Leo waited around at the edge of the lair. "... So anyone know what Donnie wanted us to wait for?" He asked the group.

"The only project we've been working on together is unique web fluids." Spidey said. "Since taking the Chameleon, we've been trying to figure out how to shoot out Ebola webbing for easier tripping of the enemies."

"Doesn't the suit make its own?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Don't know what my suit is made out of, or if the webbing can run out." Spidey answered."Besides, it's not like the thing can generate the charge for a taser web."

"It better not be another Metalhead." Raph groaned. "I reserve the right to knock Donnie up the head if it is."

"Come one, I'm sure Donnie's learned his lesson on building terminators." Leo spoke up.

"Like how you learned your lesson about letting the enemy close?" Spidey shot back.

"Dude, I said I was sorry." He glared. One thing that had been bothering him lately was Peter's attitude. He got a lot more frustrated with them to the point he was almost another Raph. A Raph that could punch holes in solid metal. "How long are you guys going to hold that over me?"

"Probably until it stops being funny." Mikey answered. "And hey, it could be worse. We could tell Splinter."

Leo shivered, imagining the horror that would befall that. "Fine, I won't fight back against the ribbing … for now." He really screwed the pooch on that one. He let one little crush get in the way, and it almost got his brothers killed. He couldn't afford to make mistakes like that again.

They heard what sounded like a small train coming by … until it turned out to just be one small train car … with LOADS of designs on it. Giant wheels, dark green paint, front lights, and a giant shell design on the top. It stopped right in front of them all, leaving the team to gawk until Donnie himself came out. "Turtles, Spider … let me introduce our latest ride!"

"Donnie … have I ever told you how cool you are?" Raph said.

"Never."

"...Well I'm deeply considering it." Which was high praise from the turtle.

"No way, is this the same cart we got from Leatherhead?" Mikey oooed at the sight as he caressed it like it was a baby.

"Yep." Donnie nodded. "I realized Raph had a point about needing something more armored if we go against the Kraang, and decided to customize this thing with a couple of weapons, engines, and the Power Cell."

"The Power Cell the Kraang are after?" Spidey asked. "You know, the one thing that's stopping them from breaking through the walls of reality and invading our world?"

"Don't worry, I put it in a lead case. As long as we don't ram this thing into the Rhino himself it should hold." His brainy brother nodded in reassurance.

"Donnie, what do you call this baby?" Leo was beyond impressed.

"Well, the technically term is mulit transportaional battle-

Mikey interrupted him, with a raised hand. "No …" He spoke, looking at them with raw intensity. "The Shellraiser."

Everyone paused in contemplation. They all looked to each other to see if anyone had any note … and there were none. "Mikey … that is the coolest name you've ever come up with." Raph said. Wow, two high praises twice in a row.

"You all be doubting on my skill!" He shouted with a grin. "Oh, can I drive!?"

"No, Leo's driving." Donnie said. "He's the least likely turtle to crash into objects for funsies."

"...True." Mikey and Raph agreed.

"Peter was the second choice, but I gave him something else."

"What do I do?" Peter asked.

"I'll show it off when the time is right." Donnie grinned. "Trust me, the surprise is gonna be so worth it."

"It better not be roller skates again."

"No … I'm not concussed this time. I have a MUCH better budget and timeframe." Donie laughed. "It'll both save you both speed and webfluid."

"I'm liking the sound of it already." The masked hero smirked as they crawled on the ceiling. "Oooh, you even installed an upside-down minfridge. Sweet."

"Help yourself." Donnie said. "I'm on vital functions and maintenance, Raph is on weapons and defense, Mikey is on navigation." They showed off the seats in question.

"We're letting Mikey tell us where to go?" Raph asked as he took his chair. "You SURE that's a good idea?"

"It's the area where he can cause the least amount of damage." Donnie answered. "Now Leo, take the accelerator and gently push it forward."

"Like this?" He pushed it forward….and the cart instantly sped up. "Whoa!"

"I said gently!" Donnie called out.

"To a turtle that never drove before!" Peter pointed out as they sped forward. "So when are we stopping? I'm pretty sure the tracks end soon, and I don't feel like becoming wall pizza to a couple of bricks!"

"Wall pizza … now I'm hungry." Mikey looked at the map. "Oooh, Antonio's pizza is only three blocks away!"

"Bigger concerns now!" Spidey called out.

"Relax, we just gotta keep moving." Donnie waved off as he clicked a button.

The wall instantly turned into a track, which they sped off of, before landing on the street with the sounds of tires screeching. "Alright!" Leo shouted with a grin as he drove through New York.

"We're driving out in the open, like regular people!" Mikey yelled out in excitement. "We're totally unnoticeable!"

"..Well as unnoticeable as a giant moving train cart can be, but the point does stand." Spidey nodded.

"I even got us tunes." Donnie put in a tape … as opera music started playing.

"Really?" Raph asked.

"Just wait until the second movement." The smart turtle grinned, clicking a button as rock music started blaring.

"Donnie!" Raph shouted. "You are so cool right now!"

"I know, I know." Donnie nodded confidently.

"This is the best!" Leo smiled. It was a real definite mood lifted especially given the past few days. Something like this was needed. "I don't know how this could get any better!"

"Hey guys, we got purple dragons robbing some kind of shop!" Mikey called out.

"It got even better!" Raph shouted. Weird, that was usually the moment things got worse. "Donnie, which is the most brutal weapon on this thing?"

"I installed a web grenade launcher right there." … Raph stared at him unimpressed. "The only other two options at the moment are a compressed ball of garbage and manhole covers fired like bullets, save those for the mutants."

"Hold up, look at the screen." Spidey pointed at the monitor, where they saw the usually trio of purple idiots running, when some guy, who looked like he was just in a rubber turtle suit, came crashing down. "Either you guys have a long lost brother or a really obsessed fanboy."

