and you'll be field ready in no time." Peter grinned, patting her back. "Come on, we should leave before another bot shows up to take you away for your stunning personality and DNA."
"Yeah…" She almost forgot about one thing that bugged her about all this…well, aside from the fact she was almost kidnapped … again. "You're usually more reserved about showing off your powers in public." April noted.
"Eh, we can chalk it off to adrenaline if anyone sees anything." He said without any of his usual worry. "It's not like I was shooting off webs or anything … also I feel like they'd be more focused on the missile slinging representative trying to kidnap a student … although it probably wouldn't hurt to ask Donnie to hack into the school cameras."
Something was wrong about this … not Peter being bold … but being … careless. It's none of your business! April looked around … must have been in her head. Weird… it kind of sounded like Peter's voice… but drowned in something…. Murky… and dark. "Strange though." She was taken out of her thoughts as Peter poked at the bot as he picked it up. "It's just a regular robot, no Kraang surprise inside. Would explain the pre-recorded lines. It might be a way to pack in more raw power since we keep creaming their normal foot soldiers."
"It also spoke less Kraang speak…..they're advancing." April had a pool of dred washing over her. "So not only do we have regular Kraang to worry about, but Kraang-bots disguised as regular people beyond the businessman look."
"Just what we needed, even smarter Kraang." Peter grumbled. "Problems piling up one after the other." He said angrily as he started squeezing the broken up bot like it was tinfoil.
"Peter, we should get out of here before anyone else shows up." She said to the boy. "We gotta get this to the guys." She looked back to the clipboard. "And now that they've shown their hand… we know exactly where to go next."
"And once I'm finished, every member of the Genome Project will be jobless and destitute for even thinking about hurting April!" Donnie finished his rant as they went along the rooftops. Seriously, in broad daylight? When she already went through enough!? Was there no low that Kraang won't go down?
"Wow, and here I thought Raph was gonna keep his record of longest rage rant." Mikey said. "Beat you by thirteen seconds."
"I always have time to rectify that." Raph nodded with a snicker. "So they sent some old lady robot to steal April?"
"Old lady with missile launchers, but yeah, that's the jist of it." Spidey confirmed. It was one of the few times Donnie felt glad Peter got to spend so much time with April instead of being jealous. "Purly robotics inside of it, no squishy Kraang pilot or anything. I'd call it smart if it had more than two to three lines."
"There's only so much they can probably use if they're cut off from their own dimension." Donnie summarized. "Still, this is bad. They're learning to compensate. Half the city could have Kraang bots flooding the streets given enough time, and we wouldn't be able to notice."
"And those are numbers we can't afford to fight." Leo nodded. "We infiltrate the Genome Project building, steal as much information as we can, and destroy anything important."
"Aw man, does that mean we have to carry spit and hair out of there? Gross man." Mikey shivered. "Almost as gross as that nightmare I had that there sewers were made out of-"
"Just a nightmare Mikey, trust me." Donnie patted his shell. Some things were left better to ignorance. "Any idea why they wanted April?"
"No idea." Spidey shrugged. "I'm just glad that I didn't accidentally send my DNA and get the Kraang running after good old Pe-" They paused. "... Good old under the mask me. Spidey sense went off, we're being watched."
"Oh is that so?" Raph glared at Leo. "Any idea who that could be, fearless leader? Who'd want to spy on us from a distance?"
"Probably someone concerned with our safety." Leo shook off, which Donnie found suspicious.
"With our luck?" He asked. "It's more likely Rat King with a rocket launcher."
"Or the big man with a sniper rifle." Peter noted.
"Or maybe the Sandman with a sandstorm coming our way." Mikey threw out.
"Oh come on, no female villains in your repertoire?" Asked a voice as a person came out from the shadows … a girl with armor that made her look like she was in the … oh no.
"Foot Clan!" Donnie shouted, pulling out his weapon. Of all the nights, they had to show up now!?