"Fanboy." Donnie said as he zoomed in, pointing at the red Spider mark drawn on the chest.

"Cool, we have a fan!" Mikey cheered.

"No, that's bad. People aren't supposed to know we exist." Leo corrected.

"Not so fast, Dragons." The man said, cracking his knuckles. "Your scales are gonna be cracked tonight … by my fists of justice."

"Corny lines, he definitely got that from Leo." Raph snickered.

"Oh please, there's three of us and one of you." One of the dragons stated.

"Good point. Wanna call over some of your friends and make it a fair fight?" He asked.

"And he got the ego from Raph." Donnie added.

"Guys, I think we're about to see another hero born." Mikey said with childish excitement. "Another awesome super skilled and powerful guy on the streets fighting crime."

"Now beware the power of the Pulverizer, the man who has combined the power of the fist of the turtle, and the kick of the spider, into one friendly neighborhood beatdown!" He shouted, as he threw some … really … really bad punches.

"...So he also has Mikey's scattered brain and Donnie's clumsiness." Spidey said.

"All he needs is your bad jokes, and we'll be full circle." Raph nodded.

"So, you want some more, or do you wanna go ahead and call the insurance companies with your one prison call?" The purple dragons all looked at each other … before they began pulverizing the Pulverizer.

"Oowch, owch; that hurts, that's just painful to watch." Mikey winced. "Wait, he's getting up-nope, he's getting kicked in the face."

"This is sad… but at the same time a little funny." Raph smirked.

"I believe that's our cue to jump in." Spidey said as he opened the door. "Come on turtles, it's butt kicking time."

So far, the Pulverizer's first debut was going off without a hitch! He found a gang of thugs robbing a place and totally caught them off guard! Sure, they were beating him to a pulp; and now he was starting to feel numb in the legs, but they weren't getting away with the tech, and that was a plus.

"So how long are we going to keep kicking him?" One dragon asked.

"Why? Are you getting a leg cramp?" Another questioned.

"No, this is cathartic beyond measure." The first dragon admitted. "But we all know the longer we're out here, the easier it'll be to run into a certain web head."

"Yeah, that Friendly Neighborhood Spider's a real menace."

"Exactly." The first dragon turned … seeing Spider-Man himself! In a new black suit and everything. "Spider-man!?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out." The hero chuckled, flipping over them and sending the skinny one into a wall. "Unlike you, Fong. Since your so punch happy tonight, how about I volunteer you to be my punching bag."

"Start running!" Another dragon shouted, only for the turtles themselves to block off the alley.

"Yes, run into our weapons, we could use an easy job for once." The red turtle grinned.

"The turtles and Spider-man!? Awesome!" Pulverizer cheered. "My first debut is a team-up! Just like the Honey badger did in the incredible bulk!"

"Oh, we could give you autographs after!" The orange one shouted as he blocked some attacks, returning with some sweet spinning moves as he attacked the dragons. "Donnie, you did bring a pen, right?"

"Got more important things to focus on right now!" The purple one shouted as they whacked on of the bigger ones in the back, grabbing ahold of the tech they were trying to steal. "This isn't just regular tech … it's Kraang parts!"

"Oooh, you running a collector shop?" Spider-Man asked as he kicked Purple Dragons and stuck them to the walls. "Planning on selling it to the highest bidder?"

"Like we'd ever tell you anything!" The skinny one shouted. "You're dead spider! Word on the street is that the shredder wants your head!"

"Oooh, is there a bounty? If I gave him a replica of my skull would I get the cash prize?" The man quipped as he took down the skinny one. "Or should I rip yours out and dress it in a Spidey-mask? That sound fun Fong?"

"Hey, Fong's the nice one, remember!?" The blue turtle dude shouted as he beat up the dragons. "You're thinking of the creep Tsoi!"

"Hey! All I did was call a few girls hot!" That dragon got kicked in the head and into the sidewalk.

"Well you're all scum anyways. Calling any of you nice is stretching that definition of the word." Spidey webbed up all the guys on the ground. "Yo Mikey, make sure none of them run away!"

"On it Spidey!" The orange one sent out one of his weapons to grab ahold of one making his way out.

"Don't worry, I got him!" This was his chance! Teaming up with his hero's and successfully taking out the bad guys. "Halt your scaly fiend! You shall not pass..!"

Bonk

Pulverizer found himself hit in the face by the rod end of the orange's one's weapon as the dragon fled into the streets. "Ow.."

"Dude, not cool." The orange one groaned.

"I'll go after him!" Spidey shouted, jumping up. "I go after everyone apparently."

"Yeah, you go do that partner. Great job." Pulverizer gave a thumbs up as the rest of the turtles surrounded him. "I gotta say, we make a pretty good team." He grinned.

"Uh, and you are?" The red one crossed his arms.

"The Pulverizer!" He shouted. "You guys inspired me to be a hero! I saw you guys fight off the Dexter Leckman guy and thought 'if those guys could beat up villains in a suit, why can't I?' So I followed your example of crime fighting!"

"Follow our example?" The purple guy raised an eyebrow … wait did they have eyebrows?

"Yeah, I put on my own suit and went off to fight baddies like you guys!" Pulverizer exclaimed. "Gotta say, you guys made them so realistic." He poked the mask. "It almost feels like real scales."

"We are real." The blue one glared. "We're mutants."

Timothy blinked at that. "... Oh that is so cool! How do I become a mutant!?"

"You don't." The purple one shook his head. "Trust me, not as pleasant as it seems."

"Besides, if we told you, we'd have to kill you." The red one brought up, before a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes. "So it all starts with these aliens called the Kra-"

"Knock it off Raph, we're not killing anybody." The blue one rolled his eyes. "Look, Pullveriser, is it? We… appreciate your help.."

"We do?" The orange one asked. "I thought we all agreed he sucked?"

The blue one slapped his face. "It's called having tact."

"Meh, Mikey never was one for subtly." Spider-Man said as he swung over. "Unfortunately the Purple Dragons got away … because of course they did."

"Oh Spider-Man!" He shouted. "You were also an inspiration for fighting crime, so thanks!"

"Word to the wise?" Spidey was giving him advice! "Stay off the streets kid. It's too dangerous for guys like you."

"Come on, what's the difference between you and me?!"

"You mean besides the years of training the turtles have and my super powers?" The masked man glared. "We don't wear hockey pads."

"Oh come on. It's not that hard." Timothy rolled his eyes. "You just put on a mask and punch the bad guys. Being a hero is easy."

The glare seemed to get worse. "Easy?"

For some reason he felt like he made things worse. "…Y-yeah.."

The man's entire body shook as their hands gripped. Crap; he just got a hero mad! That was basically a death sentence! "... You know what, fine." The hero walked away. "Go get killed for all I care, your life." They headed towards that really cool looking train cart. "Just know when your lifeless corpse ends up on the news after getting run over by the Rhino, I'll be watching and saying 'what a chump. That should've been easy for him'."

The entire group watched wordlessly as the spider themed hero walked into the cart. "... Is he always that intense?" Timothy asked. He always took spider man for the fun jokester, not the cool brooding emo."

"It's a recent thing." The blue one groaned. "Pulverizer, go home before you get hurt." He singled the other guys. "Let's head back."

"Yeah, yeah, that was … that was a good chat." Pulverizer laughed weakly as the others entered. "So do you guys have a signal or address we can all meet up at or…"

"When we say go home, we mean no more 'Pulverizer' crap." The red turtle said. "Seriously, this is even more stupid then the stuff Mikey comes up with."

"Hey! I'm way more original than that!"

"Right, right, just gonna … go over to my secret fortress and … contemplate stuff.." This was awkward. Spidey probably hated him now. What a way to end the night-

Click

He noticed the cart begin to move …with him along with it. "Hey, hey!" He pounded on the door. "My costume got stuck! I'm moving along with the car!" The cart started going off. "Guys … guys!" He banged his head, moving his feet in order to make sure they didn't drag.

Wait a sec … if he joined up with the turtles at their lair, he could learn their secret moves, and be a real hero! And at most it'd probably just take an hour or two to be as awesome as them.

Honk

If he didn't get run over by another car before that!

Donnie sat in silence as the Shellraiser made its way back to the lair, an awkward tension filling the car. "So … Pulverizer." Leo broke the silence with tonight's discussion.

"A kid with no idea what he tried to get into." Peter grumbled. "'Oh it's so easy being a hero.' It's not like we don't have to deal with lack of personal time, constant injuries, no recognition whatsoever because people love to hate us, or having every failure weigh down on us all the time."

Not untrue … but Peter was taking it exceptionally personal. "Don't you think… you know… you might've been a little harsh?" Mikey asked.

"No." Peter answered bluntly. "If anything I wasn't harsh enough. He really thinks any random joe can just put on a mask and call themselves a hero. He has no idea what the word even means."

"I mean, he probably would have gotten himself hurt." Donnie tried to point out.

"Correction, he would have been hospitalized, I would have laughed, then we'd be forced to beat up the guys that beat him up." Raph added.

"Exactly." It was always a cold day in hell for Peter and Raph to agree on anything. "We're just cutting out the middleman before the idiot cripples himself for life."

"But we don't have super powers." Mikey pointed out. "... Well, besides the shells."

"Yeah, but we have years of experience backing us up." Leo said. "The Pulverizer wanted to do it in one night. He's more impatient than Raph."

"Not true. If I was that impatient, I would've clobbered all of you every time anyone here said something stupid, which is every fifth sentence." The turtle said.

The ride stopped. "And that's why after tonight, we'll never see him again." Peter said as he opened the door … then shut it. "Donnie, is there a gas leak in this thing?"

"No. All the meters are normal."

"Does the power cell cause any hallucinations?"

"Besides the time we hit mach two hundred, no."

"Then would you like to explain to me why I saw the Pulverizer outside this door?"

"What!?" They rushed out, and indeed saw the rubber suited vigilante outside, looking quite queasy.

"Hey guys." The man waved, before barfing on the ground. "... I told my mom I had cereal for breakfast." He muttered.

"How the heck did you get here!?" Raph shouted.

"My… my suit got caught in the door." The man heaved. "You guys…drive really fast."

"Donnie!" Peter shouted. "How could you do this! It was your job to keep a lookout, or install cameras, or, gah!" Peter sent a fist into a nearby pillar, and smashed it into pieces.

"I'm sorry!" He shouted. "I didn't exactly equip this thing with a camera on the side! I figured the front and a roof stethoscope was enough!"

"Great, now this loser knows where we live." Raph grumbed. "Wait… this means we can actually kill him now."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone where your home is… I couldn't if I wanted to. I blacked out for the last ten miles." He said. "... So can I learn how to be cool ninjas like you?"

"Okay, we focus on what the Purple Dragons are doing, THEN we take Pulverizer back to the surface and toss him somewhere." Leo said.

"And then I get cool ninja training." He nodded.

"No you idiot. You go home, take off that rubber suit…" Spidey started.

"And THEN get a ninja suit! Good call spidey!"

The hero started to twitch. "Raph, you're going to need some duck tape for your training dummy." Spider-man growled. "And some sand to refill it … because I'm punching it into pieces before I tear the moron apart."

He stomped away, leaving the turtles with the human in a suit. "Wow, who knew Spider-Man was such an emo." The Pulverizer said. "I thought it was the purple one, he's the strong silent one right?"

"Every second that you talk is only pushing you closer to death." Raph glared. "Ignore the idiot for now, we need to figure out why morons like the Purple Dragons would be stealing Kraang tech. Thrift stores and restaurants are their usual stomping ground."