"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Hold on, she's a friendly!" Leo…defended her!?
"No she's not!" Raph yelled, taking out his sais.
"Yeah, I'm not." The foot clan girl admitted with a cheeky nod as she took out her blade. "I am fun at parties though. Thought it might be fun to crash this one."
"Sorry girly, we're all booked up on party crashers." Spidey said, shooting webs at her feet. "Any more and there won't be any room at the snack table."
"Well well well, something finally ditched the tacky red and blue for sleek and slimming black." The foot girl snickered.
"What can I say? I want the blood to show up whenever I take down your goon squad of nightgown enthusiasts." A pretty violent quip, didn't really seem like his normal material.
"Would you two knock it off!" Leo shouted. "We don't want a fight."
"Leo, I don't know how to tell you this … but she's IN THE FOOT CLAN!" Donnie shouted.
"Yeah!" Mikey agreed, pulling out his chucks. "And if Chris Bradford taught me anything, they're all irredeemable liars that'll never change and just wanna hurt people for no reason other than it's fun!"
"Now that's not true at all." The Foot girl shook her head. "We also do it because they have what we want."
"You're not helping!" Leo shouted, before groaning and looking at them. "Mikey, Donnie; this is Karai. She's a friend… sort of."
"Yeah, sort of, just like how the Goblin sort of has an insanity problem or how the Shredder sort of wants to kill us." Raph glared.
"You're on a first name basis with her!?" Donnie exclaimed. "What kind of relationship do you have?!"
"Friends!" Leo shouted, waving his hands around desperately.
"He has a thing for her." Spidey input.
They were silent for a moment. "Dude." Mikey spoke up. "Even I know that's a terrible thing."
"Oh come on, it's not that bad!"
"Yea it is." Spidey snickered.
"You flirted with a criminal just this week!" Leo shouted.
"A thief." Raph said. "Not a girl … IN THE FOOT CLAN!"
"For a group of mutants that probably get judged a lot, you all are very judgemental." The girl laughed.
"Do you have plans of killing us?" Raph asked.
"It's not my plan to kill you. If anything, you guys are the most interesting thing in this city." The girl, Karai, shrugged. "Sure, Shredder's probably going to order me to kill you guys eventually, but now I'm just trying to get the whole puzzle here." She looked around. "Like seriously, he doesn't even question the existence of mutants to begin with, to him it's all 'I shall have my vengeance' night after night."
"Really? Not even questioning the man dressed in a Spider costume that lived through impalement?" Spidey asked.
"He said 'it's not the most bizarre thing i've encountered in the world'." The girl repeated. "So are we just going to keep playing twenty questions, or are you gonna show me what's going on tonight?"
"Oh, let me just pull out the pros and cons list of trusting you." Donnie said sarcastically. "Pro, Leo, in his delusion, vouches for you."
"Hey!"
"Con … you're probably gonna backstab us in the end because you're part of a crazy killer ninja clan with very few morals."
"Normally that's true, but I'm far too invested in what's going on in this city to do that… for now at least." She laughed."I mean seriously, robot brain people? There's gotta be a fun story there."
"Leo, this girl is bad news." Raph stated the obvious. "Even if she wasn't planning to stab us in the back, just talking in front of her like this is a big risk."
"She's a trained Kunoichi, she'd hear us from the next building over." Leo said. "... I'm also pretty sure she already cut her way out of Spidey's web."
"Guilty." She snickered, having herself freed. "I'm coming whether you like it or not, so might as well go in as friends."
"Sure thing." Spidey shrugged. "But if you betray us… I'm gonna make you regret it."
The foot girl scoffed. "Right, like you're gonna-"
Crack
She was cut off by the vigilante's fist punching through the brick wall next to her head, meeting her eyes face to face. "Hard."
Instead of being scared like most rational people, she merely smirked. "That a promise?"
"Cross my webs, sweetheart." Spidey reeled his fist back… and Donnie could've swore he saw claws at the ends of Peter's fingers for a second. "So you better watch your back."