"They're probably getting it for someone else. Robbing anywhere through the city to sell it." Leo thought aloud.

"But who would be interested in stolen Kraang tech …" Donnie wondered to himself, before he snapped his fingers along with his brothers.

"Backer Talkman/Gaxter Stoker/Kelvin Jockman/Donatello." … Everyone turned to Mikey. "Come on, like we haven't seen Donnie take apart any Kraang droids he could get his hands on."

"And last we saw, Bachman got taken by the Foot." Donnie continued, somewhat desensitized to the idiocy considering their current guest. "He must be building something big for them."

"As if we needed another Metalhead from an intentionally bad scientist." Raph groaned.

"Are you ever going to let that go?"

"Are you gonna tear down the plans we saw in your lab for a 'Metalhead 2.0?" Leo asked.

"...Maybe…" He just needed to fix the antenna system so it wouldn't be taken over by another Kraang.

"Then maybe." Leo nodded. "Alright. We go ahead and drop off Pulverizer here where he won't get in the way, look for wherever Baxter is hiding out, call Spidey once he's done destroying the dummy, then take them down."

"And then I come in and fight crime with you guys, right?"

"Depends, can you throw a punch without tripping over yourself?" Raph glared.

"Of course I can! Watch!" The sad… sad man related back…and somehow tripped backwards.

"… You know if we had popcorn, I can't tell if this would be entertaining or not." Mikey said as he struggled to get up.

"Hold up…just gotta….get up…" The kid in the rubber suit looked ever more helpless than the Rhino in a steam tunnel.

"So should we knock him out before we dump him on the street?" Raph asked. "I feel I should get the honors. Spidey …"

Smack

The top half of their training dummy flew into the Shellraiser. "...Spidey's going to kill this kid if he gets his hands on him." Leo nodded what was being made abundantly obvious.

"Now that's just stupid." The kid shook his head. "Heroes don't kill people."

"Actually, Shinobi were notorious for their assassin work." Donnie said. "What, did you think the swords and sai's we're carrying are butter knives and forks?"

"No, you just use the blunt edge right?"

"...If we did that, we'd be dead." Leo rubbed his head. This kid was really starting to get on his nerves.

"Wow, maybe you guys are the ones that need more training." The Pulverizer shook his head.

"...I'm sorry, but this needs to happen." Raph told them all…before hitting the guy in the face, knocking him out. "Can we ditch him in some back alley now?"

"Ditch who in some …" They all slowly turned as Splinter walked up to them, pausing as he saw the Pulverizer unconscious on the ground. "My sons…which one of you would care to explain why there's another human in the lair?"

"…Donnie's fault." They all instinctively pointed to their brother.

"I hate you all, so much right now." The turtle groaned.

"What was that Donnie? You're going to explain everything while we go looking for Nester Fleaman? Thank you, you're such a good brother." Leo signaled the others to move it. "Spidey, we're hunting for Blockman! Wanna join!?"

"Yeah yeah, I'm on it!" The web head shouted, tossing away the broken dummy. "Stupid little no good wanna be, thinking it's all sunshine and rainbows." He grumbled as he webbed away.

"I sense Peter is … troubled." Splinter noted.

"I think he's going through adolescence." Mikey commented. "I hear it's contagious." Well at least some things were consistent. He couldn't imagine a more angry teenager at the moment.

Eddie was losing it all … he had no job at the lab anymore thanks to Spider-man, a man Eddie thought was a hero, stealing the alien. It didn't matter if the bugle said otherwise; if that stinkin vigilante was doing good, he would've found the alien and returned it!

That alien was the last chance. They couldn't go back to the lizard experiments or the eels, which meant the college had no projects, which meant no more funding: He lost job. Soon that meant no more tuition money for ESU; or money period. He was now some jobless bum on the street.

And one without anyone to back him up either. Parents were gone, Peter was a traiter, Gwen cared more about Peter than him. Even with the little bastard kept stabbing everyone in the back, she still held out for him…him!

Eddie had no job. He had no friends. No family. He just had himself…and his anger. If Eddie was going down, then might as well take as many people down with him while he still could. Hence why he asked Mary Jane out.

There weren't many people he could ask out at midtown, seeing as he was a legal adult. Gwen was an exception given that they knew each other, so it looked significantly less creepy on surface. "I gotta say, I didn't expect the big bulky man to drive such a tight and smooth vehicle." The girl said as they drove.

"What can I say? I'm more than a walking pile of meat." But Mary Jane was a risk taker. Someone that gave no two shits about what other people thought, which made her the perfect nail to drive into Peter's back.

"I should have expected that from a science boy." She spoke. "You know, everyone I talk to says great things about you. Smart, strong, brave." Of course he was brave. What did you have to fear when death was preferable to suffering?

"I have to be. I want to be the kind of guy that people can rely on." Unlike Peter, who somehow got everything even when he wasn't there for anyone. Oh Eddie couldn't wait to see the look on 'Petey's' face when he bragged about scoring the girl he brought to prom. It seemed minor and petty on surface, but knowing Peter, it was going to stick in his head for a looong time. Finally being able to take something from him for once was going to be cathartic as hell.

"So, what do you do for hobbies besides lifting weights and reading books?" She asked as they went down the road.

"Pretty much this, I'm a bit of a thrill seeker." Eddie responded as he got really close to a car. "The adrenaline rush feels great, you know?" She seemed feisty enough to understand.

"Yeah; the rush of wind is pretty nice." She nodded. "Had the same feeling once about a month ago when Spider-man swooped me and Gwen out of danger."

"... Oh yeah?" Peter Parker… Spider-Man. One always got in his way and ruined his life!

"Yeah, it was this crazy doctor guy with mechanical arms." She said, not noticing the change in his tone. "Did you know the guy worked with talking turtle men?"