"Gonna be hard with your spandex clad butt taking up the attention…"
"OKAY!" Leo got in the middle. "This has gone on far enough.
"Donnie, get to work on remaking the T Pod." Raph said, holding Mikey's ears. "We both know he'll need the distraction at this rate." The scientist nodded.
"Now that we know where we stand, let's just get going." Their leader ordered, looming back to Spidey. "Dude, not cool." Leo glared.
"What, I didn't see your name on her." …Wow; that was such a jerk move, and not the usual casual sarcasm he was used to hearing.
Donnie turned to Raph. "Please tell me my crush on April isn't nearly as disturbing as this."
"No, like I said before, it's more sad than cringey."
"Thank you for the insult." Anything was better than fighting over a girl … IN THE FOOT CLAN!
They felt a flurry of emotions at the moment. From the memories they had witnessed and from the events of the past few days, that was a recurring event. So much time brooding over every decision of every minute, it was almost overwhelming to begin with.
Now they had a better understanding and contextualizing of their host and their life. First off, guilt … the most useless and annoying feeling in the world that just caused one to suffer for no reason whatsoever. Helping family, they could get. But random strangers because of one mistake for no fame nor satisfaction when it cost them so much? The host..Peter Parker, deserved more than satisfaction. He deserved more than a measly freelance paycheck and the scorn of ungrateful friends who never even knew the good they did.
Gwen Stacy. Harry Osborn. They didn't want Spider man, they wanted Peter. The third wheel, the doormat they could use as a stress ball for all their insecurities, who expected him to drop everything for the sake of their needs, but never his.
The terrapin? They didn't want Peter. They wanted 'Spider-Man'. They wanted the hero that would coddle them and tell them how to act, they wanted the strong one who could do all the heavy lifting, they wanted the smart one that thought about every solution.
Eddie Brock hated Peter, who was trying to simply save himself and his family, even AFTER they sacrificed their health for Connors multiple times. Aunt May Parker was harmless but far too frail. Jameson..well they would have to make an exception to eating brains one of these days.
The only one that concerned them on a personal level was the redhead known as 'April O'Neil'. They knew both Peter and Spider. Both shared friendly banter and a level of understanding for each other. There was no lustful attraction like with Mary Jane Watson or the Black Cat, and there was no romantic undertone like Liz Allen or the vague hidden seeds of Gwen Stacy (They believed humans referred to this as 'just under the friend zone'). It was simple friendship on a platonic level…and it bothered them.
They were supposed to be the center of attention in the host's life, the ones giving them whatever they wanted. And they were better because … what? A shoulder to lean on? Helps with their identity. They could do those things too, better even! They were the ones with Peter and Spider twenty four seven, they knew the boy's pain far better than any of these morons could!
"Well, we don't have to worry about casualties when we blow this place sky high." The red turtle Rapheal said as they crawled through the vents. "I'm not seeing anything but Kraang down there."
"Kraang? That's the best name they could come up with?" The ninja girl, Karai, snorted.
"We would've gone with freaking stomach brain aliens, but that doesn't roll off the tongue as much." Their host responded with one of his usual quips. A bit unnecessary, but they did seem to calm down the boy in times of stress.
"So, what are they here for?" Karai asked. "Stealing out tech? Making an army? The hot dogs?"
"You seem to be under the assumption that we actually want you to learn anything." Donnie glared.
"You have no idea, do you?" She guessed correctly.
"Wow, she's good." Michelangelo nodded. "No wonder Leo likes her so much. So how long have you two been a thing?"
"We're not/about a week." Both Leonardo and Karai answered at the same time.
"Ever since the whole Snakeweed thing." Their host answered. "Mikey blows off steam with video games, Donnie science, Raph violence, and Leo flirts with the people trying to kill him."
"Don't you do that two?" Michelangelo asked. "You know, with Black Cat."