"Yeah… I saw them….." Eddie was always second. Either to Spider man or Peter! Spider man saved Connors when Eddie could've done it! They got in the way when Max went crazy! And now he wasn't even this chick's first experience with wild rides! "Crazy masked guys who swoop in and save the day." He said, speeding up. He was not going to be second banana to either spider man or Peter Parker! "It's a crazy world we live in!"

"Whoa, big guy. You're heading toward a red…"

He sped past the light. "All the things happening without any chance to actually do something about it. Bad things going off one after another. From losing people, to watching others get hurt because of one wrong move, to losing jobs because some jerk didn't do their jobs right!" Eddie ranted as he continued to ride forward. "All of it just sucks, doesn't it!?"

"Eddie, you're freaking me out.."

"It doesn't matter if you make all the right decisions, it doesn't matter if your a good person! Life finds a way to shit on you just for existing!" Eddie was there for Peter when their parents died, but he had his aunt and uncle… Eddie had no one. "But that's not it is it? Some people have great lives, like Peter and his job. Which he got because he sold out the Connors!"

"Eddie, stop the ride."

He rode straight for a truck, sliding straight under it. "And yet for some reason, they still love him! They still think he's a good guy!" Peter got everything, and he got nothing! HE worked hard with barely anything! HE got to ESU all on his own with nothing but his brains and his two bare hands! Why the fuck was Eddie the one that always got left behind!?

"Eddie, stop the ride!"

"Is that the thanks I get for being there for people!? Is this my grand reward for actually giving two shits about anything!?" He saw a red light turn green, driving right in front of a car the second before it took off. "What's the point of trying to be a good person if it doesn't even matter!?"

"EDDIE STOP!" Mary Jane hit him on the back, screaming in his ear.

Shaken out of his little rant for just a second, he pulled over to the side for a second. "Wow, man, that felt good to get off my ches-"

SLAP

The bitch slapped him across the face. "I don't know what the deal is between you and Peter, but I can tell you this… He is a hundred times the man you are. All I see from you is an angry… desperate shell." The girl scowled at him in disgust

"... That so?" He growled. "In that case you should get off now."

Mary Jane threw the helmet into his chest, getting off and storming away. Leaving Eddie alone … like always … always alone.

Xever watched as Stockman continued messing with wires. "Update the neural connector … focus on the muscle movements your body will make … combine with the reactionary timing of the miniature computer …" He spoke, plugging something in.

"If this causes me to hit my face against a wall again, I reserve the right to eat you." Ever since his mutation it's been nothing but pain. No looks, no air, no legs, everything gone … everything that made him once the fiercest of gang lords vanished. He counted himself extremely fortunate and grateful that the Shredder bothered to save him at all that night where his life ended. The man was as heartless and ruthless as they come, but they still gave him purpose. The man's loyalty and honor was without question, and Xever swore to repay it tenfold no matter what.

"I-I understand." Stockman nervously said, flicking with a couple of switches as he could feel a hum. "Alright … try walking …"

With trepidation, Xever raised his leg … it was wobbly, he hadn't walked in over a month after all, but it followed along with his command, although extremely fast compared to his old set. He slammed it down forward, watching as the ground cracked. "Ahh …" He tried it slower this time, gazing as the legs followed his movements, slowly shifting from a stiff and janky trudge to a smooth and natural walk. "Let's see…" He took a glance at a nearby wall… and jumped high… higher than he ever could with his normal legs. With a confident smirk, he put his legs up, and jumped against the wall, and leapt to the other side. "This….oh this will do nicely." There was less effort than when he was human, and he got over twice the results. "You've done well, Stockman."

"Thank you." The nerd smiled. "You know, with this technology, we could probably do even more impressive things. Robotic soldiers, advanced weapons, a machine that can crush that no good arachnid menace."

"Hey, only one man gets to call me a menace!" The sound of a certain wall crawling annoyance he had been blessed to not hear for the last month or so made itself known. "And you're not nearly as jolly as he is, and your mustache is completely off."

"Spider-Man!" Stockman shouted. "I see you've found my latest lair." He said as the black suited vigilante came in, along with three of the turtles.

"Yeah we did, Truckster." Leonardo spoke, raising his blade. "It was pretty easy to find … given it's literally right next to the LAST warehouse that you used as an evil lair. Seriously, you might as well put up a sign that said 'no evil lair here'."

"... I take back that done well." He told the scientist.

"Wait a sec..I remember that accent…. is that Xever?" Raphael asked.

"HOW DO YOU REMEMBER HIS NAME!? YOU HAVEN'T SEEN HIM IN MONTHS!?" The dumb scientist yelled.

"He leaves much more of an impact on our heads than you do Feetman." Michelangelo answered with a shrug. "Like literally, his kicks literally leave more of an impact than you do."

"Speaking of … let me show you my new kicks." He jumped forward, raising his mechanical foot to crush them.

"Robo legs on the walking fish man!" Spider-Man shouted as they all moved away, the wall behind them collapsing from a single strike of Xever's new attack. "Yikes, imagine what would happen if the lagoon monster had access to modern technology."

"No … he's Fish face!" Michelangelo shouted.

"... Not one of your stronger ones." Leonardo stated, pulling out his blades and rushing Xever.

"It's either that or robo-carp." The young stupid turtle responded as they ducked under one of his strikes.

"It's no use turtles! With my genius and this alien technology, I've turned Xever into the ultimate killing machine!" Stockman cheered, only to get webbed in the mouth.

"Yeah, that's what Doc Ock said about his tentacles, yet look where that got him." Spider-man slammed the man's head into a wall. "For supposed geniuses, you're not all that bright."

"Well, not inaccurate." Xever agreed as he leapt forward, meeting the Spider's fist. "You know, the Shredder is really mad for what you did to Karai."

"Wow, the Shredder cares about someone? Next you'll be telling me you're somehow breathing air." They spoke, pushing back and sending the fish mutant into the ground.