"Different. I know she's being disingenuous."
"That kiss said otherwise." Donatello grumbled. Jealous.
"Don't worry Donnie, a princess will come by and turn you into a prince someday." The host laughed. "Or is that only for frogs?"
"Just because Spider-Byte can't get our species right doesn't mean you need to get it wrong either." Raphael grumbled.
"Quiet down everyone." Leonardo said from the front. "I can see a computer room. Strike them quick, let Donnie look through their files."
"Finally, the fun's about to begin." Karai took out her blade and jumped ahead.
"Wait; we can't just rush in-!" Leonardo banged his head.
"Whoa, major dejavu." Michelangelo said. "I feel like we've been through this before, Cept now there's irony to it."
"The irony is we told him she wouldn't listen." Raphael joked as he moved out, stabbing a bot before it could reach the alarm. "So, still think she's a friend!?"
"Could you keep down the yelling before you attract more Kraang?" Leonardo asked with a groan.
All of them just drag us down, make it harder. We would've just been in and out without making a scene. Leo's just being naive. He'll get his wake up call soon enough. Well, not inaccurate … "Donnie, can you get into the computers?" The host asked.
"That's probably not going to be needed." The purple one pointed to several glass walls that were filled to the brim with that mutagen. Each of them labeled with some kind of earth animal or plant. "They've been collecting DNA from every living creature they can get their hands on. No wonder they've infiltrated this place, every species can be experimented on at once."
"So how does that fit into taking … you know who?" Raphael at least had the decency to avoid saying the name of the girl in question around Karai.
"So this stuff, this is where all those mutants come from, like you guys?" Karai accessed as she sliced a bot.
"Why don't you take a closer look?" Raphael growled, looking like he was about to engage in a fight.
"Well I do think I can pull off the scaly look …" Karai launched as she aimed her sword at Rapheal She's clearly going to betray us. We should strike her down while we have the chance. If we make too much noise then the Kraang will hear us coming. We got them before the alarm. That was true, as long as no one did anything stupid.
"Would it kill you guys to knock it off for one second-!" Leonardo shouted as he got in the middle and blocked their blows. "The whole point is to NOT call attention to anything!" He waved his hands…..and hit a button on the nearby panel.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
They all stared at the turtle for a second … "Really thought it would have been me." Michelangelo nodded absentmindedly. "Do we all shout LEO now or …"
The doors opened up as multiple of those Kraang soldiers ran through the door, surrounding them. "The intruders who are intruding on the place of Kraang not meant for intruders are the ones known as the turtles." It hurt hearing another species be this bad at picking up a language. It riled up a rage inside of them… a rage they felt go deep… deep inside of them.
So much idiocy, so much incompetence, so much going wrong. "You guys are going to be on the full end of my beatings." The host said, cracking their knuckles. "So prepare for some brain damage coming at you soon." They seek to destroy your planet. They're nothing more than animals….there's no need to hold back against them. More mass in the muscles, claws, and a bigger emblem, just so the enemy knows who it was that was about to kill them.
"Is it just me, or is Spidey's costume… changing?" Michelangelo questioned something he shouldn't.
"It must be some sort of emotional reaction." Donatello theorized, which wasn't inaccurate.
The Kraang closest stared at them, the beeping inside of their skull growing more intense. "The man of spiders has that which … which-which-wich-KYLNTAR!" It striked out a familiar sounding name. "KLYNTAR!"
"What's wrong? Afraid of my new threads? Good." They launched themselves at the nearest Kraang, pulling out the nearest head. "Bout time you little brain demons met you maker." They cackled as they squeezed the little nuisance in their hands. Every Kraang began firing at Spider-Man, almost desperately, to the point they willingly ignored the other terrapins. If they couldn't even be meat shields to protect the host they were just dead weight. "Oh you just made a BIG mistake!" They produced a massed web net to ensnare a group of five, and flung them around like they were a club, smashing Kraang after krang, making sparks, oil, and a pink substance he could only assume was blood flying all over the place.
"Prepare the anti Kylntar weaponry!" One of the Kraang shouted. "Prepare it now!"
"Sorry to say, no one's leaving this room!" They shot webs to cover the entrance. "You're all stuck in here with your choices!" They kicked the bot's head in hard enough that metal was lodged in that squishy brain. "WITH ME!" Then then through a punch that sent their fist RIGHT through one of their little dumb brains.
"...Damn, second time I actually almost felt sorry for the Kraang since Leatherhead." Raphael commented. Nothing to feel sorry about, they're unrepentant.
"Donnie, get on sending this place sky high. Everyone else, fight Kraang." At least Leonardo had the sense to get over that puppy crush and fight these things instead of just standing around.
"I'm curious…" Karai looked over the panel as she sliced through one of the drones. "This thing controls this place… so what happens if I press this?" She chuckled.
"Don't!" Leonardo shouted.
"Something bad!" Spidey shouted, their spider sense flaring up.
"Highly unfavorable outcome!" One of the Kraang spoke a red flag.
"Ooooh, now I GOT to see what it does." And pressed it
Multiple alarms blared out, as DNA from all the animals slowly filtered into a central funnel. From snakes, to armadillos, to rhinos, to eels … to kittens. Michelangelo screamed at that one. They all funneled into the mutagen, which began to glow a vibrant and rainbow coloring. "... Why did you even have a button for that?" Their host asked, holding a Kraang droid by the head.
"Kraang plans for every opportunity, even the less than desirable outcomes for Kraang." They vaguely answered.
The machine holding the mutagen opened up, as out crawled a … thing. That was the only way to describe the tentacle mess with two eyes purring like a kitten. "Mewww."
"Awww, it's adorable." Michelangelo cooed.
It then opened it's head and began shooting out lightning from its three tongues. "MEEEOOO!"
"Less adorable!" The young turtle screamed. "Aw man, how am I going to name this thing!? Doc Ock already took away the octopus theme!"
"Sounds like a real dilemma. You should tell me all about it, you know, if you survive." Karai grabbed a hold of one of the broken Kraang suits, and jumped to a nearby ledge.
"Karai, you have to help!" Leonardo shouted.
"Nah." The girl waved off. "I'm not one to clean up my own messes." She said unapologetically.
"But we trusted you!"
"I know, what a mistake." She smirked … before they shot a web at her arm.
"Hey now … Remember the promise?" The host asked, before yanking hard on the web line to bring them close, avoiding the blade and punching them in the ribs hard enough to hear something crack.
"ACCK!" The girl coughed blood
"Exactly….you're dead now."
Mikey was pulled out of trying to name octoelleykittagen and instead turned to see Peter punch Karai into the wall. "What's wrong? Is the Foot Clan that ignores failure and consequences considering her actions now!?" He shouted, kicking her into a wall … hard. "IS SHE?!"
"I…I thought….you were….just the clown…" Karai coughed out as she tried to swing at his chest, only for Spidey to easily dodge it.
"Oh, I can be a clown." Spidey said as he webbed up her face. "Instead of a knuckle sandwich, it's a knuckle pie in the face!" He exclaimed as he punched her again. "Go ahead…laugh." Mikey may have not liked Karai, even if Leo had a crush on her, but Peter was treating her like she was the Rat King. No jokes. No pulling back…just sheer brutality.
"Spidey, calm down." Mikey tried to say, only for the armadillaelectrosnake to rush forward and zap the boy.
Peter dodged the blast, rushing forward and punching the creature across the room. "You just sit back and wait your turn! Maybe we can set you free in the woods or something!"
"Meewwwwaaaaarrrrrrrrggggg!" They crawled on the wall and began throwing pieces of Kraang, wall, floor, basically anything they could get their hands on everywhere, not looking like it even knew what it was trying to destroy.