"The Shredder's not without heart or loyalty, little arachnid. You mess with one of his own, and you will pay dearly." Xever flipped back up and kicked away both Rapheal and Michelangelo as he twirled his legs in a complete circle. Not only were his legs never tired and reacted almost as fast as thought, he was capable of flexing and mobility beyond what he was as a human.

"Oh, the low functioning sociopath is giving us a lecture on empathy." Raphael rolled his eyes as he went in for a strike. "You sure that's not the pot calling the kettle black, or in your case, the pan calling the fryer hot?"

"Oh like you understand what it's like being a criminal on the streets!" He shouted, shoving his leg down to parry the weapon … and taking a bite into the turtle's arm.

"Gah!" Raphael screamed, dropping his weapons. "He's got bite … and I think … it's poison." He muttered, falling to the ground.

"RAPH!" They screamed.

"One turtle down." Xever muttered, raising his foot to crush the skull under his boot … shoot, that saying really didn't apply to him anymore did it. "Two more and I'll be able to make turtle soup-"

CLANK

The spider caught the metallic limb by his own foot, glaring at Xever with a vicious glare. Those white lenses, they didn't hold the eyes of a clown scared out of his wits….it was an animal, ready to pounce.

"How about sushi instead?" He asked menacingly.

Crack

And the next thing he knew, a fist fractured his jaw before he could even see it coming."So…the spider has grown fangs as well." Xever snarled, forcing his own mouth back in working order. There was no holding back, there was no restraint.

"Yeah, and he learned how to take a real big bite out of little cowards like you." The suit itself looked like it was changing, the silvery web pattern disappearing as it became a pure, inky black as claws were growing out of his hands.

"Mikey, call Donnie, stay with Raph!" Leonardo shouted out of Xever's vision, who's only focus was the dangerous spider in front of him.

"The Spider talks the talk, but can he walk the-"

CRACK

Xever felt his chest nearly collapse from the kick the Spider threw, a kick he was barely able to register from how fast it was going. If it wasn't for his new mutated and slightly scaled form, that foot would've gone through the man's chest.

"Walk … we crawl." He glared. "But you…you slithering little slug….should learn how to run…because now we're going to give you a taste of REAL...PURE… VENOM!"

This was no Spider … this was no man … this was… a monster… Xever never felt too timid to approache someone like this before … not since he first met … the Shredder.

Mikey instantly dialed Donnie's number, waiting as he checked on Raph. He heard the fight going on in the background, and Spidey may or may have not been looking like a monster, but at the moment that was the least of his worries. "Talk to me bro. Everything's gonna be fine." Just a little poison, he could fight it, right?!

"I love you Mikey." The turtle said on the ground. "You're my favorite bro."

"...HE'S COMPLETELY NOT FINE!" Raph would never be this nice, not even on an off day! "Pick up pick up pick up …"

"Donnie here, what's up?" Oh thank shell he answered!

"Donnie, we need help! Raph got poisoned by a giant mutant fish!" Mikey shouted.

"That's impossible!" Donnie shouted. "If he was bitten it would be venom."

"HOW THE SHELL IS THAT HELPFUL RIGHT NOW!?" He shouted.

"Right, right ….I take it Peter's not available?"

"He's…" Mikey looked over to the fight, where Peter…with massive…thick black CLAWS began striking at Xever's legs while Leo tried to get him from behind. "He's a little busy turning Fish Face into filets."

He could hear the sound of stuff shuffling. "Fish Face? Such a let down … alright, alright … Pulverizer, you're gonna have to drive!" Oh wow, they were doomed. "Mikey, I'm gonna need two things. A sample of the 'Fish face's' saliva, and a list of Raph's symptoms."

"Spidey!" He shouted. "Donnie needs Fish Face's saliva!"

Crack

"AAAHHHH!" The mutant screamed, as a giant tooth slid over to them.

"...A little extreme, but I ain't complaining!" Leo shouted as he kicked the distracted Xever in the back.

"You should have all the venom you need in that tooth!" Spidey justified.

"We have the saliva!" He told his brother on the phone.

"Alright, now tell me what's wrong with Raph specifically." Donnie said.

"He keeps calling me the best brother ever! And his eyes keep spiraling in colors."

"Okay, clearly he's delusional." Obviously! "Scale color?"

"Green, but like, way greener than normal, it's all the wrong shade! Like puke green!"

"Is he experiencing any form of nausea?"

"No, he's good-"

"Blaaaggggh!"

"Okay, nope, definitely nausea." Mikey grimaced, before noticing something. "Wait a minute… that's my jelly bean and pineapple pizza! I knew you ate it you jeeerrrk!"

"Focus Mikey!" Donnie shouted. "Alright, are there any bumps under his tongu-" There was the sound of crashing. "Pulveriser! I thought you said you knew how to drive!?"

"Yeah, at fifteen miles an hour at most!" Worst, hero, ever. "And it was just a summer job at an ice cream truck! Plus we got traffic lights…."

"Just keep driving fast!" Donnie shouted. "Bumps under the tongue, yes or no?"

He looked. "No, we're good there."

"Great … alright. Last thing. How fast is his heartbeat?"

"Hey, we're reaching road work!" The Pulverizer shouted.

"Drive straight Pulverizer!"

"But the roa-"

"DRIVE OR I'M SHOVING MY STAFF UP YOU'RE BUTT AND THROUGH YOUR MOUTH!"

Mikey leaned down, listening to Raph's chest. "He's a little fast!"

"Don't worry, we're coming through now!"

Crash

The fight was interrupted as the Shellraiser, with cool purple sparks, came driving through the wall. "What the …" The bleeding Fish Face looked on with surprise … maybe, if all the bumps and scratches on his face weren't making it look like all messed up.

"Hey Fish Face!" Donnie shouted as a cannon turned to the mutant. "Eat trash!"

FABOOOF

"Reduced, Reused." Spidey leapt out the way as he let the ball of garbage hit the fish mutant. "Now consider yourself recycled!"

Donnie rushed out of the vehicle, followed by Pulverizer. "Wow, good work team." They grinned.

"Would it kill you to shut it for five seconds!?" Mikey yelled, pulling out his best Raph impersonation. "...Wow, feels weird being on the other side of that for once." No wonder Raph shouted at him so much. "Donnie, tell me you have it covered!"

"I just need to add the sample." Their nerdy brother grabbed the tooth and took out a beaker full of some kind of colorful liquid. "Raph." Donnie leaned down, squeezing something from the tooth. "Speak to me buddy."

"Is Spidey there? I wanna say hi to my bestest friend."

"Oh it's gotten worse. We've barely got enough time!" He mixed together a vial. "Come on, come on …" It turned purple. "Yes!" Donnie shouted, moving over and dumping it into the turtle's mouth.

Raph groaned, blinking his eyes as he met Donnie. "… Get that nerdy face away from me."

"YOU'RE BACK!" Mikey hugged his brother with all his might. "Thank Shell bro! I thought for sure we would've lost you for good! Don't scare me like that again!"

"Let go of me before I dump you in the toilet." Oh that beautiful sarcasm was finally back! He didn't know what he would've done if he had to live without it.

"Guys." Leo interrupted. "I hate to interrupt the moment, but the Shellraiser is sparking."

"What!?" Donnie ran to their ride, rushing inside. "No, no, no no! The lead casing around the power cell…it cracked!"

"So the Kraang are gonna find us!?" Spidey shouted with rage.

"Not if we can get back to the sewers and resecure the lead." Donnie reaffirmed.

"Let's move it then!" Leo shouted. "We don't need Foot and Kraang fighting us at the same time!" Yeah … yeah that would be bad.

Peter was not having a good night. Between the turtles messing up against the dragons, to Fish face poisoning Raph, to the Kraang scare they were dealing with now … to the Pulverizer. It was NOT a night Spider-man was going to be too keen on remembering for a long….long time. "So I can man the weapons if you wan-" The moron tried to speak up.

"You do NOT get to have a say in anything right now, so help me I will throw you out if you say another word." Raph justifiably threatened. Just toss the idiot on the street now. He is of no value to either you, the foot, or Kraang. You don't need the dead weight. Nowhere safe while the Kraang run. He would be stupid enough to walk in front of a laser.

"Come on, come on." Donnie muttered as he looked over the casing. "It just needs to hold until I can reinforce it …" And if it didn't, they'd deal with an endless swarm of Kraang.

Even worse was that they spent so much time trying to get the crystal out of there that they completely overlooked webbing up Fishfreak and the dragons. Wouldn't have mattered anyway, it's not like the Foot's been arrestable. They'd get out in a week tops. Like how Tombstone kept bailing out small time crooks before they got too noticeable. The only way to stop them is to make those bastards too scared for a second round. Rip off pieces of their faces. Drop them from ten story buildings before catching them at the last second. Wound if you won't kill. Well…it wasn't like people like DogPound and rhino felt pain too often, so that was an exception already.

"Guys!" Leo shouted from the driver seat. "Kraang up ahead." On the monitor was a group of Kraang, out in the street and flying up ahead.

"We're surrounded on the sides too!" Raph pointed to the two trucks that were driving ahead.

"Four blocks till we get to the lair!" Mikey shouted from the map area.

"Manhole covers aren't going to be enough here." Spidey ground, letting his spider sense alert him of the dangers outside. They couldn't fire constantly enough to cause enough damage, and they'd be surrounded long before they got to the lair. "I'm heading out. I'm going to draw away some of the fire."

A few webs in some wheels should create an opening. It's a bad risk to get shot at. Or what, carry the trackable crystal by web? Someone needs to get it out of there.

"Don't take the top, use the bottom hatch!" Donnie shouted.

He groaned, moving down. "Donnie, I like you, but I don't wanna be the spider that went splaaaaa …" Peter trailed off as he opened up the bottom, seeing a red motorcycle with small arm guards that looked like massive web shooters. The wheels were blue, with lines between the wheels that made it seem like they could split apart at the drop of a dime into a four wheel drive. "….Awesome!"

"Mikey, care to name it?" The turtle that was definitely making up for a few mistakes tonight asked.

"Bit worried about Kraang to think about something more clever, so how about the Spider-cycle?"

"I'll take it!" Peter shouted, jumping down onto the vehicle, feeling it purr as he revved it. "Turtle power!" With a battle cry, the bike detached as he raced forward, grinning. "Weapon test is a go."

He clicked a button as a glob of web shot out from one of the cannons and into the Kraang van, causing the wheel to jam and the vehicle to flip over. "Might want to get the transmission looked at! It's known to get a little sticky!"

"The one known as the Man of spiders shall cease the intent of futile intent of that which is known as resistance." A Kraang spoke, shooting out lasers from a window.

"Sorry buddy, I'm on a learners permit and I've gotta get my sixty hours in." He snarked, webbing up the Kraang easily. "Mind giving my instructor a five star review?"

"Click the blue button on the left handle, you're gonna love what it does!" Donnie shouted.

He did so … as a lone string shot out from in between his wheel and back, before his vehicle yanked, and began to drive on the web line. "Yaaaaahooooooooo!" This was amazing! It almost made up for all the idiocy he dealt with today. "Donnie, you are the turtle!"

After managing to get a consistent rhythm going on, Spidey alternated between driving on the road, driving in the air, and launching webs at the Kraang. "Oh if only they validated superhero parking! The world I would be able to live in!" This was definitely in the top five best things that happened all month. The new suit is still the best. No piece of scrap can top it. … weird time to think of that.