"Oh look at that Leo, the Kraang are fighting the mutant." Raph said sarcastically. "Maybe that means they're on our side!"
"Is now really the time for this!?" Leo asked, slashing at some of the stuff the monster threw.
"Well with Spidey beating up your girl, someone had to fill up the snark void!"
"She's not my girl!" Leo shouted back.
"Oh really, because between you flirting with her and trying to convince us she's on our side, we must've gotten the wrong signals!" Donnie shouted, trying to pierce the creature with the blade at the end of his staff.
"I wasn't flirting! Besides, Spidey-!"
"The difference between you and I….is that….I CAN KEEP IT IN THE SHELL!" Spidey shouted, punching the girl into a wall and watching her fall. "So tell me, do you finally get it now?" He asked, stepping on the girl's back. "What it's like for every victim you put in the ground? Do you feel their fear? Their helplessness? You must be thinking 'what sick demented person can actually do this? Well missy… all you have to do is look in a mirror."
Mikey ran up, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Spidey that's enou-"
Smack
Mikey was punched in the stomach, sent flying into the wall. "Ugggh.."
"MIKEY!" His brothers shouted.
"Wha…" Peter shook his head for a second. "What…what just happen-" In that split second, Karai slipped out of the way.
"Your friend plays pretty rough Leo. Let's do this another time." She threw down a smoke bomb, and disappeared.
"She got away …" Spidey muttered, before the mutanabeeworm jumped on top of him, scratching with claws under the tentacles.
"MEEEOOW!" It screamed, trying to take him down.
"Mikey, you alright!?" Raph ran up to him and picked him up.
"Yeah … nothing broke, just the wind knocked out of me." He passed off, getting up. "Stressful situation, between Karai, Kraang, and Justin, of course he'd get distracted."
"... Justin?"
"Couldn't think of anything else." His naming skills were good, but even he had limits. "I'd go for doctor kraken, but even I think that's a stretch."
Spidey knocked away Justin into a wall. "Would you just calm down and let us deal with the guys shooting at you!?" He shouted to the beast.
"MEEEEEWWRAAAAAAAH!
"We're just! Trying! To help!" Peter shouted, punching the thing into a wall. "Why! Can't! You! Stop! Attacking us! And see that!" He kept wailing over and and over on it…the punches became less restrained, more aggressive… brutal.
It began to make a noise … it began to cry. "Leo, we gotta get out of here!" Mikey shouted. This entire situation was too grating on the hero.
"Donnie, how close are you to whipping the computers!?" Leo shouted.
"Still trying to get the hang of Kraang technology, so maybe if I had ten more minutes…!"
"I can make it five seconds." Raph pulled out his sais and repeatedly stabbed the panel over and over again.
"That which is known as the self destruct for the place of Kraang known as Kraang base has been that which is known as … activated." An announcement spoke up. "Have a Kraang filled day."
"...Or we can do that." Donnie said. "Spidey, the place is about to blow! Wrap it up!"
"I've got it!" He shouted, pulling back his fist. "We've always got it." He muttered under his breath as he punched Justin … through the wall, leading out of the building. "Everyone, one way exit to freedom!"
"... Spidey… are you feeling alright?" Leo asked.
"Oh, you don't get to ask that, fearless leader, not after that shit with Karai." Spidey glared.
"Dude, language!" Donnie covered Mikey's ears.
"Come on, I can handle it!"
"Place blowing up, discuss it later!" Raph shouted, shoving the turtles out of the building. "Things are about to get a lot more hotter-!
KABOOOOOMMMMMMMMM
They all landed on the roof, watching as the building began going up in flames. "Wow …" Mikey looked at the explosions going off. "It's almost like fireworks, but up close."
"And we could've almost all died." Spidey added. "Speaking of which." He proceeded to whack Leo across the head.
"OW!" Leo rubbed his head.
"Considering how upset Master Splinter would be if he saw you chatting it up with the Foot Clan, I say that's barely the least you deserve." Raph pointed out.
"Yeah dude, even I'm not dumb enough to like a girl in the Foot Clan." Mikey shook his head. "Told you she'd betray us, just like Bradford."
"And you didn't tell us about her either." Donnie brought up. "This was a backstab being seen a mile away.
"Okay, okay, I get it, I screwed up, I'm sorry." Leo relented. "Now I know where Karai stands. I won't let her get close again."
"Good." Spidey said, shooting out webs. "I'm gonna go get some rest. I have school in like … four hours dang it." He muttered as he flew away.
"...So Spidey was getting pretty brutal out there, right?" Mikey said. "For a second, I thought I was seeing Raph gain super powers and destroying the place."
"I'm chalkin it up to stress." Raph said. "Between Leo messing up, Karai making another mutant, and trying to help someone who didn't take it, he was bound to start punching things. Anyone would do the same."
"Not sure they'd be that brutal, but I see your point." Donnie said. "We really got to get that guy one night off. His eyelids are probably just as black as his suit at the moment."
"Yeah…" Something still felt off the Mikey. Sure stress would explain crankiness and losing control… but it wouldn't explain the sheer brutality of it. Spidey felt different ever since he got that suit … and a bug in Mikey's brain felt like that wasn't a coincidence.
Baxter Stockman winced as Xever, the fish man, was forced to walk around against his will, running into walls over and over. Plus side, Bradford seemed to get a kick out of it. Downside … the Shredder was looking displeased. "You've had a month … and you still can't manage to get his legs working?"
"It's getting there, I'm pretty close." He chuckled hesitantly. "The…the neural interface is just a little glitchy…" That was always the hardest part with working with machines like this. The technology for complete brain controlled machinery was still leagues behind what he needed. Otto was always more intelligent in this area of expertise.
"Ow ow ow ow!" Xever shouted as his hand banged into the wall over and over. "Someone! Get me! OUT OF THIS!"
"I grow tired of your excuses." The Shredder produced a blade. "I only spared your life because I expected competence." The silver cladded man walked up to him closely. "And you repay me with half baked promises?"
"I…I…" He didn't have any excuses, especially with so many blades aimed at his neck. He was going to die…and the only one that would even remember his name would be the man about to kill him.
The door slammed open, as everyone turned, watching in silence (other than Xever hitting the wall) as the Shredder's daughter, Karai, limped into the room, her face covered in blood and bruises, her armor broken, and dragging a strange looking machine with her.
"KARAI!" Thankfully, the only ounce of humanity the Shredder head was able to temporarily extend his life for the next few seconds. "What happened? Who did this to you!?"
"Spider-Man …" She spoke, spitting out blood. "Spider man… something's different. There's no more jokes and no holding back… for a few seconds I actually thought he was going to kill me." That … sounded pretty terrifying, considering Baxter already antagonized Spider-Man twice. "I managed … to nab this though." She slid a machine across the ground.
"What…what is this?" The Shredder asked.
"I followed… the turtles to gain more insight… about them. There's this alien race calling themselves the…Kraang." Stockman noticed a piece of tech falling off, and grabbed it. "They all… operate… in machines like this.
He pressed the device, watching the hand rise up. A few experimental tests showed it followed a very specific pattern … very articulate … "If I had more tech like this, I could fix Xever's leg problem in less than a week." With just some minor calibration. It was almost like this required someone with tentacles instead of hands.
The man paused for a second, before giving a slight nod. "You've done well, Karai. Rest for now." Shredder told the girl. "Bradford. Spread out the foot clan and the purple dragons. Use every available resource to find out everything about this 'Kraang.'."
"Yes master." The giant mutant dog bowed.
"And on the off chance you see Spider-Man … no mercy." The man growled. "I want the arachnid's head."
"Understood." Thank goodness….the shredder's rage was on someone other than Baxater
"Simone! GET! THESE! LEGS! OFF!"