Before he could ponder it, he caught a barricade of … Ms Camble bots, all with missiles aimed right at him and the Shellraiser. "Hey Donnie, you're definitely sure that thing is armored!?"

"Didn't have time to test it against both lasers and explosions at the same time!"

{Detonation} "Well pray to turtle Budda you survive!" He shouted, driving his bike to avoid the missiles, launching up in the air in order to get out of the blast radius.

"We personally I believe it's best to live in the moment and not think about potential higher powers-" Mikey said as the missiles came into the train cart. "Oh wait that was rhetorical!"

Kabooooom

The vehicle flipped over, falling onto its side as one of the tires fell off. Definitely gonna need the warranty on that one. "Everyone alright?!" He asked.

"Most part!" Leo shouted back as the Kraang bots began swarming the vehicle, cracking it open with lasers and chainsaw weaponry.

"One delivery, extra Spidey butt kickin, hold the mercy on the side!" He shouted, crashing into the Kraang with the Spider-Cycle. "I'll take your regret for all your evil deeds as payment, and if you want to tip you could run away now."

"The surrender of Kraang is that which is known as, nonexistent." {Laser} They fired off those petty little guns as Spidey abandoned his new bike for some melee fisticuffs.

"Oh please, you do know that lasers are the least frightening weapon of all time, right?" He smirked, smashing two in his hands. "Sure they're fancy, but you've never been able to hurt us once with them, have you?"

"Then Kraang shall use what is known as the alternative of means." Ohh, sounds fun. "Kraang, use that which is know as the anti Klyntar weaponry." One of the bots said, carrying some weird cannon as Peter tried to grab the power crystal. Instead of setting off his Spidey sense, all it did was send out lots of sound-UNPLEASANT!

"Gaaaaaaaggggggghhhh!" It hurt! It hurt so much! Source unpleasant! Destroy! Destroy! "Destroy!"

"…..Is Spidey getting bigger….and growing teeth?" He heard Michelangelo ask, but Peter couldn't bother to answer. He needed to get rid of the source of the pain.

"GRAAA!" He ran forward, smashing the cannon and the Kraang holding it. "You really think-" {Unpleasant}{Unpleasant} Two more of those sound cannons began to fire as Spidey pulled himself out of harm's way. What the heck was with these weapons? Why were they hurting him…or was it the suit?

"Spidey!" Donnie shouted. "It's a living liquid, its molecular stability isn't the strongest! They're breaking it apart with high frequency vibrations!" He said he blocked an attack.

"Leave the suit behind, grab the power cell!" Leo screamed as he attacked a Kraang. "You're the only one who can get it out of here!"

"Don't worry guys! I got it!" The idiot held the power cell in the air, calling all the attention to himself and the power source.

"NO!" He leapt in without thinking, trying to grab it from him {Unpleasant}, only for the Kraang to hit him with unpleasant attacks. "AAAAHHH!" God that was painful. Maybe leaving the suit inside of the Shellraiser temporarily was the solution after all. The alien seeped into your mask. Take it off and the Kraang learn about Peter Parker. Then what do we do!? Dig deep, and let go. Let go? Let go of your inhibitions, your restrains, your reserves. We can fight it.

With another scream of rage, they shot forth a web to one of the sound cannons, slamming it into a wall. "You're in for it now!" He focused on fighting off the Kraang and the unpleasant cannons they had on them, completely blocking out everything else. This is cathartic, but don't forget the power crystal. Right, need to make sure the idiot didn't drop it.

"Way to go Spidey! Go team!" The moron yelled as he ran backwards, naively cheering as he went off….,right into a Kraang droid. It beeped as it grabbed the crystal, ripping it right out of the idiot's hand. "Hey!" He got pushed down, not killed as the Kraang, wearing a jetpack, flew straight into the air.

Spidey shot a web, snagging onto his foot. "Not on my watch-" {Unpleasant} And was forced to let go on account of the last sound cannon firing off at him.

"Enough!" Raph threw a star at it, making it short out and glitch.

"Come on, come on!" He had to swing up, swing up and get it… and they were gone….it was gone. "Great, we lost the power cell, and it's back in the Krang's hands." Peter grumbled, looking to the brothers. Those pathetic terrapins, who were nothing but trouble.… Why would he think about them as terrapins?

"You could have grabbed it and swung away!" Leo shouted. "Why didn't you leave the suit behind!?"

"Because I didn't want to tell the Kraang my home address Leo! Not all of us are lucky to have a face as a mask!" He yelled back, pushing Leo off him. "I'm sorry that the fact I have a life to protect got in the way! Why don't I just invite them over for lunch and have them pour mutagen over my aunt, completely ruining her life!?" All of it was so sickening and annoying. They'd never understand.

"Ah well." The kid shrugged. "We failed, no big deal right?"

"No … big …" Every day Spider-Man failed. He failed Uncle Ben, he failed Harry, he failed Max, failed so many people … "Take off that mask." He growled.

"I … wha-"

"You are not a hero, and you'll never be one." He growled, lifting them up by the collar. "Because you can't understand that this isn't a game. People are going to die! Thousands! Because of you!" Everyone around you just causes us to get dragged down more and more.

"I.. I just wanted to help-"

"Help!? Help!? All you've done the entire night is get in our way! You just handed an all powerful race of aliens the key to taking over the world because you wanted it to help!" He threw the idiot against a wall. "With great Power, there must also come great responsibility. You have no power and you don't even understand the responsibility of having common sense!"

He could see tears. "I-"

"Pack your bags, ditch the costume, and realize that you'll never, EVER, be a hero! You self centered excuse of a wannabe!" He shouted at the doofus, before creating a zip line and swinging away.

People like that … People that treat this like some sort of game are the worst. The turtles did too. It's why April lost her dad to begin with.

Working with others only caused trouble…maybe it was time to rely on the only people they could rely on….themselves.